Steven Hardesty will enter his 7th season as the top Assistant Coach for the Ventura College baseball team and 9th total. He started with the Pirate staff  in 2008 and spent two years serving as a volunteer coach. Prior to joining the Ventura College coaching staff Hardesty spent two years as the top assistant coach at Westmont College under head coach Scott Deck including serving as the programs interim head coach for the fall of 2006.

Hardesty played at Ventura High School under Coach Dan Smith; leading his team to a CIF-SS Playoff berth, named team captain, selected to 2nd team all-channel league 2001, Started Jim Parker County All-Star game and was awarded the Bobby Fowler Memorial Scholarship. Played Collegiately for Ventura College 2002 started at 2nd base and designated hitter for Coach Don Adams. Received a scholarship to Trinity International University in Chicago, IL after freshmen season playing 2003 for Coach Greg Lepper as a starter at 2nd base and designated hitter, led team to NCCAA Regional Playoff Berth. Completed collegiate career at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Ca as a 2 year starter at 2nd base, 3rd base and Shortstop. Awarded Ron Smith Memorial Award in 2005 from Westmont College Baseball, selected as team captain in 2006, named team leader in 2006.

Hardesty has held a variety of roles on the Ventura College baseball staff over his 7+ seasons with program. Joining the staff in April of 2008 he served as the assistant infield coach and assistant hitting coach, roles he held until 2011. During those two seasons, Hardesty was a part of two So Cal Regional playoff berths while helping several players reach All-Conference, All-So Cal and All-American status. In 2011, Hardesty took over as the Pirates outfield coach while remaining as the assistant hitting coach and became the Pirates recruiting coordinator. In 2012 Hardesty was elevated to hitting coach and directed the Pirates offensive attack for the 2012-13-14 seasons. During this time the Pirates finished twice amongst the top 25 offenses in the State while picking up a State Batting Champion in 2013, Conference Offensive Player of the year in 2014, four All-American hitters, three All-Southern California hitters, and two players named to one of the All-Pacific Association teams. Hardesty will return to running the Pirates offense for the 2016 season. Working with the Pirates outfielders he has coached four Gold Glove outfielders and had two outfielders named top defensive outfielder in the WSC North and added one State Gold Glove winner in 2011. In 2012-15 Hardesty oversaw the Pirates defensive positioning in addition to his offensive duties for 2012-14, including having the No. 2 overall fielding percentage in the State during the 2014 season. Hardesty has served as the primary handler of the Pirates transfer program since 2011 coordinating the efforts to send Pirate baseball players to four-year colleges. Since 2011 the Pirates baseball program has sent 50+ athletes to four year schools to continue their baseball careers, including three straight years (2013-14-15) with 10+ players transferring to play at four year colleges. As well, one former Pirate baseball player since 2011 has been drafted to play professional baseball. Off the field Hardesty has assisted in running the day to day operations of the Pirate baseball program for the previous five seasons, including assitance in academic progress, in 2014 the Ventura College baseball team was a finalist for the CCCAA State Scholar team of the year award with a 3.19 team GPA while carrying 41 student athletes. The Pirates again were nominated for the award in 2015 with a 3.16 team GPA with 39 student athletes. Additionally, Hardesty oversees the Pirates strength and conditioning program, fundraising program and several other aspects of the Pirates program away from the field.

Prior to joining the Ventura College staff Hardesty served as the top assistant for head coach Scott Deck at Westmont College. For the fall of 2006 Hardesty served as the interim head coach for the Warriors program while the school conducted a national coaching search for the replacement to the previous head coach. During this time Hardesty directed all the Warriors on-field practices, intersquads and strength and conditioning programs while assisting in the coaching search. Upon the hire of Scott Deck, Hardesty was retained as the top assistant. He served as the Warriors infield coach and assistant hitting coach for the 2007-08 seasons. He oversaw the Pirates academic monitoring program and assisted in several other off-the-field duties. Hardesty served as the primary junior college recruiter for the Warrior program and was instrumental in signing eight junior college players during his two seasons as an assistant. 

Hardesty has additionally coached in a variety of different summer and fall leagues. Starting in summer 2006 he served as the top assistant coach for the Bolivar A's of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Then in 2007 he was the Co-Head Coach of the Ventura County Royals an independent summer team in Southern California. Following a few years focusing on his duties at Ventura College, Hardesty returned to serve as the head coach of the So Cal Halos in the Premier Collegiate Baseball League in Southern California for 2013. Then in Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 he served as the head coach of the So Cal Halos 16-U Travel team. In 2015 he served as the infield coach/hitting coach for the Santa Paula Halos of the California Collegiate League helping 3 players be selected as league all-stars and two hitters be named to the All-League team at seasons end. Hardesty will serve as the head coach of the Central Coast Cubs 17-U Scout team for summer 2016 under the diretion of Chicago Cubs area scout supervisor.

Away from coaching Hardesty has engaged in various different activities in the game of baseball. He worked the Ventura College Baseball Camps from summer 2002-05 and then 2007-2009. Joining the staff of Magdaleno Baseball Camps from 2010-12. Beginning in summer 2013 he began working as Field Scout for Perfect Game Baseball helping to evaluate players during the Western Tournaments in Arizona and California. Since 2013 he has served as an associate scout/assistant to area scout supervisor for the Chicago Cubs providing evaluations on potential MLB draft picks in Southern/Central Californian and participating in the Cubs pre-draft workouts. Hardesty has additionally worked numerous baseball camps and provided private hitting/fielding/conditioning lessons and programs for the Ventura baseball community since 2007.

Hardesty earned his B.A. from Westmont College in Political Science in 2006. After graduation, Steven preceded to earn his M.S.S. degree in Sports Studies emphasis in Strength and Conditioning from the United States Sports Academy in 2009. In 2012 he completed his M.S. in Physical Education from Azusa Pacific University. As well, Hardesty earned NSCA-Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification in 2010 and remains current and directs the Pirates baseball strength and conditioning program.

Coach Hardesty works as a occupational therapy aide for Las Cruces Hand Therapy since 2012. Prior to joining Las Cruces he was a physical/occupational therapy aide at Pacific Therapy Services from 2008-2012. In 2015, he began working as the Provisional Sports Information Officer at Ventura College. 

Steven resides in Ventura with his wife Kristin, their 4-year-old son Kaleb, and dog Seven.