SOUTH PORTLAND — The jump from high school to college can be a difficult undertaking — whether you are an 18-year-old athlete or a coach looking to take on the next level for the first time.
Former Biddeford High School softball coach Ray Magnant has certainly made the transition look easy.
Magnant has won Coach of the Year honors in each of his first two seasons at the helm of the Southern Maine Community College softball program, including being honored after this season when the SeaWolves finished with a 20-15 record in the rugged Yankee Small College Conference.
The SMCC skipper credited his players and assistant coaches with helping him take home the top honor for a YSCC coach.
“The only reason why I get coach of the year is because I have some great players that make me look good. It all comes down to having great kids that buy in to the system and then we have a great coaching staff,” said Magnant, who is a 1990 graduate of Biddeford High School.
Magnant took over the SMCC program in 2016 just days after he led Biddeford to the Class A state championship.
The Biddeford native took over an SMCC squad that went 4-23 in 2015-16 and was able to turn things around with a 16-5 record in his first year leading the SeaWolves.
Magnant has been loving his time with the SeaWolves, but it took some time for the former high school coach to get used to the workload that comes with coaching at the next level.
“It’s been great. The biggest thing has just been adapting to all the traveling and year-round recruiting … it’s a little tougher than high school where I work a full-time job and it’s like a full-time coaching position,” said Magnant, who was a member of the Biddeford High School Hall of Honor Class of 2017.
One thing that has helped Magnant get off to a strong start at SMCC has been his knowledge of the high school softball scene in Maine.
“I think it helps me big time. The last few years I have a lot of players reaching out to me just because coaching in high school a lot of those players know me and I know a lot of those players,” said Magnant, who coached at Massabesic from 2012 to 2014.
While Magnant has been happy with his success on the recruiting trail, the SMCCcoach is hoping to start making even more of a splash in southern Maine.
“The recruiting has been really good … but I was hoping to get a little more local schools around here but right now I’m not. I’m kind of getting more up north (Maine) and New Hampshire area where I’d like to get more of the York County girls,” said Magnant. “It’s always good to get local girls, but a lot of the local girls around here are very, very good so they are kind of taking off for the bigger schools and I don’t blame them.”
One of the southern Maine athletes who picked SMCC is former Massabesic standout Sarah Guimond, who played for Magnant during her early years with the Mustangs.
“She’s been here the last two seasons and she’s doing really well … it’s been great,” said Magnant on Guimond. “I coached her early on at Massabesic when she was young and she did a good job there, but coaching her the last two seasons I can see the growth with her where every year she’s getting better and better.”
Magnant, who was a football, basketball and baseball star for Biddeford, believes the SeaWolves are heading in the right direction and could make a run to the NCAA Division II tournament in the coming years.
“We just get better. We get better … every year we’re getting better and every year we are trying to take the next step,” said Magnant. “Our goal is to get to nationals. We were close this year but it didn’t happen. We got 20 wins this year, so next year we will be shooting for 24, 25 wins and try to get to the nationals.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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