{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreia5r6gwuqsy4erpcpovxbhdsk33vbrwgujrdr6b5acygrh2ura7yy",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:sh6iia5zxy3oqxgyrxnlf23i/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm63vkrxjps2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreies424fdxlbnjkuus6o5eoojmtslppv456kfou5pm5wgthefeofka"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 429625
  },
  "path": "/hillsdale-blog/writers/monica-vanderweide/kyle-gross-hillsdale-softball/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-18T15:30:41.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.hillsdale.edu",
  "tags": [
    "Arete",
    "Monica VanDerWeide",
    "When Work is Play: Kyle Gross Guides Hillsdale Softball to Success",
    "Hillsdale College"
  ],
  "textContent": "#### Written by Monica VanDerWeide, '95\n\nA popular saying goes, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” For Head Softball Coach Kyle Gross, that sentiment rings true as he comes off one of the most successful seasons ever in program history and enters his eighth season at the helm. The path to Hillsdale took some twists and turns, however, marked not only by times of uncertainty and sacrifice, but also by determination and the unwavering support of his family.\n\n“I always knew I would do something with sports when I grew up,” Gross said. “I wanted to be a professional baseball player.” A multisport athlete in high school, Gross primarily played baseball but also tried his hand at football, soccer, and swimming and diving. At Otterbein College (now University) in Ohio, he played baseball for a year. But as he realized that a career in the Major Leagues was highly unlikely, Gross switched gears. He started a career as a police officer in Newark, Ohio, eventually earning a degree in criminal justice from Columbia Southern University.\n\nStill, Gross couldn’t shake the idea of doing something with sports. He worked with his young daughter, who played on a softball rec league, on the basics of the game. “I was asked to be an assistant coach for her league,” he recalled. “I found that those coaches taught at a higher level than you would expect for eight-year-olds. I realized that if you taught the kids something, they would do it. You shouldn’t limit what they can do.”\n\nHungry for more coaching experience, Gross sought out other softball coaches and asked to observe their games. He did some high school coaching and also coached at softball camps and clinics on the side, getting a big break when Olympian Crystl Bustos asked him to be the hitting instructor at her summer camps. As Gross became known in Ohio for his coaching work, the University of Toledo came calling in 2013.\n\n“It was an assistant coaching position,” Gross said. “But it would come with great sacrifice.” Even though the job offered less pay and meant temporarily moving away from his family, Gross took the leap of faith, leaving law enforcement for a chance to coach full time.\n\nIn the course of the season, Gross was moved up to head coach. Even though he led the Toledo program to its best season in more than 15 years, his contract was not renewed. The next three years saw him coach at three different colleges, all with one-year contracts. “After four years, I had nothing,” Gross recalled. “We moved to Florida [where Gross had grown up], and I started a lawn care business.”\n\nThe Gross family was about a year into their new life in Florida when Kyle received a call from Hillsdale’s then-Athletic Director Don Brubacher. “He said, ‘Your name came across my desk for our head softball coach opening,’” Gross recalled. “I was so excited to be considered, even with my limited coaching experience.”\n\nGross interviewed and was offered the job, and he began coaching Hillsdale for the 2019 season. “The program was in good shape,” he recalled. “But I wanted to build Hillsdale softball into something that would be well known.”\n\nIt didn’t take long for that to happen. Right out of the gate, the 2019 squad captured a G-MAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2021, the team racked up 33 wins—the most since 1991—good enough for another NCAA Tournament bid. Gross was named G-MAC Coach of the Year in 2022, and the 2023 team also won the G-MAC Tournament and headed to the regional tournament.\n\n“We had a tremendous senior class,” Gross said of his 2025 squad. “They had so much fight in them right up to the end of the season. And the underclassmen were right there with them, supporting them and pushing them forward.”\n\nThat reflects one of the traits, besides athletic and academic talent, that Gross looks for in recruits: selflessness. “Not everyone can be a star or even a starter,” he said. “But selflessness is important in every role. I’m looking for students of high character who will be excellent teammates.”\n\nGross wants the athletic experience to be good on an individual level as well as the team level. “This isn’t about the wins or losses,” he said. “If we do things right, the wins will come. It’s really about each player’s experience. My daughter played Division I softball and did not have a good experience. No matter what your position is, you should have a good experience as a college athlete, and that’s my goal for them.”\n\nEven with the graduation of four seniors last spring, Gross feels confident that the 2026 team will continue the program’s winning ways. He believes that a trip to the Division II World Series is not out of reach. After all, Gross knows firsthand that hard work, persistence, and teamwork can help you achieve your goals and dreams, even if it takes a while to get there.\n\n“I’m very blessed to be in this position and grateful that Hillsdale College took a chance on me,” he said.\n\n* * *\n\nMonica VanDerWeide is Director of Marketing Content for Hillsdale College. She graduated from Hillsdale in 1995 with a degree in English and German.\n\n* * *\n\n_Reposted from the spring 2026 issue of Arete._\n\nThe post When Work is Play: Kyle Gross Guides Hillsdale Softball to Success appeared first on Hillsdale College.",
  "title": "When Work is Play: Kyle Gross Guides Hillsdale Softball to Success"
}