Lacey Ingram was by birth a Southern California girl who graduated from Torrance High, as much known for its being the school location in many top Hollywood movies as it is a successful athletics school.
One of its most famous athletic alums, Lacey was a multi-sport athlete who earned varsity letters in softball, track (high jump) and volleyball and, on the fields, she was taught by Premier Softball Pitching instructor Ernie Parker (former coach of Lisa Fernandez) and Diane Lewis-Flemming (the former coach of Stacey Nelson, University of Florida).
Lacey was named the City of Torrance Female Athlete of the Year with a 0.25 ERA as a junior at Torrance High before graduating in 1997 as a two-time All-Area selection and All-Southern Section (CIF) pick.
Lacey received a scholarship to Georgia Southern and instantly made her mark, setting the school’s save record as a freshman in 1998 and was a part of GA Southern’s 1999 Southern Conference Championship Team before graduating in 2002.
Since 2002 Lacey has served as a pitching instructor and in 2009 became a co-owner as well as Director of Community Advancement at The Pitcher’s Mound (TPM Fastpitch) in Atlanta, Georgia.
There, along with founder Lisa Raio and fellow co-owner and business partner Ashley Hylton-Toure, Lacey has coached and assisted numerous pitchers in transitioning to over 40 college programs including more than 10 pitchers who have gone on to Power 5 programs in the ACC, Big Ten and SEC.
Her list of current collegiate athletes she has coached and developed include: Madison Kerpics (Georgia); Ansleigh Hollifield (Minnesota); Chandler Dennis (Michigan); Kaitlyn Pickens (Emmanuel College); Sarah Beth Allen, Palmer Pinholster and Lexi Ray (Georgia Tech); Laken Chambers (North Georgia); Logan Caymol (Clemson); Katie Foote (West Georgia); Cameron Dillard (Brenau Univ.) and Jessie Marvin, a 1st Team All-Conference pitcher at Radford.
Lacey also has some prospects to watch who are up and coming including Sarah Currie, the 2019 Georgia 7A state champion and Pitcher of the Year who is headed to Jacksonville State, 2021 grad Sydney Osada headed to Georgia and Taylor Tinsley, a promising 2022 who is being recruited by schools such as UCLA, Oklahoma, Florida, Florida State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Texas, Georgia and many more.
We caught up with Lacey recently to learn more about her background, what drives and inspires her and what’s next… here’s what she had to say…
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You had an outstanding high school career at Torrance High, which is pretty well known for being a background for TV shows and movies.
Yes, my alma mater was the set for TV shows such as “The Original 90210”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Secret Life of the American Teenager” as well as movies such “She’s All That”, “Not Another Teen Movie”, “Bring It On”, “Bruce Almighty” and more.
How does a So Cal girl end up in Georgia?
I played with the travel ball organization Valencia Raiders, which later turned into the So Cal Choppers, and also with California Thunder that had future Olympian Leigh O’Brien Amico as well as the California Cruisers. My recruiting summer was 1996 when the Olympics were held in Atlanta and that summer my dad, who was a cop in Torrance, also worked security for the Olympic Games and became friends with a fellow retired LAPD officer whose daughter was a catcher at Georgia Southern, McCaine Lowder. That was my introduction to Georgia Southern!
When I was coming through, the Tier 1 players all went to the Power 5 schools, but I was a second-tier recruit as a pitcher, slapper and outfielder and went the mid-major route, which ended up being the best decision I ever made for myself. I felt it was key to go away to school as that builds resilience and teaches you so many strong survival skills. Also, I got to be an impact player for our program from the start of my freshman year, not only in the circle but at the plate and in the field.
So your ties in the Atlanta and Georgia area helped you stay in the South?
My major was Sports Management and at the time I was graduating I was trying to get an internship with the Atlanta Braves. I got a part-time summer job and lucked out in that a full-time employee was leaving; I got hired full-time before I finished my last semester of school—I literally finished my last final and 48 hours later was working for the Braves.
How did you get into starting at The Pitcher’s Mound (TPM)?
In 2002, Lisa Raio (who established TPM in 1992), was partnering with Hardball Warehouse owned by Ex-Braves players Greg McMichael, Terry Pendleton and Mark Lemke and so I learned about TPM through my time with the Braves. When the Braves organization was being sold by AOL Time Warner and many changes were occurring in the front office, I decided I would go full-time in instruction. That was in January of 2003 and we had a staff of four at the time. Over the years it has and grown as high as 12-13 instructors and currently we are at nine.
You’re also starting a new path, working in club softball… tell us more about that and how it came to be…
I will be the pitching coach with Georgia Impact 18U – Lewis team. I’ve had several players play for Coach (Patrick) Lewis over the last 10 years and TPM is in the same building as Lincoln Martin, the hitting coach for the Impact.
When did the decision to be a coach with the Georgia Impact get finalized?
I accepted the position in December (2020). Ryker Chason, had been the pitching coach for the Impact the previous year and had accepted the job at Ole Miss last summer, Lincoln asked me a couple of times if I would be interested in coaching with them and I told him to have Patrick give me a call to discuss it. I have kids in all organizations and have tried to stay neutral over the years, but feel that in order to continue to grow as an instructor that working at the highest club level not only keeps my feet in the dirt but more importantly helps me keep a pulse on what’s going on at the highest levels of club play around the country.
It provides me a realistic gauge of talent on the broadest spectrum so that I can then in turn guide the athletes I train. After speaking with Patrick on the phone it really was a great opportunity and fit. Knowing the caliber of play they’re at, I knew it would be the right situation for me. I also was excited to provide a balance of female energy to their all-male staff which I think is important to building well-rounded athletes. It was a perfect fit and I took a leap of faith. I went to Phoenix, Arizona with them in January for our first tournament of 2021 and it was a great experience.
Scroll down to read Lacey’s thoughts on pitching including the #1 thing she works to instill in her players, how she’s seen the craft of pitching change over time and the #1 thing young throwers do wrong…
