Oregon State University - Softball
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Oregon State Softball Camps
Camp Staff

 


Laura Berg
Assistant Coach

Laura Berg officially joined the Oregon State staff in September 2011 after one of the most successful softball careers in NCAA and Team USA history.

Berg previously had two stints as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Fresno State, from 2000-03 and 2005-06, stepping down to train with the U.S. Women's National Team in the interim. Joining the national team in 1994 as a center fielder, she is a four-time Olympic medalist in softball and has won 11 total medals, 10 gold, while competing for the United States in the Olympics, the ISF Women's World Championship and the Pan-American Games. Her eighth-inning hit in the gold medal game in the 2000 Sydney Olympics drove in the winning run to help the Stars and Stripes defeat Japan, 2-1.

As a player for the Bulldogs in the mid-1990s, Berg was a four-time All-American whose collegiate career was highlighted by a NCAA Championship title in 1998. She led her squad to three Women's College World Series appearances, two Western Athletic Conference crowns and helped Fresno State to a 206-60 (.774) record in her four-year career.

Berg's name is scattered throughout the NCAA, WAC and Fresno State record books in a number of offensive categories. She is second all-time in career hits in NCAA history (396), is 12th in runs (245) and her 25 career triples tie her for 23rd. Berg finished her career with a .414 batting average and by the time her senior season ended in 1998, she ranked first in school history in triples, runs, hits and stolen bases, while also finishing as the WAC's career leader in triples, runs, hits, at bats, games played and total bases. She is the only Fresno State player to amass 300 or more career hits and also posted a 160-game defensive errorless streak in the field.

Berg joins the staff after having spent the past year as an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. A native of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., she received her bachelor's degree in commercial recreation from Fresno State in 1998.


Geoff Hirai
Assistant Coach

Geoff Hirai officially joined the Oregon State staff in September 2011.

Hirai came to Corvallis from the University of Virginia, where he spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers, serving as the team's hitting coach while also aiding in the program's recruiting efforts. During his time in Charlottesville, Virginia compiled an 83-75 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2010.

Hirai helped tutor a number of NFCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region selections, including Nicole Koren and Sarah Tacke, who were named to the first team in 2010, and Giannina Cipolloni, who received a nod as a member of the second team in 2011.

No stranger to the Pac-12, Hirai made the move to Virginia after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Washington, with the Huskies advancing to the NCAA Tournament every year, including a berth in the 2007 Women's College World Series. During his stint in Seattle, Hirai's efforts helped players earn five All-America distinctions (two-time honoree Ashley Charters, Dominique Lastrapes, Danielle Lawrie and Dena Tyson), with Lawrie also representing Canada in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Charters was also named to the 2010 United States National Team.

Before coaching at Washington, Hirai worked as owner, instructor and coach at the All-Star Dugout in Irvine, Calif. He also coached an 18-under travel team for four seasons, providing instruction to aspiring collegiate and professional baseball players.

Hirai was a scout with Cincinnati Reds from 2001-03 where he was responsible for evaluating players for the Major League Baseball draft.

He was a four-year baseball letterwinner at Hawai'i-Hilo, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1998 and served as the team's assistant coach for three seasons while working to obtain his teaching certificate in secondary education.

Hirai and his wife, Tracy, live in Corvallis with their two-year old son, Gavin. 

 


Heather Smith
Director of Operations

 
Heather Smith begins her 11th season as the Director of Softball Operations at Oregon State, having also served as an assistant coach during her time in Corvallis.

Smith's operations position focuses on travel planning, equipment, scheduling, the Cathedral City Softball Classic and special project coordination.

Smith rejoined the Beaver staff in September of 2004 for her second stint as an assistant coach and her fourth season overall in the dugout. Smith helped lead Oregon State to its first ever Pac-10 championship and reel off a school record 22-game winning streak in the process. She and the rest of the Beaver coaching staff were honored as the 2005 Speedline/NFCA Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Prior to her return to Oregon State, Smith spent two years outside of the college coaching ranks working as a personal trainer and coaching softball at Desert Hot Springs High School in Palm Springs, Calif.

Smith, who was the first recruit to sign a letter of intent to play for Kirk Walker at Oregon State, played for the Beavers from 1995-99 and helped lead Oregon State to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1999. She enjoyed her most successful season as a senior, when she batted .252 with 32 hits and 12 RBI and was third on the team with six doubles. She was recognized as an honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic Team selection in 1999.

The 1999 Beavers had a school record 47 wins and finished one game shy of heading to the College World Series.

Smith earned a bachelor's degree in nutrition and food management from OSU in 1998 and originally planned to give up her final year of eligibility after graduation. But, after returning to Corvallis to participate in an alumni game in October 1998, she decided to return to Oregon State to continue her studies and play her final year of softball eligibility.

She served as assistant girls' basketball coach at Canby High School, her alma mater, for part of the 1998-99 season until deciding to return to Oregon State.

Smith worked as a coach at Oregon State's winter and summer softball camps and clinics from 1994-98, and she also worked at the Oregon State women's basketball camp in 1996.

The former Heather Chinn, a Portland native, married Mikiah Smith in August, 1999. The couple has a daughter, Kiya, who was born in October of 2003, and a son, Elijah, who was born in January of 2006. 

 


Mikiah Smith
Volunteer Assistant Coach


Mikiah Smith enters his second consecutive season, and sixth overall, as a volunteer assistant coach for the Beavers. Smith will work primarily with Oregon State's hitters. He previously served on the OSU staff from 2005-08.

A 1996 graduate of Canby High School, Smith played two years of college baseball at Mt. Hood Community College and one season at Western Illinois.

Smith earned his undergraduate degree in exercise & sport science from Oregon State in 2001 and completed his masters of art in teaching in 2002.

Prior to his return to Corvallis, Smith spent two years as a physical education teacher and baseball coach at Desert Hot Springs High School in Palm Springs, CA.

Smith married current Beaver softball operations director Heather Chinn in August of 1999. The couple has a daughter, Kiya, who was born in Oct. 2003 and a son, Elijah, who was born in Jan. 2006.