Seasons Coached at Ouachita (prior to 2022): 1
Record at Ouachita (prior to 2022): 20-18
Arkansas Softball Hall of Famer Derrick Grimes enters his second season at Ouachita in 2022 after leading the Tigers to their first-ever conference winning record in 2021.
In addition to the first conference winning record in program history in 2021, Ouachita pitching recorded a 2.97 earned run average, more than two and a half runs lower than the previous season and its lowest since 2011.The Tigers outscored their opponents by 33 runs, the program's first positive run differential since 2010. Three Tigers were named All-GAC in 2021, as Hope Waid and Heather Brown earned Second Team honors, and Nikki Schneider earned Honorable Mention accolades.
Grimes has more than 20 years of coaching experience at the NJCAA, high school and travel ball levels. He has coached teams to five ASA/USA National Championships, eight top-three national finishes, and 16 state titles, as well as five USSSA World Championships.
Grimes came to Arkadelphia having spent the past four years as an independent softball instructor in Little Rock and the past 24 years as head coach of Cole Minnows Softball, with which he has coached more than 100 players who went on to receive college softball scholarships. From 2007 to 2015, he served as assistant softball coach at Southwest Tennessee Community College, where he coached several All-TCCAA and All-America honorees. Prior to STCC, he was an assistant at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, where he coached teams to four state tournament appearances with two second-place finishes.
In addition to his work in leading and developing softball players, Grimes spent 35 years as a firefighter in North Little Rock and has served as a Deacon at Highway Baptist Church and as a youth pastor at Steel Bridge Baptist Church.
Grimes earned a bachelors in fire science and a master's in health and safety from Columbia Southern. He also spent two years as a member of the Henderson State baseball team.
Grimes' wife, Janie, joined the Ouachita staff for the 2021 season as well as a volunteer pitching coach.
