Jay, Milton, Central, Lighthouse make coaching hires, two local football teams give back

Over the last two weeks, athletic programs have been shaken up in the Pensacola area as far north as Jay and as far south as East Hill.

There's been head coaching changes in football, baseball, basketball, volleyball and even an administrative change.

Meanwhile, two area football programs carried out initiatives to give back to the community. Put on by the United Way of West Florida, Gulf Breeze and Pine Forest football players participated in "Stuff the Bus," collecting school supplies donations to give back to Escambia and Santa Rosa County students.

To fill you in on the local scene's sleepless world of sports, here's more on what's taken place since the last PNJ notebook:

Jay baseball head coaching change

After back-to-backs seasons of losing to Northview in the district championship game, former head coach Mike Roberts is out and new head coach Duane Raley is in.

Raley comes from Central High School in Milton where he led the Jaguars to a 13-13 record this past spring. His team was actually eliminated by the Royals in the district tournament, whom he now joins.

Having played against his new team three times last season, Raley will have plenty of familiarity with his roster. With a young makeup, there's plenty of potential for the Royals to surmount Northview for the throne in the coming years.

They'll lose their top pitcher and batter in Andrew Diamond, but the names beneath him present interesting prospects. Rising junior Justin Smarr is one of the most compelling talents around, posing as an ambidextrous pitcher. Wearing a glove that can go on either his left or right hand, Smarr can switch throwing hands based on matchup.

His brother, Nathan Smarr, completes the battery. The brother tandem could be lethal next spring, surrounded by many other returning players in Ethan McDonald, Kade Gilbreath and Hayden Morris.

Central girls basketball mixes it up

The Jaguars program is going to be in good shape for new head coach Lewayne Jones.

Coming over from Pine Forest's Final Four team, he inherits a squad that was 15-12 and 7-1 in District 1-1A competition. In two seasons under former head coach Connor Williams, the girls saw improvement year over year.

Williams leaves to join the Crestview Bulldogs, where his father is the head coach.

Jones will have some work to do, however, after Central lost six seniors to graduation this spring and freshman standout Carleigh Baker transferred to Jay. Morgan Matthews, the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, is the most significant graduation loss.

Another note regarding Central basketball is their new gym floor. Over the summer, the school had new hardwood put in with a unique stylistic touch.

At center court is the school's Jaguar mascot, while the hardwood itself is multi-colored. There are slash marks across the floor representative of a Jaguar's scratch, making the gym one of the most personalized around.

Lighthouse football names head coach

A former Navarre Raider is moving further down the Gulf of Mexico to take the reigns of a head coaching position.

Everette Alford, a 2015 graduate of NHS, is now the lead man at Lighthouse Private Christian Academy in Pensacola.

This all happened in the blink of an eye, as Alford was originally hired earlier this year to be the defensive coordinator. Suddenly, there were a few changes ahead of him, and he'll be the Stingrays head coach.

A freelance team in the state of Florida, Lighthouse has been challenging themselves to reach new heights in recent years. In its five year history it has yet to sport a winning record, but it continues to land bigger schools on its schedule.

Finishing 4-5 in the 2021 campaign, the school played 1A powers in Chipley and Baker, while also competing with a 4A squad in South Walton.

As for Alford, his background comes defensively as he was a top safety for the Raiders in his 2014 senior season. That year, Navarre went 9-3 while he generated 68 tackles, four of which came for loss, two fumble recoveries and three sacks.

Milton volleyball's newest successor

The Panthers were amongst the top of the standings when the volleyball season came to an end last year at 20-5, but it ended with sadness as successful head coach Jann Cupp chose to retire.

Enter Katie Jimenez, who has a Milton-based background through and through. During a time of change, her familiarity with the school and the program should steady the ship.

Serving as Cupp's primary assistant, she'll now transition into the head coaching role. Jimenez is a 2013 graduate of Milton High School, and a former collegiate athlete in the softball world.

After a Division I all-conference career at Georgia Southern, she came back to the area and joined her alma mater's volleyball program. She'll now navigate this period of change as the Panthers lose their top-two players in multiple categories: kills, aces and blocks.

East Hill hires new athletic director

There's a new face in town, and he'll step into one of the area's Panhandle Conference schools' administrative positions right from the jump.

Spending the past eight years in Grand Junction, Colo. as the head men's lacrosse coach at Colorado Mesa University, Vince Smith moves to Pensacola to assume the athletic director role for the Eagles.

This won't be his first stint fronting an athletic office, as Smith was an athletic director at Christchurch School in Christchurch, Va. before assuming his position at Colorado Mesa University. At Christchurch, he was also a state-champion winning lacrosse coach and an award-winning offensive coordinator in football.

“Our family is blessed to have this opportunity to join the East Hill community for our next chapter," Smith said in a press release. "We would like to thank God for the moment to answer the call to lead.”

He replaces interim athletic director Michael Dimmick, whom the school recognized for his willingness leadership during a time of transition and uncertainty.

Gulf Breeze and Pine Forest give back

The United Way's "Stuff the Bus" initiative was set up to take donations at Walmart's across the Pensacola area, and many Dolphins and Eagles decided to help the cause.

Pine Forest's highly-recruited defensive end Elijah Douglas and teammate Kobe Johnson posted up at the Mobile Highway Walmart at 6 a.m. to begin accepting donations. From money to school supplies, the store's shelves were empty as people bought supplies to offer up.

"I love trying to help out as much as I can with the community," Douglas said. "I would love to participate in more activities like that with giving back."

Gulf Breeze contributed as well with eight players showing up to serve their community.

All donations will be given to young students in the area who need help in preparing for the new, quickly-approaching school year.

Steinmetz makes baseball commitment

Lighthouse Private Christian Academy has some news coming out of its baseball program as well and it's pitcher Jackson Steinmetz making his commitment to Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.

The Stingrays lead pitcher posted a 4-4 record this past spring while maintaining a 3.98 ERA and collecting a team-leading 59 strikeouts. He was atop the leaderboard with 10 appearances during the team's 14-7-1 season.

At the plate he swung for a respectable .302 average, driving in 16 runs while clubbing a team-high three home runs.

As for the Saints, the junior college out of Andalusia, Ala., they went 25-27, losing in the first round of the Alabama Community College Conference postseason tournament. Steinmetz will likely help them improve on a cumulative team ERA of 5.42.

Lucas Semb can be reached at Lsemb@pensacol.gannett.com or 850-281-7414. Follow him on Twitter at @Lucas_Semb for stories and various Pensacola area score updates.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Jay, Milton, Central, Lighthouse and East Hill make coaching changes