Hayley Sims entered her second season at Jax State in 2025.
Sims returned to
The Friendliest Campus in the South prior to the 2023-24 season, reuniting with Coach Jana McGinnis after a sensational playing career for the Gamecocks from 2016-19.
As a Gamecock, Sims helped guide Jax State to a trio of Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and advanced to three NCAA Regional tournaments. Over her four years, she played in nearly 200 games, with 166 starts, and made only nine errors from her first base position and more than 1,200 putouts. At the plate, she added 39 extra-base hits, including 14 home runs. One of Jax State's iconic moments at
Jana McGinnis Field was Sims' 11th inning walk-off homer to beat No. 24 and eventual SEC tournament champion Ole Miss at home.
Following her graduation in 2019 with a degree in special education, Sims joined the coaching ranks at Coastal Carolina prior to the 2020 season that ultimately ended early due to Covid-19. The following year, she returned to the OVC as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky. In her first season, the Colonels rolled off a 35-17 mark and swept through the OVC tournament as Sims once again reached NCAA Regional action. In 2022 and 2023, both Jax State and EKU made the move to the ASUN where they continued annual series.
As an assistant at Jax State, Sims will serve as the Gamecocks' recruiting coordinator.
