About Coach Sammie

 I grew up in LaGrange, Ohio, where I started playing softball at the age of five. By the age of eight, I was playing travel softball for one of the best teams in the state of Ohio and by ten, I had my heart set on playing Division 1 softball. I continued playing travel ball at a high level and then played for one of the best high schools in the state of Ohio; Keystone High School. There, I was coached by Jim Piazza, who in 2012 was named the National High School Softball Coach of the Year and won the high school national championship by leading his team to a 32-0 season. Coach P was (and is) really involved in helping softball players reach their goals of playing at the next level. Coach P put me in contact with head coach of the University of Maryland softball team, I went on my unofficial visit, and verbally committed on my first visit to campus. I played four years at the University of Maryland and graduated from the College of Education in 2022 with a degree in Elementary and Middle School Special Education. In the summer of 2021, I joined Maryland Black Ice to assist with player development and became the assistant coach to the then 12u Maryland Black Ice team coached by Nick Jensen. Since then, I got my first job as a Special Education Teacher and I am still the assistant coach to Maryland Black Ice's 16u A team.