Kyle Gross knew he was just one victory away from becoming the winningest softball coach in Hillsdale College history, but said he forgot about it while his team played at a tournament in Hawaii on Feb. 3 — until his players stormed the field and gave him a ball signed by the whole team that had been waiting for him since the final game of last season.
It was his 161st win since being hired in 2018.
“Hillsdale is an amazing college,” Gross said. “The players that I get to work with and recruit, they’re amazing young ladies. It’s a blessing, with my career — the way it bounced around — to land at a place like this, and then to see this much success, is pretty awesome.”
The Chargers’ softball team had a rather abrupt end to its season last spring, according to Gross. The team also stopped just one win short of Gross claiming the record.
“It has players from last year on it,” Gross said. “We wanted to get the freshmen this year to be part of it, so it’ll represent two seasons. Really, the record represents all my seasons, not just last year, not just this year. It was a reflection of seasons past and players that have graduated and gone on.”
Reagan Reese Gensiejewski ’22 played on the team all four years of college and played on Gross’ first Hillsdale team.
“The day Coach Kyle hit 161 wins, me and my teammates spent the night reminiscing via text, facetime, and voice memos on all the wins we were able to experience under his leadership,” Reese said. “Coach Kyle took the time to make us determined athletes, but he also took the time to invest in us as people.”
Gensiejewski said while she was a part of 91 of his 161 record-breaking wins, the relationships she formed through softball are what she remembers most.
“That’s why I still text him when I accomplish something post-grad and why he’s at all of my teammates’ weddings and why we show up for homecoming year after year. That is why he has the most wins in Hillsdale softball history,” Gensiejewski said. “He is a coach off the field just as much as he is a coach on the field. And there is no doubt in my mind that the grind of being a college coach, even the frustrating losses, are W.E.B. (worth every bit).”
Gross started his collegiate career coaching NCAA Division I softball at the University of Toledo. He also worked at Walsh University and Presbyterian College. His last coaching position, before coming to Hillsdale, was as an assistant at Kent State University.
After he worked at Kent State, he and his wife moved to Florida, where he launched his own lawn care business and worked as an umpire. One day, he received a call from former Director of Athletics Don Brubacher asking if he was interested in applying for the job at Hillsdale.
“I always believed in myself. You believe in yourself no matter what you do, whether it’s coaching or anything else, and you just want an opportunity,” Gross said. “I chased those opportunities and maybe made wrong decisions, but I still always felt if you’re ever given an opportunity, you can do good things. Thankfully, Hillsdale gave me an opportunity.”
He said he began coaching softball when his daughter started playing in elementary school, balancing the coaching duties with his full-time job as a police officer in Newark, Ohio.
“At that time it was, it was my outlet. In that line of work, most of my day was negative. You’re dealing with negative things all day long,” Gross said. “And softball was just a different world. I stepped into the softball world, and the players I dealt with, the families I dealt with, it was all just completely opposite that. And so I loved softball.”
Gross reflected on one of the team’s most memorable wins: a last-minute comeback against the University of Findlay in 2022. Despite being down in the last inning, Gross said he had a calm sense that they were going to win.
“Sometimes, as a coach, and maybe as a player, you just know. Even though it didn’t look good, we were down by two or three runs, I was calm inside the box,” Gross said. “This feeling came over me like, doesn’t matter what the score is, doesn’t matter if this batter doesn’t get on base and we’re one out closer to the game being over. I just knew we were going to win by just looking at the players.”
According to senior pitcher Joni Russell, Gross’ excitement and love for the game, along with his unwavering belief in his players, plays a crucial role in the team’s success.
“When we brought him the signed ball with every girl’s name on it, it reminded me of all the amazing experiences and memories I have because of softball, because of coach Kyle,” Russell said. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be playing the game I love and enjoying it so much. I’ve always loved the game of softball, but coach helps me love it a little more and I’m so grateful to have him as my coach.”
