Bowling Green State University Athletics
Leigh Ross-Shaw A Hall-Of-Famer
February 06, 2001 | Softball
Feb. 6, 2001
TOLEDO, Ohio - Bowling Green State University softball coach Leigh Ross-Shaw, a graduate of the University of Toledo, has been inducted into her alma mater's Varsity "T" Hall of Fame. Ross-Shaw was officially inducted into the hall in ceremonies on Friday, Feb. 2.
Ross-Shaw is in her third year as the BGSU head softball coach after spending two years as a Falcon assistant coach.
As a player, Ross-Shaw was a four-year starter in the outfield at UT, graduating in 1992 with a degree in business administration/marketing. Ross-Shaw helped the 1989 Rocket squad to the MAC title and a seventh-place finish at the College World Series.
In 1991, the centerfielder and leadoff hitter led the nation with an average of 0.83 stolen bases per game en route to All-America Second-Team honors. Additionally, her .447 batting average that season ranked her fifth nationally and still stands as the MAC record.
Ross-Shaw also holds the MAC career marks for batting average (.398), at-bats (744) and hits (296). She is tied for second in runs scored (143) and ranks third on the MAC stolen-base list (107).
A three-time All-Mideast Region selection, she set 11 school records during her UT career and twice was a first-team All-MAC selection.
Ross-Shaw participated in the 1994 USA Softball Olympic Team Trials. She finished in the top 150 in the Level I tryouts, which included over 500 participants. At the Level II trials, Ross-Shaw was named an alternate to the 35-player national team.
Prior to coming to the BGSU program, Ross-Shaw, a native of Ottawa Lake, Mich., was the head coach at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo for four seasons (1993-96). During her tenure, she was named the top coach in the City League three times. Ross-Shaw's teams compiled an overall record of 70-15 and won three league titles. She also served as the assistant athletic director and development coordinator at Notre Dame Academy.
In her first two years at the BGSU helm, all she has done is turn the Falcons into a perennial MAC contender. Last season, the Falcons tied for the league's East Division title with a 13-7 record and made the school's third consecutive MAC Tournament appearance. Then, after dropping the opening game, the Falcons reeled off three-straight elimination-game victories, advancing all the way to the championship game before posting a runner-up finish. The team's 33 overall wins last spring marked the fourth-highest single-season total in BGSU history.
In her first year as head coach, Ross-Shaw guided the Brown and Orange to the MAC Tournament and led the team to its best record in six years. The Falcons, after contending for the MAC's East Division title until the final weekend of the regular season, finished second in the division.
Also in that 1999 season, BGSU shattered the school seasonal record by hitting 19 homers. The 2000 Falcons matched that record by clubbing 19 more round-trippers.
In 1998, Ross-Shaw helped the Falcons to a 15-13 Mid-American Conference record and a spot in the MAC Tournament. BG won the opening game of the tourney.
In her first year with the BGSU program, Ross-Shaw helped the 1997 Falcons win 11-of-13 games down the stretch.
A 1987 graduate of Whiteford High School, Ross-Shaw led her high-school squad to three Michigan state championships and was named all-state three times. She was the valedictorian of her graduating class.
Ross-Shaw and her husband, Jim, reside in Perrysburg. They have a three-year-old son, Jared, and an infant daughter, Teagan.
The Falcon softball team will open the 2001 season on Feb. 16 in Tucson, Ariz. That weekend, BGSU will play five games at the Arizona Classic.
