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Click here to read Coach Smyth's "Chalk Talk" feature
Jamie Smyth was named as the Saint Joseph's College Head Softball Coach prior to the 1998 season and has guided the Monks to eight winning seasons in 12 years at the helm. During his tenure, St. Joe's has captured four conference titles, two regional championships and also made an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
Under Smyth's watch in 2009, the Monks went 29-14 overall and 18-6 in GNAC play en route to conference championship and ECAC Tournament appearances. With an 8-0 win over Emmanuel on April 15th, Smyth became the winningest coach in program history, surpassing Dick Bailey, one of the finest coaches in SJC Athletics history and a 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, with 245 victories. Smyth closed out the 2009 campaign with a 12-year record of 255-216 (.541).
Smyth has guided the Monks to eight 20-win seasons, including a 26-win season in 2008 when the Lady Monks earned the program's first-ever ECAC Tournament berth. Smyth led the Royal Blue to a 19-7 conference tilt in the team's first season as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference in 2008, which placed the squad third overall in the regular season standings.
In 1999, the Lady Monks finished with a 30-12 record and a 9-1
record in the Maine Athletic Conference. St. Joe's won the MAC
tournament championship, the Northeast Regional Championship, and
advanced to the NAIA National Tournament held in West Palm Beach,
Florida. For his efforts, Smyth was named MAC Coach of the year in
1999, as well as being selected Coach of the Year by the Maine
Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association. Smyth also won the
Maine Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards in 2000 and 2002
as well.
Prior to taking over as head coach in 1998, Smyth served as an
assistant coach at St. Joe's in 1994-1995 for softball "fixture"
Dick Bailey. Smyth also assisted his brother Curt in 1997, helping
the Monks to a 30-7 record that year. He has also done stints as an
assistant coach at Westbrook College and Windham High School.
As a college baseball player, Smyth played on four consecutive New
England Championship baseball teams at Saint Joseph's College. In
addition, he was a member of the first and only Saint Joseph's golf
team to ever qualify for the NAIA National Golf Championship in
1991.
Smyth earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from
St. Joe's in 1992 and, during his senior year, spent his fall
semester performing an internship at the White House in Washington
D.C.
In addition to his coaching duties, Smyth is currently a full-time
employee of the United States Postal Service as a letter carrier
and has served as the head golf coach at Saint Joseph's since the
2004 season.
A native of Gorham, Maine, Smyth, his wife, Susan, daughters Hannah
and Sarah, and son Ryan, reside in Windham.
Molly Leopin joined the Monks' staff during the 2002-03 academic
year.
Leopin was a four year starter for the University of Maine at
Farmington, switching between shortstop and third base. Competing
in the Maine Athletic Conference against the Monks during those
years has given her a strong understanding of the competitive
tradition hare at Saint Joseph's College.
Named an All-Conference player several times and a member of the
MAC championship team at Maine-Farmington in 1998, Leopin finished
out her career at UMF as a team captain with a career batting
average of .436 and a career fielding percentage of .913.
Leopin also works full-time as an assistant manager at Staples in
South Portland, Maine, and has served as a clinician for area camps
and clinics. She resides in Westbrook.
Ashley Woodcock, who joined the SJC staff during the
2005-06 academic year, works heavily with the outfielders and slap
hitters.
Woodcock grew up in Jay, Maine, graduating from Jay High School in
2001, where she played field hockey, basketball, and softball. She
went on to attend the University of Southern Maine, earning a B.A.
in Therapeutic Recreation in 2005 while competing on the field
hockey and softball teams there. In each of the three years she
played softball for USM (2003-05), the team won at least 20
games.
Woodcock is also employed full-time as a dental assistant. She
resides in North Windham.
Kahler (Dowling) Marsh ’06 was added to the Monks coaching staff prior to the 2010 season.
Coach Marsh was named as an All Conference player in 2002 and pitched in 63 games in her four-year career at St. Joe’s. A control pitcher, she walked just 26 batters in 370 career innings with 26 wins and a 2.80 ERA over four seasons.
Marsh grew up in Augusta, Maine and was a four-year starter for Cony High School. She was selected All Conference as a pitcher and named Eastern Maine Class A Player of the Year as a senior.
A graduate of the Saint Joseph’s College Nursing Program, Coach Marsh is currently employed at the Maine Medical Center as an Oncology Nurse. She resides in Windham with her husband, Peter.
Aside from her SJC Softball duties, Marsh also coaches ASA
Softball and provides private lessons in the Augusta area.
