The 2024 season will be Tatiano Paino’s first as an assistant coach of the Thunder softball team. She previously served on staff at Purdue University-Northwest (2017-2020) working with outfielders, pitchers, and managing offensive strategies.
In their first year in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Pride finished with a .500 record and recorded their first-ever conference tournament victory against Ferris State. Paino guided player Kyleigh Payne to earn the GLIAC Player of the Year Award and four additional players to All-Conference teams. Paino continued to lead the Pride towards greater success as they competed in another conference tournament the following year.
Tatiano Paino (Sorokina) is a Moscow, Russia native. Paino played the 2016 and 2017 seasons as a utility player at Boise State University. Paino had a standout senior season with the Broncos, batting .314 with 54 hits, 40 runs scored, and 17 RBI. Paino also tallied six doubles, two triples, and two home runs to go along with her eight stolen bases. Paino was one of just three Boise State players to start all 53 games in a season.
Prior to her playing career at Boise State, Paino competed the two previous seasons at Howard College in Big Spring, Texas. Paino helped lead the Hawks to the 2015 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Tournament, where the team went 4-2. In her second season with the Hawks, Paino hit .423 with nine doubles, a home run, 21 RBI, 33 runs scored, and 16 stolen bases. As a freshman in 2014, Paino earned a spot on the All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) honorable mention team after batting .337 with 64 hits, 15 doubles, 62 runs scored, and 31 RBIs.
In August 2014, Paino had the unique opportunity to play for her home country of Russia at the ISF Women’s Softball World Championship in Haarlem, Netherlands. Paino posted the second-best batting average on the team at .381 (8-for-21) with a double and two RBI. Paino also helped Russia qualify for the World Championship event with a fourth-place finish at the European Championship in July 2013 in Prague, Czech Republic. Paino is still a member of the Russian National team and played in the 2017 Women’s Softball European Championship over the summer months in an effort to help Russia become an Olympic qualifier.
