Maryville College’s New Softball Coach
This November, Maryville College announced the hiring of a new head softball coach. Jill Moore will be starting immediately for the Scots in preparation for the 2023 season.
After the departure of Leah Kelley in September 2022, a national search broke out for her replacement. Kelley was the softball head coach for the Scots for eight seasons.
Moore joins the staff at Maryville College after spending nine seasons coaching the softball team at Lynn University in Florida. She is coming from a competitive Division II Sunshine State Conference.
During her time at Lynn University, Moore was an assistant coach for six seasons and head coach for three seasons. She coached four All-SSC student athletes, and her team had a cumulative GPA of 3.66.
As a college student, Moore played Division I softball at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. She was a two-time All-Northeast Conference catcher who started in 170 of 174 games during her four seasons there.
After that, Moore’s first coaching position was a Division I program at The University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She coached two seasons there before arriving at Lynn.
In addition to her field duties at UMBC, Moore helped support the program through recruitment of other athletes, finding student athlete eligibility, and encouraging her team to strive for academic excellence.
“I am honored and truly grateful to join the Maryville College family as its new softball coach,” Moore said. “The excitement and passion this program brings to the community are extremely special, and I am overwhelmed with appreciation. I cannot wait for the bright future ahead, and I’m excited to be a Scot!”
Freshman softball player Paige Dickinson said, “I am excited for her to come coach. I think she brings a lot of experience and knowledge on all aspects of the sport. Whether that is fielding, catching, pitching or hitting.”
Junior softball player Emily Hill is also excited to welcome Coach Moore to the program. “We have worked hard and really come together as a team this fall season. As we welcome Coach Jill Moore as our new head coach, we are very excited to compete this coming spring season. We are also excited to represent Maryville College in a way that raises the bar for future softball teams at Maryville,” Hill said. “We are looking forward to working hard, being great teammates, and winning this spring. Go Scots!”
The Scots will be entering a new conference this upcoming season, which will begin in February 2023. They were previously competing as part of the USA South Conference, but now they will be competing in the Collegiate Conference of the South.
This is just the beginning of Moore’s legacy at Maryville College. The athletic department and the college itself is excited to see what she will be able to do for the softball program this year, and how she will shape the team and inspire its players in years to come.