Coach Ben Harley is entering his sixth season as part of the Centralia College program and fifth overall as Head Coach. In spring of 2024 Coach Harley led the Blazers to the most wins for a single season in program history with 30 wins. 

 

During his time at Centralia College he has helped send on 54 players to continue to play at four year schools throughout the country.

 

During the 2022 and 2023 summers Coach Harley coached for the Kalamazoo Growlers of the Northwoods League where he worked with 60+ pitchers from throughout the country from every level of college baseball. The Kalamazoo Growlers finished as the 2022 Northwoods League champions for the first time in franchise history. In 2023 he led the Growlers pitching staff to the second best ERA in the NWL. During the 2023 summer the Growlers set a franchise win record along with winning their division. From the 2022 and 2023 Growlers rosters over 10 players have gone on to sign professional contracts ranging from the 1st round to UDFA. 

 

In the summers of 2024 and 2025 Coach Harley will serve as the Head Coach for the Battle Creek Battle Jacks in the Northwoods League. 

 

Coach Harley also spent nearly two years working for Driveline Baseball as the Youth Academy Assistant Coordinator where he helped establish the new program being built by Driveline to serve the Northwest baseball community. 

 

Before Coaching at Centralia College Coach Harley was the Head Coach at Valley Catholic high school in Beaverton, Oregon where he led them to back to back playoff appearances while sending multiple players to the D1, D3 and JUCO levels. He also had stints coaching at Peoria, Milwaukie and Rex Putnam high schools serving in a multitude of roles.

 

Coach Harley holds a BA from Oregon State University and a MAT from Lewis and Clark College. He has been married for four years to his wife Haleigh. They have three children together; Harper, Clayton and Nolan along with a dachshund dog named Yogi. 

 

Four-Year programs the Blazers have moved onto the last 5 years:

 

Cumberlands University (NAIA)

Hawaii Hilo (D2)

Corban University (NAIA)

Jamestown University (NAIA)

Benedictine University AZ (NAIA)

Westcliff University (NAIA)

BYU (D1)

West Texas A&M University (D2)

Benedictine University AZ (NAIA)

Cumberlands University (NAIA)

Pacific University (D3)

Lyon College (NAIA)

Bushnell University (NAIA)

Northern University (D2)

Southern University (D1)

Simpson University (NAIA)

Salem University (D2)

San Diego Christian University (NAIA)

University of Tennessee Southern (NAIA)

Briar Cliff University (NAIA)

University of the Southwest (NAIA)

Eastern Oregon University (NAIA)

Ottawa University KS (NAIA)

Simpson University (NAIA)

Southwestern University (NAIA)

University of Texas- Permian Basin (D2)

Covenant College (D3)

Campbellsville University (NAIA)

University of Minnesota Morris (D3)

Washington State University (D1)

Millikin University (D3)

Dakota State University (NAIA)

Holy Names University (D2)

St. Peter's University (D1)

Menlo College (D2)

Montreat College (NAIA)

Linfield University (D3)

University of San Francisco (D1)

Oregon Tech University (NAIA)

Tennessee Tech University (D1)

Montana State Billings University (D2)

Texas A&M Texarkana (NAIA)

Abilene Christian University (D1)

Central Michigan University (D1)

University of Puget Sound (D3)

Ottawa University-AZ (NAIA)

Cornell College (D3)