BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Kyle Hallock is just 31-years-old. The man he’s replacing as Bowling Green State University Baseball coach has been in that spot for 30 years.
Hallock officially took over for Danny Schmitz as BGSU baseball coach on Wednesday and is now in charge of resurrecting the program. He spent last year as the BGSU pitching coach. Before that, he was an assistant at Malone University. Hallock also had a successful professional career that saw him make it to Triple-A in the Houston Astros organization.
“It hasn’t set in,” said Hallock. “It was an out-of-body experience. I’m just waiting to get back in the dugout so it can really set in.”
The program has been through a whirlwind of emotions in the past three weeks. The University cut the sport due to cost-cutting measures related to COVID-19, before a passionate group of alumni raised over $1.5 million to bring the program back. Hallock, the Sandusky Perkins High School alum, went from unemployed to promotion in a very short order.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” said Hallock. “The best way I can describe it is, I’m from Sandusky, Ohio, a lot of people are probably familiar with Cedar Point, it would be like riding the Millennium Force all day, every day and not getting off of it.”
The first order of business for Hallock is to re-recruit his current players. When the program was cut, 29 guys entered the transfer portal. Not all will return, but he’s hard at work trying to keep most of them.
“It’s emotional, it’s responsibility, it’s expectations, it’s all those things,” said Hallock. “I’m excited, I’m embracing it, and I’m looking forward to turning out guys loose on the field and putting out a great product that our alumni can be proud of and we can move forward with and continue the great tradition of Bowling Green State University baseball.”
