LACEY, Wash. — Saint Martin's University Athletics today announced the official hiring of Ben Harley as Head Baseball Coach.
Harley steps into the role of head coach after serving as assistant coach, pitching during the 2025-26 season. Prior to Saint Martin's, he spent six seasons at Centralia College, where he served as head coach for five seasons.
"Coach Harley has already demonstrated a strong commitment to this program and to the student-athlete experience, and I'm confident in the leadership he will bring moving forward," Director of Athletics Theresa Hanson said. "We believe this also provides important continuity and stability for the team, while also allowing us to continue building on the culture, momentum, and foundation that has been established."
During his time at Centralia College, Harley led the Blazers to a program-record 30 wins in 2024 and led the team to its deepest playoff run in program history in 2025. In the player development realm, Harley saw 64 players move on from Centralia College to play at four-year schools.
The 2025-26 Saints pitching staff saw a drop in ERA of 2.73 from last season and a .021 drop in opposing batting average. Blaze Wong led the staff with five wins, ranking fourth in the GNAC, while Nikki Scott II ranked sixth in the conference with 62 strikeouts.
In addition to college coaching, Harley has coached the Kalamazoo Growlers of the Northwoods League during the 2022 and 2023 summers, with the team clinching the Northwoods League championship in 2022 for the franchise's first ever championship title. In 2023, the Growlers set a new franchise record for single-season wins, while the pitching staff ranked second in the NWL in ERA. Fourteen players from Harley's Kalamazoo teams were drafted or went on to play professional baseball.
Harley also coached the Battle Creek Battle Jacks of the Northwoods League in 2024 and 2025, with the team winning its first I-94 Cup victory since 2017.
At the high school and youth level, Harley served as head coach at Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton, Oregon, leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances. He also spent two years working for Driveline Baseball as the Youth Academy Assistant Coordinator.
Harley's first official day as Saints Baseball Head Coach is June 8.
"I am excited to be given the opportunity to become head coach and I would like to thank Theresa Hanson for this opportunity," Harley said. "We will look to build upon the progress that we have made these past few months, and continue to provide a quality student-athlete experience for our players. It is an exciting time to be part of the Saint Martin's Baseball program and the athletic department as a whole. See you all out at Saints Field in the future!"
