Former Bloomingdale High School softball star Lace Smith hopes to turn around a struggling Riverview softball program. The former standout pitcher led Bloomingdale to the school’s second state championship in 2014. She later went on to have a successful college career at the University of Buffalo from 2015-19.
Smith, who was hired in the summer, has been an assistant coach for Riverview High School for the last four seasons under longtime head coach Angela Slater, who recently retired. The Lady Sharks are currently competing in the fall season. She will have to rebuild the program with 19 new players and a fairly new coaching staff. The team went 6-13 last season.
“I like the environment at Riverview,” said Smith. “I’ve always loved coach Slater and the Slater family, and I always wanted to follow in her footsteps. She made it a great environment here, and I always knew that I wanted to coach either here or at Bloomingdale or somewhere in the district I grew up in.”
The former Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year knows what it takes to be a winner. She pitched a complete game in Bloomingdale’s state championship win in 2014. The team was 27-2 overall and defeated Hagerty 3-2 in the championship game. She also set the record for most strikeouts in a single season for a Bloomingdale pitcher.
The former Tampa Tribune Player of The Year said that she always wanted to get into coaching after her playing career.
“I always knew that I wanted to coach, even when I was young,” said Smith. “I had some great mentors, coaches, and I’ve had some bad ones, so I’ve learned both ways. I’ve had many coaches in my college experience, so I think just learning that and knowing that I’ve always wanted to give back to the community that I grew up in. I’ve always wanted to coach.”
She fell in love with game at 5 years old and later transitioned to fast-pitch at age 11.
“I’ve always loved softball,” said Smith. “I’ve always liked being a part of a team, getting down and dirty with the game. I’ve always loved pitching as well. I love everything about it, the passion, the life lessons that you learned from it, everything.”
Smith wants to teach her players what she learned during her playing career.
“It’s a competitive sport; if you want to go far, you have to have the drive, you have to be there to compete every day,” she said. “I want to teach them the life lessons that I’ve learned, like teamwork, discipline, the importance of academics, to do all the stuff that makes you able to compete. I think that we’re ready to just start the season and see what the future holds.”
