Bloomingdale High School head softball coach Leah Pemberton was named the Hillsborough County Federal Division Western Conference Coach of the Year after leading her team to a second district championship in two years.
“Words honestly can’t even describe it. I feel like I’ve continuously worked hard,” said Pemberton. “As a coach, you don’t do it for the money, you do it because you love it and you do it because it means so much more to you than the time out there, and so to be recognized by my peers and the other coaches in the division honestly meant so much.”
Pemberton was hired by her alma mater in July 2019. In her fourth season as head coach, she led the Bulls to a 14-7 regular season record and a regionals appearance. She had a very successful career as a player, patrolling the infield for Bloomingdale from 2009-12 and going on to play college softball for Florida Southern College from 2013-17. She was one of the team captains during her senior season at Bloomingdale, hitting .301 with 22 hits, 14 runs scored and nine RBIs.
“Coach Leah loves the game,” said junior Camryn VanGalder. “She pushes us to practice hard and play hard. She notices immediately if we’re off as a team or individual and helps us get back on track. She believes in us, she allows us to make mistakes, but still requires 100 percent from us at every practice and game.”
Pemberton said that Bloomingdale softball has always been a prideful program since she has played there, and she wants to teach her players the importance of maintaining the tradition and expectation of winning while taking pride in wearing the Lady Bulls uniform and leaving the program in better shape than when they first arrived there.
“She’s always pushed me to be my best self on the field,” said senior Megan Jones-Ortiz. “She helped me understand the sport on a whole other level. Without her, I don’t think I’d be playing college ball.”
The head coach believes in focusing on the mental parts of the game while also teaching the skill. She wants her players to take it one inning at a time and one game at a time and to be competitive and mentally strong.
“She always helps me with any adjustments I have to make with my swing and cares a lot about her players and growing their abilities,” said senior Livia Velasco.
Pemberton wants her team to continue winning district titles and competing for regional and state titles. The ultimate goal is to lead her program to its second state title since 2014.
“Seeing it from a coach’s perspective, you can’t really contribute on the field. You can’t go up to hit, you can’t pitch and you can’t field,” said Pemberton. “Being able to sit back and know that come game time, all the work that you put in day in and day out, being able to watch it play out, I think means that much more. This is home to me.”
“I love Bloomingdale, I love giving back to the school that gave me some of the best years of my life,” she added.
