Newberry College Athletics

Mitch Smith enters his third season as head coach at Newberry College and his 13th season as part of the Wolves softball staff.

Smith was named the seventh head coach of the Newberry College softball program June 28, 2023 after serving as assistant coach for the winningest head coach in Newberry College softball history, Ciria Triplett (290-211) for nine years.

In his first two seasons the Wolves have posted a combined record of 48-55, 22-26 in the SAC and an impressive 32-18 at Smith Road Complex with one trip to the SAC Postseason Tournament.

In his first season the Wolves were 25-25 with an 11-13 mark in the SAC and finished in a tie for sixth place.  

His team was an impressive 16-4 at home including a win over #14 Wingate and finished the season winning seven of its final nine home games of the season.

Sierra Brogdon was named All-SAC second team for 2B, Vanessa Wilson was named All-SAC third team for OF, Hailey Hill was named All-SAC third team for 3B, Cassidy Phelps was named All-SAC third team for DP, and Lex Glemaker was named All-SAC third team for pitcher.

Last year the Wolves posted a 23-30 mark with an 11-13 SAC record, finishing just one game out of the final postseason tournament bid.

The Wolves had wins over NCAA Tournament teams Flagler, Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum.

Samantha Clark was named second team All-SAC at designated player and outfielder Maddy Staples was a third team selection.

Smith was a critical part of the Wolves success as an assistant.

In the 2023 season the Wolves would finish with a 29-19 record and a trip to the SAC Tournament. Four Newberry players were named all-conference including Mackenzie Turner, Olivia Chestnut, and Molly Mattas were named second team members while Leah Evans was named to the third team. The Wolves offense would win a conference statistical championship as they tied Tusculum averaging 1.79 doubles per game. 

In 2022, the Wolves had one of the best seasons in program history. Newberry finished the season with 33 wins, tied for second most in program history. The Wolves earned a sweep of a ranked team for the first time in program history as they swept #18 Carson-Newman on March 26th. Offensively, the Wolves set program records in multiple stats including runs scored, doubles, home runs and RBI. Four Newberry players were also named to the All-Conference team as Hannah Towery was named to the first team, Mackenzie Turner and Mallena Wright were named to the second team, and Sierra Brogdon was named to the third team. Towery and Wright were also named to the second team of the D2CCA All-Southeast Region Team. The Wolves also had two players named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in Hannah Towery and Tedi Nunn. 

Smith also worked with an outfield that was one of the best units in the conference totaling over 20 assists from the outfield and proudeced several highlight plays.

In 2021, the Wolves pulled one of the biggest upsets in program history, taking down then-no. 1 North Georgia on March 31 at the Smith Road Complex. Newberry would end up finishing the season with a 20-15 record, missing the conference tournament for the first time since 2014. Newberry ended up having six players named to the postseason All-Conference teams, including first-team selection McKenzie Barneycastle and second-team selections Hannah Towery and Alexandrea Sullivan. Paige Meyer, Hailey Hill and Haley Simonds were all named honorable mentions. 

During his tenure at Newberry, the Wolves have made steady improvement, including recording a program-record 14 conference wins during the 2017 season. Newberry also had a program-record three players named first team all-SAC and five players were honored overall.

Smith came to Newberry after serving as the head softball coach at Aiken Technical College from 2010-2013 following stints as the head coach at USC Salkehatchie and as an assistant at Louisburg College and USC Aiken.

At Aiken Tech, Smith led his squad to the 2012 Region X Conference Tournament championship in the teams’ first year of postseason eligibility. The 2012 Aiken Tech squad also made an appearance in the NJCAA National Tournament. In his time at Aiken Tech, Smith coached 12 all-region players, including the 2013 pitcher and player of the year.

Prior to joining Aiken Tech, Smith built the women’s softball program from the ground up at USC Salkehatchie. At USC Salkehatchie, Smith coached seven all-region selections. Smith served as the assistant coach at Louisburg College for a season before moving on to USC Salkehatchie.

As a student at USC Aiken, Smith volunteered as a student assistant coach. A 2004 graduate of USC Aiken, Smith earned his degree in Communications.