Bio

In her first season at Gulf Coast, April Byerley helped led the team to a memorable 17-win improvement in 2023. She’s back for a second season looking to raise the bar even higher. 

Last year’s squad went 39-20. The Bulldogs tied for fifth in the MACCC then claimed three dramatic walk-off wins in the regional to finish fifth.

Byerley has a proven record of teaching and managing pitching staffs. She was pitching coach for the North Georgia team that advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals in 2022.

The Nighthawks won the 2022 Peach Belt Conference regular season and conference championships, and the pitching staff finished second in the Peach Belt Conference with a 2.61 ERA. They were one victory short of 50 for the season after winning the Southeast Regional and Super Regional.

She worked with pitchers at Southeastern Louisiana from 2020-21. The Lions had two no-hitters in a season for the first time in 2021, and pitchers set a new mark for saves in a season. The Lions beat Power 5 schools in both seasons. 

In 2019, she was a volunteer coach at Spring Hill, where she coached the Southern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Starting Pitcher of the Year, a First-Team All-SIAC pitcher, and the SIAC Tournament MVP. Spring Hill won the conference championship. 

She started her coaching career at Niceville High School, where in seven years the team was Florida runners-up three times and district champs five times.

Byerley began her college playing career at Northwest Florida State, where she was a pitcher/outfielder. She was twice named All-Panhandle Conference. After graduation, she went to play in the SEC at South Carolina. She still holds the Gamecocks record with 32 relief appearances in a season, and she ranks fourth on the all-time list with 53 relief appearances in two seasons.

Byerley has an associate degree from Northwest Florida State and a bachelor’s in experimental psychology from South Carolina. She is married to Jack, also a Gulf Coast assistant coach.