EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette College head baseball coach Tim Reilly has announced the addition of Marcus Smith to the Lafayette Baseball staff, along with the promotion of Garrett Siemek to Director of Operations.
 
Smith will become the team's volunteer assistant coach and will be primarily responsible for working with the Leopards' infielders and hitters.
 
"Coach Smith is going to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team," said Reilly. "Coach has an energy and a passion for teaching and we are eager to have him join the family prior to the 2022 baseball season."
 
Smith arrives on College Hill with 10 years of coaching experience at the NAIA and Division II level. He spent the last two years as the head baseball coach and Athletic Academic Enhancement Coordinator at Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. During his tenure at Voorhees, he led fundraiser initiatives with US Baseball Academy, leading to upgrades in the program's baseball facility, as well as served as the NAIA Liaison Champions of Character for the athletic department. The baseball program was also nominated for the ABCA Academic Excellence Award under his guidance.
 
Prior to Voorhees, Smith was the head coach at Lemoyne-Owen College from 2015-2018 after serving as an assistant with the program from 2012-2013. While as the head coach at Lemoyne-Owen, he was a 2017 Division II SIAC Tournament finalist and received the SIAC Outstanding Coach Award. Smith also led fundraising initiatives with International Paper, Kruger, and Toyota, and improved team community involvement through mentorship with the MLB RBI program and US Baseball Academy. In 2018, he helped increase the team's GPA from 2.6 to 3.0 resulting in a student-athlete receiving the Lutzie 43 Foundation Award. As an assistant he played a key role in the program's top rank in fielding percentage and in mentoring the 2013 NCAA Division II Batting Average Award recipient. 
 
From 2013-2015 he served as an assistant coach at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and from 2007-2009 he served as an assistant coach at Clark Atlanta University. In 2015 he also led Tiger USA, a member of the Urban Baseball Organization, to the MLB RBI Championship.
 
Smith started his career as an assistant coach at Jonesboro High School as an infield instructor for the LEAD organization in Georgia and overseeing player development at the Atlanta Sports Academy. He has experience with instructing camps and player development with the University of Memphis, Eastern Kentucky, US Baseball Academy, MLB RBI, and HBCU baseball camps.
 
He graduated from Albany State University with a bachelor's degree in physical education and is married to Dr. Juanita Smith. His nephew, Kelvin Smith Jr., was drafted by the Detroit Tigers organization in 2018.
Siemek moves to Director of Operations for the 2022 season after spending his first season with the Leopards as the volunteer assistant coach. He will handle the day-to-day operations for the team and organize all camp opportunities.
 
"We are very excited to move Coach Siemek to the Director of Operations position," Reilly said, "He did an incredible job as the volunteer assistant and his ability to organize and promote the program will be a big piece in taking this program to the next level."
 
The Lafayette Nine will kick off their season on Feb. 18 against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. First pitch of the 2022 season is slated for 6 p.m.