COVINGTON, Ga. — Alcovy softball recently concluded one of the program’s best seasons in its history.
From the beginning to the end of the 2022 campaign, players and coaches interacted with each other as if they were family.
For the Lady Tigers’ two assistant coaches — Marcus and Raven Smith — that is literally the case as Marcus is Raven’s father.
Raven, who graduated from Alcovy in 2016 and played college softball at West Georgia, credits a lot of her coaching to her dad.
“It’s pretty cool to come back to coach and work with these girls to reach their goals,” Raven said. “He coached me so I take what I was taught and teach the players.”
In her senior season at Alcovy, Raven had a .444 batting average with five RBIs and 22 runs scored. At West Georgia, Raven’s performance earned her 2017 Gulf South Conference Player of the Year and a spot on the 2019 Gulf South Conference All-Tournament Team.
During her collegiate career, Raven had a .315 batting average with 10 home runs, 98 RBIs, 77 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.
Marcus witnessed all of her performances even when he began coaching Raven at four years old. They might be coaching alongside one another now, but Marcus is now showing Raven the changes between coaching and playing.
“I try to get her to understand that it’s about getting the girls to play to the best of their ability,” Marcus said. “It’s hard for players who have played at that elite level to understand, because she would see a play and the first thing she would say, ‘I could make that play.’ And I told her, ‘That’s someone else. You’ve got to get them to their maximum potential.’”
Marcus’ long coaching tenure and Raven’s playing experience in high school and college has been a huge asset this year, according to head coach Miranda Lamb.
In fact, Lamb mentioned how beneficial it has been for Marcus and Raven to be on the coaching staff.
“Marcus has been coaching, I think longer than I’ve been alive, so I’ve been learning from him,” Lamb said. “And Raven playing for a Division I program and coming from Alcovy, I think it means a lot to her to be out here giving back to her alma mater. Just having that knowledge of the game has been so important.”
Marcus and Raven also coach a travel ball team together and Raven is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in addition to her role as an assistant.
Though she never saw herself returning to help coach Alcovy softball, that didn’t discourage her from accepting the position when Lamb offered it over the summer. Since then, Raven has enjoyed the experience.
“It’s more than softball,” Raven said. “Honestly, [the players] are like my sisters. I won’t let anyone do anything to them. But on the field, it’s game time. I give them my full effort and they give me the same, and that’s all I can ask for.”
Both the coaches and players’ efforts led Alcovy to the Super Regionals last week after the Lady Tigers won the Region 3-AAAAAA championship for the first time since Raven’s senior season in 2015.
And, though both coaches thought it was impossible to get any closer in their father-daughter relationship, they feel like they did coaching together.
But Marcus stressed that this season has never been about his and Raven’s relationship. Instead, it’s been about restoring Alcovy softball to its former glory days such as the days when Raven herself was a Lady Tiger.
“We’re just trying to help get the program back to when [Raven] played here,” Marcus said. “Her freshman to senior years, Alcovy was always in the playoffs, always made it to the second round and it seems to be getting that trend back now.
“We’re just trying to help change the mindset and culture of Alcovy softball.”
