Bridgewater College

Howard Smiley is entering his ninth year as the volunteer assistant coach for the Bridgewater College softball team.

BC went 13-3 in her first season, batting .336 as a team with a staff ERA of 2.33. Pitcher Brantley Swift was named the State Rookie of the Year and was joined on the All-State team by Katrina Martin and Sydney Layman. Swift repeated All-State honors in 2021 as the Eagles had five All-ODAC selections overall and made the conference playoffs.

The Eagles returned to the ODAC playoffs in 2019 for the first time in five years, with an overall record of 23-17. Bridgewater earned at least a split with all but one team in the conference, including wins over #6 Lynchburg and Randolph-Macon. Katrina Martin and Stephanie Carroll earned All-Conference recognition.

In 2017, sophomore Mikalia Guard became the program’s first All-Region selection since 2012. She was also a VaSID All-State and CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. Stephanie Carroll earned first team All-ODAC recognition in 2018.

Prior to his role with the Eagles, Smiley was an assistant and then head softball coach at Eastern Mennonite High School for 13 years.

Smiley has 30 years of experience coaching baseball and softball. He also played in a men's fastpitch softball league as a teenager.

He and his wife Debbie have three sons, two of which graduated from BC.