BY MARY GETTENS
Coach Ken LeGrice would stand smiling and laughing with the softball team members on the softball field. He had a knack for making tense situations less stressful and created an environment where current and former members say they knew he would be there to support them.
LeGrice coached the Stonehill softball program for 17 seasons and spent 12 seasons as the head coach before passing away in May 2021, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.
On Saturday April 9, the current and former Stonehill softball players as well as community members will join in remembering LeGrice at a ceremony at Fr. Gartland Field starting at 9:30 a.m.
During the ceremony, blessings and prayers will be offered, as well as the dedication of a plaque in remembrance of Coach LeGrice, led by Reverend Tim Mouton, C.S.C..
While the team prepares for the game set to start noon against Franklin Pierce, guests and alumni will have the chance to reconnect and explore campus. At the game, there will be an honorary first pitch by LeGrice’s sons, James and Benjamin.
“[Honoring Ken] means so much,” Ali Maloof, the first year Stonehill softball head coach, said.
“The girls are excited for the day. There should be a lot of alum there and they are extremely excited about it. Not only is the Stonehill community going to be there, but a lot of the Brockton community members are going to come out. There are a lot of people than we expected but that is a wonderful thing. That just shows what type of person Ken was.”
LeGrice was not just a coach, but he was also a great mentor and friend, former teammates said. He took the time to build strong relationships with each individual member of the softball team and knew how to motivate them individually, they said.
“No player is the same and no player needs to be coached in the same way,” 2020 graduate and softball alum Katie Rayner, said, who is now in law school. “Just like with teachers, they teach students different ways, and that is what Ken really focused on. I appreciate that because there were ways he could push me that worked for me, and he knew that right off the bat.”
Rayner and other players said that LeGrice was a man of hope, strength, and resilience, and he instilled those qualities in his student athletes. They said he taught his team to work hard, never give up, and have strength through every challenge faced in life.
Those qualities carried over to the softball field.
LeGrice guided the Softball team to a program record of 197 wins including winning 20-plus games on six occasions: including 25 wins in 2013, and 21 wins in 2015. In the same year, the softball team appeared in the semi-finals of the NE10 Tournament. They have appeared in five other NE10 tournaments, as well.
He also coached 21 All-NE10 selections, including five first-year team picks, and five first–year students to earn NE10 All-Rookie team accolades.
In 2019, the Softball team was awarded the Athletics Department Community Service Award, now renamed the Ken LeGrice Community Service Award, for their work with Strikeout Cancer, an organization dedicated to raising money to donate for Dana Farber cancer research.
LeGrice was also a Brockton Police Department lieutenant for 34 years and served as coach for the Brockton High School softball team. He helped the Boxers to the 2000 Massachusetts Division I State Championship.
“Ken was incredibly invested in his work and the people, he worked with,” 2008 Softball alum and former pitching coach Danielle Ricci, said. “He gained significant achievements as both a lieutenant and a coach. They speak to his values of community. Service was a pillar of Coach Ken’s life and one that will live on.”
Many are keeping LeGrice’s impact on the community alive, including the 13 softball programs in the NE10 conference who are wearing helmet stickers with a pink ribbon and the initials “KL” in his honor for the 2022 season. At the ceremony, the Alumni Association will also be announcing the Ken LeGrice Legacy Award. This award will be given to a softball player who embodies the characteristics of the coach – a skilled athlete who has made a lasting positive impact on teammates and the Stonehill community. LeGrice is also being nominated to the Stonehill Athletic Hall of Fame by the Alumni Association.
But those who he has coached said he has never truly left them.
“At every game we have played outdoors this season, there has been a hawk,” current Stonehill softball player Molly Adamo, said. “Some people like to say it is Ace, but I like to think that it is Coach Ken’s way of letting us know that he is still at every game.”
Wednesday, April 6:
***EDIT: The event on Saturday before the 12 p.m. start time has been rescheduled to Sunday, April 10 even if there is a game or not. An announcement from Athletics will be released soon, according to Doug Monson, Athletics Director of Communications.
LeGrice talks through some notes he had during a game with other coaches.
Photo courtesy of SportsPix.
LeGrice giving his player a pep talk before she gets ready to bat.
Photo courtesy of SportsPix.
Molly Adamo, member of the class of 2023 swings at a pitch during a game this season.
Photo courtesy of Stonehill College Athletics.
Katie Rayner, class of 2020 throws a pitch during a game at home.
Photo courtesy of Stonehill College Athletics.
Comentários