“I would also come to games with my dad. I always wanted to be part of what they had,” she said.
At the time, Elkton native Mickey Dean was the head coach of the Dukes, and Loren LaPorte was one of his assistants.
“I am not sure if she remembers me,” Gress said of LaPorte, who has been the JMU head coach since Dean left for Auburn after the 2017 season.
LaPorte certainly knows about Gress now.
Now known as Sam Gress-Scruggs (she was married in January to Kyle Scruggs), the former pitcher at North Carolina State, Charlotte and South Carolina is in her first season as the pitching coach under LaPorte at JMU.
But that was not the plan.
“In the fall, the plan for me was to be a graduate assistant at South Carolina,” said Gress-Scruggs, after a home game earlier this season. “I was going to finish my master’s degree.”
But then last fall LaPorte touched base with Ashley Chastain Woodard, the head softball coach at South Carolina, whom Gress-Scruggs had also played for at Charlotte.
The Dukes were in search of a pitching coach after Maddie Penta, who was with JMU for just the 2025 season, left the program.
Penta had pitched at Auburn for Dean, whose last season with the SEC school was in 2024.
Gress-Scruggs, an all-region pitcher at USC, was offered the JMU job.
“That was not on my radar yet. But opportunities like this don’t come around that much for people my age,” she said. “It was not easy to leave USC.”
It was also a hectic time off the field, with her wedding in mid-January as the couple settled in an apartment just a few miles south of JMU’s home field.
The first game of the season was Feb. 6.
Now winding down her first season with the Dukes, Gress-Scruggs, 25, notes she is not much older than some of the JMU stars.
While in college, Gress-Scruggs pitched against JMU while with North Carolina State and Charlotte. She played against some Dukes who are still with the team, including redshirt junior pitcher/utility Payton List.
Gress-Scruggs watched the 2021 College World Series on television as the Dukes made an unlikely run to Oklahoma City, coming out of the CAA.
“I watched Coach LaPorte and how she loved those girls. I have so much respect for what she has done here,” said Gress-Scruggs, the top player in the state of Pennsylvania while in high school in 2019.
JMU is now part of the Sun Belt Conference – just a step or two below the powerhouse SEC.
“The Sun Belt is very competitive. Offensively, the Sun Belt is very tough,” she said.
LaPorte has had several standout pitchers during her time at JMU, including former Fort Defiance High star Megan Good, and Odicci Alexander, who paced the World Series run five years ago.
Now Gress-Scruggs is part of that tradition, noting the 2021 World Series banner attached to the press box back of home plate.
“We’re excited to welcome Sam Gress-Scruggs as our new pitching coach,” LaPorte said when she was hired. “Her knowledge, energy, and passion for the game will be tremendous assets to our program. I’m confident she will elevate our staff and help our pitchers grow both in the circle and as competitors.”
JMU has a team ERA of 4.74, while opponents check in at 5.36. The Dukes have yielded 50 unearned runs this season, which takes a toll on a pitching staff.
The Dukes had a team ERA of 3.66 in 2025 while opponents came in at 3.99.
Local softball notes
- Turner Ashby High grad Reaghan Warner is a freshman with the Dukes. She has played in 41 games with one at-bat, and as a courtesy runner has scored 15 times.
- Gress-Scruggs played at Central Dauphin High in Harrisburg. Central Dauphin grad Nate Payne is a minor league pitcher in the Miami Marlins farm system. Devin Thomas, another alum, played basketball at Wake Forest and several years overseas, including stops in Hungary and Spain.
Sun Belt Tournament
- JMU ended regular season play on Saturday at Marshall with a 5-0 win, as List pitched a shutout. The Dukes improved to 27-23 overall and 13-11 in the Sun Belt and as the No. 6 seed will face No. 3 Texas State on Thursday in the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday with games between seeds 7 through 10.
- At Marshall, the Dukes won two of three games as the hosts lost a series at home for the first time this season. Marshall (39-16, 17-7) was second in regular season play back of first place Louisiana Monroe, which was 37-19, 19-5.
Support AFP
Share
David Driver
