CROWN POINT — Mike Ross always says, “The rest is gravy because everything tastes better with it,” when explaining his mindset after winning sectional titles.
Sunday had to be the crème de la crème as family members and former players celebrated his career in a sendoff at Crown Point.
“The speech I was going to give at the sports banquet, I gave here,” Mike said with a laugh. “Now, we can just skip the speech and get right to the food.”
He added that the banquet doesn’t actually have food, but maybe there will be a snack bar for him.
Players from teams across his 25 year coaching career convened in the Crown Point gymnasium to celebrate the man who always said, “It’s not about me, it’s about the girls.”
“This celebration is for him because he deserves it, and this is his favorite kind of thing,” his granddaughter Kaitlin Ross said. “He loves community to come together, be together as a community and eat food and just talk amongst ourselves.”
Event organization was coordinated by Mary Fleury and Liz Ross. Fleury joked about the moment she heard the retirement plan and Liz approached her about the idea.
“It’s funny because I was going to come to you (Liz) and say we got to do something,” Fleury said.
“Between (Liz’s) daughter being a senior, Liz is a teacher and then my son and I coach Little League, so to find the time, I did a group chat, got as many people from 1999 to now as I could, and everybody just — it wasn’t just me — everybody put it together.”
THE CAREER
Crown Point softball has been around since the mid-1970s and has had six head coaches of the program. Half of those teams were coached by Ross.
From 1999-2026, he led the Panthers. There were only two years he didn’t coach, one due to COVID and the other in 2013 to watch his grandson Michael DuShane play his senior year in baseball.
For his time as the head of Crown Point softball, Mike held a record of 312-64, a winning record of 83%. His only losing season was his first at 7-9 in 1999.
Of the 24 MVAC championships, 20 were coached by Ross. Crown Point has 24 Section VII championships; Mike coached 18 of them. All three regional titles — 2007, 2019 and 2015 — were also coached by him.
But that wasn’t what mattered to him. It was the girls that played for him.
“I mean, the first year with his daughter Michelle … that was, like, that first family feel of a softball team here … Then his son Jeff happened to get sick in the same year. He had a liver transplant and everything,” Fluery said.
“We did it for Coach. We’re fighting, he’s fighting with his family, so we’re fighting for him. Just, you know, the moment, and it just turned into a family thing.
“He’s not yelling at you and always there for you. I was just in love with the game, and he made me love it even more.”
After Saturday’s loss to Fort Ann, Mike Ross talked about his two granddaughters he coached, Kaitlin Ross and Chelsea Loitsch.
“I loved it,” Loitsch said. “I always dreamed of being on his team when I was a little girl, and I’d go to practices with him and all the older girls I looked up to, so I was very excited to play with him.”
LOVE OF THE GAME
Memories flooded into the Crown Point gymnasium as players walked in.
Once Mike walked in, all bets were off.
“Yeah, it’s nice. I used to be the team manager when I was in fourth, fifth and sixth grade,” Kaitlin Ross said. “I got to see all the girls that just made me love softball.”
Fleury, who Mike called his “homerun queen,” remembers the story of how she found her way to the outfield.
“I remember when I came up. Obviously, I wasn’t gonna start playing,” she said. “My father was a first baseman, and I was going to be one, too.
“(Mike) told me, ‘No, you’re going to be center field,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t like that. I don’t want to be a center fielder. I want to be an infielder. Who wants to be outfield?’ and he just got me.
“I had speed, you know, and he put me in center field, and I ended up being a star. I loved it. I asked and, even now, like when I’m coaching, I try to encourage kids, try outfield. My love of the position started because of him.”
One person behind the scenes was Lynn Ross, Mike’s wife, who was still wrapping her head around the day. She knew this was planned, but it still surprised her.
“It’s overwhelming. I mean, I didn’t play a big part in the setup or anything like that or what they were gonna do,” she said. “I knew there were going to be speeches and a slideshow, but when I walked in and saw all the people, it’s such an outpouring from the community. It’s very nice.
“I mean, the girls, they all just adore him. We may go to the grocery store or something, and we’ll run into one or two of them. It’s not just them, it’s the mothers, and now, it’s the grandkids.”
THE DAY
Lynn was prepared. When they walked into the gymnasium, Mike was without a hat. After a few moments of cheers and applause, she reached in her bag to give him a Crown Point hat.
“We went back and forth with a couple of days. It was either a sectional game or my son had a baseball game or something else,” Fleury said. “We decided why not a Sunday? We knew the girls were playing yesterday, win or lose. I knew that coach was going to be fine today.
“Either way, it was going to be great. We were going to celebrate, no matter what.”
And celebrate they did.
After a handful of speeches, Mike was fine. But when the slideshow began, the tears followed.
It was played over a soundtrack the players knew all too well: The playlist made by Ross’ daughter Michelle that played every game and between innings.
“Seeing all those pictures was special,” Ross said. “It brought back so many memories with the girls. This was special.”
Loitsch said she was excited everyone came together to celebrate him.
“He deserves it, and I’m sure he’ll be very touched by all of this,” she said.
After the speech, former players and attendees spoke individually with Mike. With every hug, there were smiles, and a smile never left Mike’s face.
The day ended a chapter that began at Crown Point in 1999, but Lynn said she doesn’t expect it to be over.
“It’s totally mixed emotions because it’s our life, and so I don’t know what life is going to be like without it,” she said. “That’s part of it, definitely.
“I mean, yes, he’s retired from having his teams, but I think he’ll still keep his hand in somehow with some of the younger kids.
“I mean, we’ve got a great granddaughter who’s on a team in Glens Falls. We follow her, and when she comes, you know we’re softball in the backyard.”
“It’s a Ross thing” is a phrase often heard around the softball team. and people know it’s family. Sunday proved that family is pretty large— it’s a community.
