Head Coach Kermit Smith

TThe 2024 season will be the 8th season at App State for Head Coach Kermit Smith, who was named the 13th coach in program history when he was hired on July 14, 2016.

In the 2023 season, Smith led the Mountaineers to two ranked wins, one against No. 16 Southern Miss, and the eighth ranked Coastal Carolina, where the Mountaineers defeated the Chanticleers 11-0, their highest ranked win since 2013.

In the 2023 season, Smith led the Mountaineers to 30 wins, the most since 2013. In the process, Smith recorded his 600th career win against Georgia Southern, while also moving into third on the App State wins list with 141. The Mountaineers finished with 16 Sun Belt wins, six series wins and three tournament wins, all program records. Both Xander Hamilton and CJ Boyd received 1st Team All-Conference selections, joining the 2015 team as the only teams with multiple 1st team selections. Smith led the Mountaineers to a six win improvement in Sun Belt conference play, the most by any Sun Belt member this season, while also winning multiple games in the postseason for the first time since 2013.

Smith has led the Mountaineers to Sun Belt tournament victories in three straight seasons, including an appearance in the quarterfinals in 2022. Last season App State pitching recorded 432 strikeouts, good for third-most in program history, including a ballgame in which they punched out 16 against UNCW to tie a Smith Stadium record. Individually, Infielder Austin St. Laurent was named the Sun Belt freshman of the year, marking the first time an App State baseball player received that distinction. He was also named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Catcher Hayden Cross was also named second team All-Conference. Under Smith's leadership, the 2022 season was the most attended App State baseball campaign since 2012.

Following the 2022 campaign, Smith was selected as an assistant coach with Team USA Baseball's Prospect Development League in Cary, N.C.

In 2021, App State went 11-10 in Sun Belt Conference regular season games to post the sixth-best record in the 12-team league. It was the program’s first winning record and best Sun Belt finish since joining the league in 2015. The Mountaineers also earned their first-ever Sun Belt tourney win with a 1-0 victory against Texas State this year, shortly after they closed the regular season with a series win against league champion South Alabama.

In 2021, App State was also recognized with multiple first-team All-Sun Belt picks for the first time, tying for the second-highest total in the league. Three players received All-Sun Belt recognition.

In 2020, Smith led his team to six straight victories and nine victories over the last 10 games (with only a 15-inning loss in that stretch) to close out a season shortened by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Mountaineers finished the 2020 campaign at 11-6, recording series victories over UNCG, Charleston Southern and Siena. Smith also notched his first win over a ranked Power Five opponent when App State defeated No. 24 Wake Forest 11-9 in Winston-Salem. The win was Smith's second victory over a Power Five opponent in as many years.

App State's six-game winning streak to end the season was its longest since 2012. The streak also pushed the Mountaineers to five games over .500 for the first time since 2013.

The Mountaineers, who finished No. 62 in the final RPI poll in 2020, had two hitters that batted over .300 in 2020. Three times in a span of four seasons, App State had a player picked in the top 13 rounds of the MLB Draft, including Jack Hartman's fourth-round selection to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020.

In 2019, Smith completed his third season as the head coach of the Mountaineers, who set a program record for Sun Belt Conference victories. App State started 11-9 in league play before finishing 13-16, earning its first Sun Belt Championship tournament appearance and going 22-31 overall. That schedule included canceled road or neutral games against Gardner-Webb, North Carolina Central and Western Carolina.

With two recruiting classes in place — 32 of the 36 players on App State’s roster were entering their first or second years in the program — some season highlights included a road win against Conference USA regular-season champion FAU, a three-game home sweep of then-first-place UTA, a 2-0 home weekend against ULM and a road series victory against Louisiana.

App State boasted three .300 hitters, including a team-best .337 from 2019 freshman Luke Drumheller, and 2019 freshman Tyler Tuthill tied for the team lead with six pitching victories.

The strong start to Sun Belt play followed an 8-7 run to close the league schedule in 2018. App State posted 18 overall victories after winning 19 games in Smith’s debut season. A 5-2 victory against eventual NCAA qualifier Troy on April 6, 2018, gave Smith the 500th win as a college head coach, as he left both Division II Lander and Belmont Abbey was the winningest coach in the history of those programs.

With 18 newcomers on the 2018 roster and freshmen batting in the second, third and fourth spots late in the year, App State showed promise in many areas related to pitching, hitting and defense. The team had an ERA of 4.93 (lowest since 2013), totaled 430 strikeouts from its pitching staff (third-best in program history), posted a fielding percentage of .969 (fourth-best in program history) and recorded 93 doubles (most since 2013). Its 7-4 stretch in Sun Belt play (including a road series win against ULM and road series sweep of UTA) was App State’s best in four seasons as a league member.

Friday mound starter Colin Schmid was selected in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, giving App State three junior-year draft picks in Smith’s two seasons with the program. Matt Brill was also taken in the first 400 picks in 2017, going in the 12th round to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chandler Seagle was drafted by the San Diego Padres.

In Smith’s first year, the Mountaineers finished with 19 wins, including a road victory against nationally ranked Louisiana. App State improved in many facets of the game in its first year under Smith, posting the most home runs and drawn walks since 2012.

Before arriving in Boone, Smith went 244-134 in seven seasons at Lander from 2010-16 and 229-225-1 in eight seasons at Belmont Abbey from 2002-09, with nine winning records in his last 10 seasons at the Division II level.

At Lander, he was the winningest coach in program history. He took the Bearcats to three NCAA tournaments over his final five years. With 16 signees overall, Smith had 12 student-athletes sign contracts with MLB affiliates while at Lander, including a program-record four in 2016. Smith was inducted into the Lander Athletics Hall of Fame in December 2021.

The Bearcats advanced to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary twice in his last three seasons, including a second time in 2016, finishing with a 44-16 record. The Bearcats ended the season ranked No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, the highest finish in program history, and Smith was named ABCA/Diamond Southeast Regional Coach of the Year.

Smith helped Lander set a program record for single-season wins in 2014, when the Bearcats finished 52-8 overall and ended the season with a No. 4 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball poll. They had the nation’s most prolific offense, leading Division II in home runs and runs scored. The Bearcats won the Southeast Regional and advanced to their first College World Series.

Among the highlights of the 2014 season, the Bearcats finished 27-3 on their home field (Dolny Stadium) and Smith was awarded PBC Coach of the Year and Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. Freshman pitcher Brandon White was named PBC Freshman of the Year.

The Bearcats posted back-to-back 30-win campaigns in 2012 (38 wins) and 2013 (35 wins) for the first time since the 2005-06 seasons. Under Smith in 2012, junior pitcher Chris Thomas won the PBC Pitcher of the Year award, becoming the first Bearcat to ever receive a postseason conference award. In addition, Smith’s 38 wins during the 2012 season broke the program record at the time for wins in a season, and he led the team to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

In just his second season at the helm of the Bearcats, Smith won 29 games, at the time the most for the program since 2006, and took Lander to the PBC tournament for the first time since the 1998 campaign.

Prior to Smith’s tenure at Lander, he spent eight years as Belmont Abbey’s head coach and nine seasons overall with the Crusaders, starting with a one-year stint as an assistant during the 2001 season. Much like in his time at Lander, Smith became the winningest coach in program history on March 5, 2008. While at Belmont Abbey, he claimed two Conference Carolinas regular-season championships, a 2009 tournament championship and a 2009 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship that led to an appearance at the 2009 NCAA Division II College World Series.

Smith led the Crusaders to their first World Series berth that year, finishing the season with a 40-26 record. He was named South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.

Following a trip to the 2008 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional, Smith’s pupil, second baseman Alex Castellanos, was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB Amateur Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Castellanos last appeared in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013.

Smith served as the chair for the Conference Carolinas coaches while also being the chair for the Belmont Abbey coaches’ council. He was an active member of the community and served as the head coach of the Gaston Braves American Legion team from 2002-07, guiding them to a 99-62 record.

Smith graduated from Pfeiffer University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sports management and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He played one season at Pfeiffer for former App State baseball coach and current Duke University coach Chris Pollard. Smith also earned a master’s degree in sports management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2007.

He is a native of Arcadia, Fla., and is the son of Sue Ellen and the late George Kilpatrick Smith. Smith and his wife, Rebecca, are the proud parents of two sons, Maddox Kilpatrick and Beckett Thomas, and a daughter, Georgia Grace.