Sam Woodley joined Ashlyn Englehorn's staff and the Yellow Jackets in June 2024. She will work with the BHSU catchers and overall defensive strategy, bringing four years of NCAA Division I coaching experience to Spearfish.
Woodley comes to Black Hills State after one season as an assistant coach at the University of Montana in 2024. While at Montana, she helped coach the Grizzlies to the 2024 the Big Sky conference tournament. She coached a pair of All-Conference players in her time, including a First Team All-Big Sky performer Riley Peschek and Second Team performer Presley Jantzi.
Prior to her stop in Missoula, she spent three seasons at Abilene Christian University (Texas) of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). She spent her first two seasons (2021-22) as a graduate assistant and 2023 as a volunteer assistant. In her second year in Abilene, she helped guide the Wildcats to an 11-win improvement from the previous season, including going 15-9 in WAC play.
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Originally from Toutle, Washington, Woodley played collegiate softball at Corban University (Ore.), an NAIA institution, from 2017-20. Her teams went 135-49 (.734) and were NAIA runners-up in 2017, while making three-straight trips to the NAIA national tournament (with 2020 being canceled due to COVID-19).
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She ended her Corban career with a .370 batting average and 207 hits – 73 for extra bases – and 137 RBIs. She earned Second Team All-Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) honors her freshman year, while earning First Team recognition her junior season when she hit .395 on the year.
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Woodley earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in Exercise Science from Corban in 2020. She earned her Master's in Business Administration from Abilene Christian in 2022.
