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2003 Softball
Turns out you can go home again. Now entering her fourth season at the helm of the Cal State Fullerton softball team, head coach Michelle Gromacki has not only come back to the school which she helped lead to a NCAA National Championship in 1986 on the field, but now has the Titans on the verge of breaking into the Women’s College World Series as a head coach. Hired as an assistant to Judi Garman in 1995, Gromacki was promoted to head coach in 2000 after Garman’s retirement. In her three seasons as head coach, Gromacki has led the Titans to three straight Big West Conference titles and three trips to the NCAA Regionals – including the regional championship game in 2002. Gromacki earned Big West Conference Coach of the Year honors in her first season, leading a young Titan squad to a 45-15 record and its first league title since 1993. With more experience on the field in 2001, Gromacki’s Titans finished 48-14 overall and won the conference for the second consecutive year after going 19-2 in the Big West. The 2002 season was a banner year as Gromacki led Fullerton to a 53-13 overall mark (the most victories in a season since Gromack led the Titans to 59 wins as a player in 1987) and a 22-2 mark in the Big West – the highest conference winning percentage in school history. Gromacki has also twice headed-up Speedline/NFCA West Region Coaching Staff’s of the Year in 2000 and 2002. The past two summers, Gromacki has had her chance to shine on an international level as well, serving as an assistant coach on the 2001 USA Blue team which competed in three international tournaments, and serving as an assistant on the US National “Elite” Team which competed in the Canada Cup and served as a “sparring” partner for the US National Training Team in 2002. As an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton, Gromacki helped lead the Titans to a 184-129 (.588) overall record and a 79-69 (.534) Big West mark in five seasons. Fullerton posted a 20-8 league record in her first season as an assistant in 1995 (46-17 overall) and finished second in the conference before advancing to the Women’s College World Series where the Titans finished fifth. Regarded as one of the best catchers in the nation, Gromacki helped lead the Titans to a combined 170-19-1 overall record and a 65-10-1 mark in conference play as a player while claiming the 1986 NCAA National Championship. In 1995, Gromacki was invited to participate in the first-ever Olympic try-out camp and led the Redding Rebels to three of four ASA Women's Major Fastpitch National Championships. She was also named an ASA All-American that season, an honor she has earned eight times during her career. Gromacki was also selected as a member of the US National Team that participated in the tournament to open the Olympic Complex for the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. In 1994, Gromacki was a member of several US National Teams which claimed gold medals at the South Pacific Classic Tournament, the World Championships in Canada, and the Pan Am Qualifier in Guatemala. She was a participant in the Olympic Sports Festival in St. Louis as both a player and an assistant coach to Ralph Weekly. From 1985-92, Gromacki participated in three Olympic Sports Festivals and was a member of two US National Teams that took gold medals in international competition in China (1987) and Japan (1985). She also spent eight months playing on a traveling team in New Zealand from 1988-89. Aside from playing, Gromacki has also been involved in numerous activities to promote the sport of softball. She was responsible for Junior Olympic tryouts and Pan Am Team practices held at Cal State Fullerton, has conducted numerous clinics and speaking engagements around the world, and conducted a clinic in Italy, spending three days working with the Italian Junior Olympic National Team. Gromacki is also a contributor to numerous athletic publications, including authoring a monthly column for Southern California Softball Magazine and writing articles for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association newsletter. A native of Antioch, Calif., Gromacki currently resides in Huntington Beach. Her parents are Rick and Adeline.
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