Director of Athletics
Jason Linders has announced today that
Lily Rivera '21 has been elevated to become the next head coach of the Gordon College softball program. Rivera spent the last two seasons in the dugout as an assistant coach for the squad, and previously wore the Fighting Scot name across her chest for five years as an impactful student-athlete for the program.
"We are thrilled to welcome Lily as our new head softball coach," said Linders. "As a former assistant and distinguished alumna of the program, Lily exhibits a passion and vision to compete for conference championships while providing holistic support to allow our student-athletes to grow in their faith on and off the field. Her tremendous recruiting ties in New England, specifically Massachusetts and New Hampshire, will be invaluable as we continue to build our program. In addition to her coaching abilities, Lily's faith and familiarity with Gordon College's culture make her an ideal fit and we are excited to embark on this exciting new chapter in our softball program."
As well as being an assistant coach for the Scots since August of 2022, Rivera has been the center director among other duties with an organization called, KidStrong, which is "Athletic Play – a new kind of activity for kids ages 1-11 that builds confidence, character and family connection through science-based fitness games led by expert coaches". There, Rivera led five different branches in the New England area, recruiting, hiring, and training new coaches.
Throughout the past eight years, Rivera has worked extensively in the travel ball sector where she began as an assistant coach with the New Hampshire Comets in 2016. Then, from 2020-2022, Rivera coached on the Seacoast Softball staff. Most recently, Rivera has been with the New England Fusion Showcase team since 2022 and this summer alone have won three tournaments. In each of these roles, Rivera developed players to be ready to compete at the collegiate level.
On the diamond, Rivera started 145 games of her 147, boasted a .535 slugging average, .387 on base percentage, as well as a .342 batting average. In 465 career at bats, Rivera scattered 159 hits, with 34 being doubles and 16 home runs, tallying 101 runs scored, and 99 RBIs throughout her playing career. The infielder split time between second and third base, while holding a .904 fielding percentage. Rivera was named to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) 2nd Team at the third base position twice in her career.
"Gordon Softball has been my home for the last seven years. I knew when I toured campus as a prospective student that this was the place the Lord wanted me to be. It has been a beautiful journey playing for five years, assistant coaching for two years, and now the head coach. This has been one of the biggest dreams of mine and I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for this program. I want to thank President Hammond, Jason Linders, Jon Welty Peachy, the athletic leadership team, and Gordon athletics for this opportunity to play for the Lord and build women in their relationship with God, in academics, and in softball! Thank you to all my family and friends that have supported my dream of coaching and always been by my side through all the years of playing and coaching softball. This wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank you enough for all the support and love you have given to me that I get to share with others. I am so excited for this new journey and can't wait to see how Gordon Softball will continue to grow! It's a great day to be a Scot!"
Rivera earned a Bachelor of Science in Recreation, Sport, and Wellness from the College in 2021, before obtaining her Master of Science in Financial Analysis in May of 2022.
