ENMU catcher leaving for Texas coaching job

PORTALES - Parker Smith was blessed with the athletic ability to be a collegiate softball player, and the decisiveness to know exactly what she wanted to do as a career.

"I never wanted to be anything else," Smith said, "but a softball coach."

So why wait? Smith is forgoing her senior season at Eastern New Mexico University to take over at Stephenville High School, just 45 minutes from her hometown of Early, Texas. She starts Monday at Stephenville as a physical education teacher with January softball practices upcoming. Smith had been working as an elementary technology instructor in Early, with ENMU conducting the fall semester virtually.

Smith will graduate from ENMU on Dec. 12, a semester ahead of schedule. The decision to finish her degree early was part of a concerted effort to get into coaching as soon as possible, and the Honeybee program offered plenty of upside. It's far enough from home to stake out her own path but close enough for a quick visit, and there's plenty of familiarity since Early annually played at a regular season tournament hosted by Stephenville.

"I love the mentality at Stephenville," Smith said. "They've got a really great program."

And so ends Smith's time behind the plate, and sometimes in the outfield, for the Greyhounds and coach Kira Zeiter. While there's natural concern for Zeiter as to which of her four catchers on the roster replaces Smith in the lineup, it's outweighed by excitement because this is a program's goal for its players.

"She's always been a player at practice who would spend extra time understanding why we were doing things the way we were doing," Zeiter said. "She's someone I always knew would do very well in the coaching profession because of her desire to be a coach and her knowledge of the sport. Ever since I knew her, she always wanted to coach."

Zeiter, after spending two seasons with Smith, is confident the Honeybees have a good coach in place.

"Catchers make fantastic coaches," Zeiter said. "You are the quarterback of the field. You see the field, you direct traffic, you call pitches, you work hand in hand with that pitcher. You're involved in every single play."

Smith's final innings with the Greyhounds came on a March 11 sweep of West Texas A&M to put the team at second place in the Lone Star Conference. Four days later, the LSC canceled remaining spring competition due to the "evolving COVID-19 public health threat." Smith was heading into her senior year, and the NCAA would have granted her another season of eligibiilty from that lost junior year.

But as last season showed, there are no guarantees.

"I was not sure about anything (with the pandemic)," Smith said. "I knew there was a possiblity I would be able to play. I knew COVID wasn't going to go away, and I didn't want to spend time hoping I was going to play when I had a chance to coach."

Smith said she couldn't say enough good things about Zeiter, strength and conditioning coach Larry Varnado and her Greyhound teammates.

"I have so many good memories at Eastern," Smith said. "They're my best friends for sure. That's the hardest part of this. I think we really helped build the program when I was there."