2014 will be assistant coach Sarah Harman’s sixth season on staff for the University of Dayton Flyers.
“Coach Harman has a passion for the game, the student-athletes and the university. She has a great vision for the program. Her ability to recruit, lead and develop a top-level pitching staff will help this program continue to move forward in a positive direction,” Dayton Head Coach Cara LaPlaca said.
Following the 2013 season, Harman placed two pitchers onto Atlantic 10 All-Conference teams in Kayla English (Second Team) and Emily Froment (All-Rookie Team). English finished the season ranked 34th nationally in strikeouts/seven innings (8.2) while Alysha Isaacson set a new school record with five saves (11th NCAA). As a team, the Flyers had a 3.63 ERA (the lowest since 2006) and 280 stirkeouts in 22 wins.
In 2012, Harman helped Dayton put together a dominant staff in the Atlantic 10, led by freshman and All-Rookie Performer Kayla English. The Grapevine, Texas native recorded 134 strikeouts in 140 innings of work, the highest ratio in UD history (6.70 per 7 innings).
Harman’s staff also posted 22 wins in 2011 as freshman left-handed pitcher Alysha Isaacson earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie honors. Also, each pitcher that Harman currently works with has improved their ERA and win total each year.
A native of Port Clinton, Ohio, Harman returns to her home state after coaching stints in Texas, Virginia and Indiana.
She joined the Flyers after serving as an assistant coach and lecturer at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.
Harman joined West Texas A&M prior to the 2007-08 academic year as the softball program’s first full-time assistant coach. She worked primarily with the pitching staff, planning and implementing the training of the pitchers and catchers. She also assisted in marketing of home games to generate more attendance by designing an overall plan for home stand games which included local sponsors, gate giveaway and on-field promotions. Harman headed the “Paint the Yard Pink” promotion, a breast cancer awareness game to raise money for research.
Harman was on the games committee of the 2008 NCAA Division II Softball World Series, acting as a game liaison for the Mid-Atlantic region representative.
Prior to joining the Lady Buff staff, Harman spent two seasons as an assistant softball coach at Norfolk State University, focusing on the pitching staff.
Previously, Harman was a graduate assistant coach at Ball State University, where she worked with the pitchers.
Harman brings a stellar record of experience, including a standout career at Division III Defiance College where she played for four seasons (2000-03) for Defiance Head Coach and UD alumna Kary (Zimmerman) Kankey (’98). She earned Heartland Collegiate Conference All-Conference first team honors three years she played. A standout pitcher at Defiance, Harman holds school records for innings pitched (665.1) and games started (103). She is second all-time in strikeouts (381) and third in school history in complete games (72), wins (39) and shutouts (8). She holds the second, seventh and eighth-highest single-season strikeout totals in the program’s history. Harman was named the team MVP her junior and senior seasons, and was named the Defiance Purple and Gold Sportsmanship Female Athlete of the Year in 2003.
Harman, who also played volleyball at Defiance, earned her bachelor’s degree in sports management with a minor in recreation in 2003. In October of 2013, she was inducted into the Defiance Hall of Fame for both sports.
She graduated with a master’s degree in physical education with an emphasis in sports administration from Ball State in 2005. While at Ball State, Harman was a recipient of the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics.
Harman is a 2008 graduate of the NCAA Women’s Coaches Academy and is a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. She was inducted into Port Clinton High School’s Hall of Fame on May 8, 2010.
