College Achievers: Montini graduate Tyrrell makes history at University of Chicago

Posted May 31, 2026 1:00 pm

The University of Chicago baseball team just completed its best season in a history that dates to 1893 under Amos Alonzo Stagg.

At the helm is Kevin Tyrrell, a former baseball and football standout at Montini Catholic High School, Class of 2002.

In his fifth season as the Maroons’ head coach, Tyrrell directed a 30-15 campaign that set a club record for victories in a season — topping last year’s 29 wins — and at 15-5 won the University Athletic Association title, Chicago’s first conference baseball title in 113 years.

Ranked No. 25 by D3baseball.com after the regular season, on May 17 Chicago beat No. 11 Bridgewater (Va.) 10-9 for its first regional title in program history.

Tyrrell earned D3baseball regional coach of the year honors, the Maroons’ first baseball coach to win that award by any news outlet.

“All six of our seniors this year were perfect examples of selfless servant leadership, and it really trickled down to the rest of their team. They also just happened to be outstanding baseball players,” Tyrrell said.

University of Chicago baseball coach Kevin Tyrrell, a 2002 graduate of Montini Catholic High School, writes notes in the dugout during the Division III NCAA regional tournament in Washington, Pa. Courtesy of Emily Barrett

Those six seniors graduated with a combined average grade-point average of 3.506, said Tyrrell, 42.

Now living in Chicago’s South Loop, the former Lombard resident graduated from Lewis University in 2007 with a double-major in business administration and management information systems.

While coaching Upper Deck Cougars travel teams to a national runner-up finish in 2008 and a championship in 2009, he simultaneously worked at KPMG, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. Then, a change of heart.

“It was really a great career if I wanted to make money, and I decided I didn’t want to anymore,” Tyrrell said.

He instead cashed in what he’d learned playing baseball at Lewis, and at Montini under head coach Bill Leeberg, assistants Jeff Glass, Joe Skarbeck, Tom Chatton, and Mark DeLeo. All of them reached out to Tyrrell as this season unfolded.

“When you’re in high school you don’t realize that most of your coaches are just there on a volunteer basis, and it’s not until later in life you realize how hard they work for nothing, and it’s so impressive to me,” Tyrrell said.

“I realized I wanted to be able to have that impact on more young men.”

He came to the University of Chicago in 2019 as an assistant following a winning seven-year stretch at the College of DuPage, including a 40-win season in 2016.

The 2025 season was the first time University of Chicago achieved a top-25 NPI (NCAA Percentage Index) Rating. This year, the Maroons topped out May 9 with a No. 20 NPI in Division III.

“Every one of these guys just does the right thing all the time. They’re high achievers in every sense of the word. They want to be great in everything that they do, and baseball’s no different,” Tyrrell said.

“As long as I’m able to, I would love to be the baseball coach at the University of Chicago, surrounded by the best people in the world on a daily basis, and I can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Golden Glove

On May 28, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced its Rawlings Gold Glove Awards for Division III. University of Wisconsin-Stout senior Payton Dolecki (Schaumburg) became the first Blue Devil to ever win the award. Along with a .357 batting average and 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts, Dolecki recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, handling 70 chances in center field without an error. She made 60 putouts and 10 outfield assists. Of those 10 assists, Dolecki threw nine runners out at the plate.

Queen of the lanes

At the United States Bowling Congress Under-22 Queens competition in Orlando, incoming University of Nebraska sophomore Abby Starkey (Conant) qualified for 2027 Junior Team USA. Placing third in Junior Team qualifier standings, Starkey earned her fourth straight selection to the junior national team. Her score sheet included games of 243, 245, 254, and 266. Starkey also made Nebraska’s scholar-athlete honor roll in her freshman season last fall.

Rowing power

University of Iowa sophomore rower Leah Nawrot (Hersey) made an appearance here following the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten Conference “boat of the week” award in late March. Her season ended on another positive note with first-team all-Big Ten honors at the conclusion of the conference meet in Indianapolis. Nawrot competed with Iowa’s top varsity 8 team.