Herb Gross is already getting things rolling before he begins his first season as Trinity Lutheran High School softball head coach next spring.

Gross has been an assistant with the Cougars for the last five years, and in his first summer taking over the program, he decided to hold the inaugural softball youth camp.

It was sort of thrown together at the last minute, but Trinity was able to get around 30 kids to show up this week to attend the two-day camp at the Cougars’ field.

“A good turnout because it was kind of last minute,” Gross said. “Very happy with the turnout.”

There was a wide range of ages at the camp, but everyone was being taught the same fundamentals.

Trinity started with a throwing drill, followed by fielding some ground balls, some fly balls and then some baserunning.

On the second day of the camp, the Cougars moved things indoors and let everyone hit in the batting cages.

“Just seeing the ball in our glove, working on baserunning a little bit and doing some hitting, seeing the ball and following it to the barrel of the bat and following through on our swing,” Gross said. “A lot of the basics.”

Gross got a lot of help running the camp this week, as well.

In addition to assistant coach Orlando Munoz and members of the Cougars’ softball team, Trinity also got former players Genesis Munoz and Kamzi Gross and former Seymour High School player Stephanni Kleber to stop by and help.

All three players had very successful high school careers, and Munoz and Kleber play softball at Franklin College, while Gross plays volleyball at Franklin.

“I actually find a lot of enjoyment in it,” Munoz said on helping at camp. “I find it so fun to give back and have a lot of these kids come out. A lot of these kids have never played softball before, so it’s nice to see them learn step by step and just have fun.”

Munoz didn’t attend a ton of youth camps when she was growing up, but she remembers going to one at Purdue University that she really enjoyed.

“Softball is a huge fundamental sport, so the overall is just the catching, throwing and hitting,” she said. “We aren’t trying to nitpick everything but rather just set the foundation so they can get the fundamentals down.”

Munoz and Kleber both earned all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honors this past season as the Grizzly Cubs went 31-14.

Munoz is graduating in three years from Franklin, so next spring will be her last season.

“I love it. I really enjoy it, and I’m trying to go out with a bang,” she said. “Stephanni had a great year individually, and we really shined this season as a team. I have personal goals for myself this year, and I plan on accomplishing those this season.”

Coach Gross believes having former players who are competing at the next level come back to help out at a camp is a huge positive for the program.

“Huge help,” he said. “They’re very knowledgeable, and they’re in shape and can do all the drills, and the younger kids look up to them. It’s special for the campers to be able to work with them.”

Trinity’s softball team was 15-11 this past spring, which is a school record for wins in a season, and advanced to the sectional championship game.

Gross looks to continue to grow the program, and having the first successful youth camp this week will only help that.