Kelly Smith, Head Coach

As Coach Smith begins his 14th season at the helm for the Red Devils, he is averaging 35 wins in each of the 10 previous campaigns. NWAACC teams are limited to a 40 game schedule, plus the NWAACC tournament, so you get the picture.
Winning baseball games at Lower Columbia College, is not a new deal. Jack Riley, Ed Cheff, Scott Carnahan and Steve Farrington established and maintained that habit over the past 40 years and Smith, with a career (453-122) mark continues to keep the Devils at the top of the NWAACC heap. " Kelly ranks right up there with those former coaching legends," according L.C.C. pitching coach Rob Hippi. " I played for Jack Riley and have coached with both Scott Carnahan and Ed Cheff. The common ground as I see it, is that no one player is special. They coach them all hard and in the end that is what earns them the respect of their teams. The kids know that they are getting better and that is their purpose in being here."
Ironically, Coach Smith passed up becoming a Red Devil player himself upon graduation from neighboring Mark Morris High School. " I wasn't good enough," says Smith, "so I went to Western to play for coach Ralph Dick."
A centerfielder, with blazing speed, the former high school basketball star, spent 3 years in Bellingham and then when Coach Dick moved to Pullman, to become a Cougar assistant, he took the razor-thin, cat-quick, Smith along. Following a red-shirt season, which included a great deal of time spent in the weight room, he exploded on to the scene, for legendary Coach Bobo Brayton's Cougars.
In the spring of 1979, he led the Pac 10 in hitting with a .418 average, stole 30 bags, and scored 69 runs, to earn All-Pac 10 and 3rd team All-American honors. Drafted in the 13th round, of the '79 draft, by San Francisco, Kelly went on to play 4 years in the Giants minor league system, the last 2 of which were spent at the AAA level, in Phoenix. Not bad for a guy who didn't think that he could play at L.C.C. out of high school.
After his playing career coach Smith was hired, as the lead assistant, at Portland State, where he spent 7 years coaching in the Pac 10, under Jack Dunn. Kelly returned to Longview in 1995, following a stint scouting for the Oakland A's. In the 11 years leading the Devils, he has won 4 NWAACC titles, and had 5 runner-up finishes. All 12 teams have qualified for the NWAACC tournament and 10 have been Western Division Champions.
Kelly Smith is obviously a good coach but he might be a better dad. He and his wife Lola have 3 children. Riley, Colin, and Shawna.

Rob Hippi, Pitching Coach

Since the NWAACC went to wood bats in 1997, Lower Columbia has compiled a combined team ERA of 1.97. LCC has either led the conference or been second in ERA and K/BB ratio every year. Under head coach Kelly Smith and pitching coach Rob Hippi, the Devils have won four titles, and were runners-up five times, in the wood bat era. Numerous pitchers have been drafted (7 alone in 2005) or have continued their careers by going to Pac 10 schools or other Div I or II teams, more pitchers than any team on the West Coast.
Coach Hippi retired from the public schools after 31 years as a high school U.S. history teacher/ coach. Rob has spent time as a head coach in baseball, basketball and football at the high school level. At Kelso HS, he coached major leaguer Jason Schmidt (Dodgers), ironically, not in baseball, but as as a wide receiver. Coach Hippi has coached pitchers at Lower Columbia since 1977 with a 10 year break to coach son Zach’s youth baseball teams. Hip coached Toledo HS to a WIAA second place finish to a Davy Johnson coached Ephrata team. Rob has spent 20 years all together at LCC.
At Toledo HS, Rob was an all-state basketball player and played QB on two undefeated football teams coached by his Hall of Fame father Ted Hippi. Rob played collegiately at Central Washington University where he was (Topps) All- Pacific Coast, all EVCO twice(3rd all-time in K’s) and inducted into the CWU Athletic Hall-of-Fame (‘68 team), as a RHP. Professionally, he pitched in the New York Yankee organization from 1969-1972. At one time he held the club record for single game strikeouts at Oneonta of the New York-Penn League with 16, one time tied with Ken Brett.
Rob was the pitching coach for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks with Ed Cheff when they won the A.B.L. title in 2002, and 2003, and also the N.B.C. National Championship, at Wichita, in 2002. He spent the summer of 2006 as Ed Knaggs pitching coach leading the Wenatchee Apple Sox to their second consecutive W.C.C.B.L title and they reached the playoffs again this past summer. Coach Hip also coached two Longview teams to the Babe Ruth World Series; In 1992, with his son on the team, and again in 2004.
Coach Hippi has worked at several camps and has spoken at clinics all over the Pacific Northwest. He also offers private pitching instruction and provides camps and clinics at Lower Columbia.
Rob and his wife, Marysue, reside in Longview.

Ian McMullen, Assistant Coach

Ian McMullen is no newcomer to the Lower Columbia College baseball program. In his his 4th year as a hitting and catching coach with the Devils, McMullen has been around the program much longer than that.
A graduate of Kamiakin H.S. in Kennewick, WA, Ian played baseball there for former Longview resident and R.A. Long graduate Rex Easley.
Red Devil head coach Kelly Smith convinced Ian that L.C.C. would be a good next step for him. So, coming off of a 2nd in the nation finish with the Kennewick Dusters American Legion team, McMullen enrolled at L.C.C. in the fall of 1999.
While at L.C.C., Ian led the Devils to two second place finishes in the N.W.A.A.C.C. finals in 2000 and 2001.
After Lower Columbia, Ian accepted a scholarship to Oregon State University, where he played for the Beavers and received his B.A. degree.
It is rare to find many teams who have a true catching coach, so with Ian on board, along with volunteer assistant Rick Sweet ( ex-L.C.C. player who caught 7 years in the big leagues), we feel pretty good about recruiting high profile catching prospects and teaching them the proper techniques and tools to play Division I baseball behind the dish.
Ian has played professionally in the Frontier League and is turning into an extremely fine young coaching prospect.
With Ian, the whole family gets involved as his father Mike and mother, Carol are huge Lower Columbia boosters.
In his spare time, Ian enjoys hunting, fishing, other sports ( he was a 4 year varsity football letterman at Kamiakin and outstanding high school wrestler), and the outdoors in general.

Grady Tweit, Assistant Coach

Although this will be Coach Tweit’s 2nd year as a coach at L.C.C. he is not a newcomer to the Red Devil program. Grady came here in 1997 as a 3rd baseman from Sehome H.S. in Bellingham, WA where he started for 4 years for coach Gary Hatch. Grady was early in a long line of Bellingham players to wear the Devil’s uniform. All of the boys from Bellingham that came to L.C.C. played summers for Grady’s father, Murray, on the Post # 7 American Legion team.
As a player Grady is remembered as a tough competitor who wasn’t afraid to get his uniform dirty. He led the Devils to a (40-5) record in ’99, including a 28 game winning streak. He played the whole season, every game, on a knee that would require surgery at seasons end. In 2000 he helped L.C.C. to a 2nd place finish in the N.W.A.A.C.C. tournament. Grady went on to complete his playing career at York College in Nebraska.
Grady has been an assistant coach for 2 years at Sehome H.S. under Hatch, another summer under his dad, Murray, with Post #7, and a year with the Belligham Bells of the P.I.L., under current O.S.U. assistant David Wong.
In 2004 Grady was the head coach of the North Whatcom Senior Legion team and for the past 2 summers he has been the head coach of the Post # 7 Legion team out of Bellingham.
Grady, his wife Alicia and 2 year old daughter Mackynlee currently live in Longview as Grady completes his B.A. in Social Work through Eastern Washington University.

Seth Johnson, Assistant Coach

Seth Johnson begins his 3rd season on the L.C.C. baseball coaching staff, but the Johnson family is not new to Lower Columbia baseball.
Seth's 2 older brothers, Tommy and Danny, were both Red Devils.
Seth opted to sign professionally right out of Kelso High School, where he was drafted in the 11th round, by the Montreal Expos, in 2000.
Following a 4 year minor league career, Seth is currently pursuing a college degree.
An outstanding high school athlete, Seth was a quarterback at Kelso and also was the Greater St. Helens League M.V.P. in baseball during his senior year. Seth was also a 1st team All-State baseball selection in 2000.
He will be a tremendous asset to the Red Devil staff because of his versatility in the game of baseball. He has a background in infield and catching, as well as hitting. However, Seth's biggest attributes are his modest demeanor, ability to communicate with players, and an uncommon maturity in the game of baseball, at such a young age.
We feel very fortunate to have Seth Johnson here at L.C.C., to help us, in our quest for another NWAACC title.