Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
Larissa Smith was a stand-out pitcher who as a junior helped lead Lake George High School’s softball team to a state championship in 1992.
Now Larissa Anderson, she’s the head coach of the University of Missouri’s 7th seeded softball team, which advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals Sunday with a 1-0 nine-inning win over Omaha.
The Tigers take on No. 10 Duke at Mizzou Softball Stadium Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m. It will be shown on ESPN2.
After losing their first game of the Columbia Regional to Omaha on Friday, the Tigers (47-16) roared back to win four-straight elimination games at Mizzou Softball Stadium to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2021.
In her sixth season at Missouri, Anderson has a 216-113 (.657) record coaching the Tigers. This is the second Super Regional she has coached Missouri to.
Larissa, daughter of Debbie and the late Peter Smith, still lives in Lake George in the home she grew up in. Her parents long owned the East Cove Restaurant and The Garrison in Lake George.
Larissa says she grew up in the business, washing dishes at eight years old and later serving as a bus girl, waitress, bartender and hostess.
She remembers vividly how she first fell in love with softball. “I lived very close to the elementary school and I’d ride my bike down to the upper field,” she said. “That’s where I really learned how to start playing the game.”
She started playing softball in the Lake George Youth Commission when she was in fourth grade, and continued improving her skills in the grades ahead, leading up to her successful high school career.
After high school Larissa took her game to the next level, playing for Division II Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she was named a regional All-American outfielder her senior year. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in therapeutic recreation.
With her playing days over, Larissa began coaching, first as an assistant at Gannon for a season, then two seasons with Division II LIU Post in Long Island.
Larissa’s next stop was Division I Hofstra in Long Island, where she coached for 17 seasons, 13 as an assistant and four as the head coach. In the head role, she led the Pride to a 130-73-1 (.640) record with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances to go along with two Colonial Athletic Association titles.
That’s when Missouri came knocking. The opportunity to coach a Power Five program was too good to pass up.
“Winning is a byproduct of all the lifetime lessons you learn,” Larissa said in explaining her coaching philosophy.
“We work a lot on being disciplined, self-motivated, having a blue-collar mindset, and just outworking the system and grinding and gritting it out.”
Larissa says she comes home to the Lake George area on holidays. Besides her mom, her sister Meredithe Smith Mathias lives in South Glens Falls and her brother Logan J. Smith is in Saratoga.
“I still have a lot of friends that I grew up with in Lake George,” Larissa says.
And she enjoys sharing here her passion for Missouri softball and the sport.
“Every time my sister comes and visits I pack a suitcase of Mizzou gear and send it home with her,” Anderson said.
“There’s a lot of ‘MIZ’ stickers on cars and people that are following us.
“I think it’s really special for upstate New York to be able to watch a Power 5 softball program and feel connected to it. That just grows the game and grows the exposure for our young women.”
After Friday’s game, Missouri plays the Blue Devils Saturday, May 25, at noon in the best-of-three series. If a game 3 is necessary, they’ll face off Sunday, May 26, at a time to-be-determined.
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