The 2024 season will mark Kim Griffin's 10th as head coach of the Canisius softball program. Griffin was officially hired as the second head coach in program history on Sept. 29, 2014. She took over for Mike Rappl, who served as the Golden Griffins' head coach for 35 years before announcing his retirement.
In 2023, Griffin guided Canisius to a 30-16-1 record while being named MAAC Coach of the Year for the second time during her tenure at Canisius. Individually, the team was well recognized throughout the season. Megan Geise was the selection for MAAC Pitcher of the Year. Geise was named a All-MAAC First Team member along with infielders Saige Alfaro and Rosie Gomez backstop Gianna Fazzolari and outfielder Christie McGee-Ross. Rylee Alfaro was chosen to the MAAC All-Rookie squad. Additionally, Geise, Alfaro, and McGee-Ross were named to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team.
Griffin led Canisius to a program-best 17-3 record in league play, besting the 2022 record of 16-4. She has won at least 20 games in six of the nine seasons as head coach of Canisius while posting a 60-32-1 record over the last two seasons, including a 33-7 record in conference action. During league play in 2023, the Griffs paced the MAAC offensively in batting average (.349), runs (132), home runs (25), RBI (123), stolen bases (47), on-base percentage (.421) and slugging percentage (.560). In the circle, the Blue and Gold led the conference in strikeouts (142) and batting average against (.206) while finishing second with a 2.38 ERA and four shutouts. Griffin's teams have stolen at least 100 bases in each of the last three seasons and this year's squad finished the campaign just one home run away from tying the program record in that category.
In 2022, Griffin guided Canisius to a 32-18 record and its MAAC-leading 13th conference championship in program history and first NCAA appearance since 2012. Individually, the team was well recognized throughout the season. Outfielder Erin Hufford was named MAAC Player of the Year, Megan Giese was the unanimous selection for Pitcher of the Year and infielder Saige Alfaro earned Co-Rookie of the Year honors. The trio were also named All-MAAC First Team members along with backstop Gianna Fazzolari. Alfaro and infielder Rosie Gomez were both chosen to the MAAC All-Rookie squad. Additionally, Alfaro was an NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team selection while Giese and Hufford were both named to the Third Team.
The softball team also swept the Canisius yearly awards for the second straight year when Hufford and Alfaro earned Canisius Female Athlete and Rookie of the Year honors, respectively.
The 32 wins in 2022 were the most since 2010 and the team’s .867 home winning percentage was the best since 2008. The 16 victories against MAAC opponents were the most in program history, excluding the conference-only 2021 season.
The 2022 campaign also saw the team establish a program record with 108 stolen bases while in the circle, Giese become just the fourth pitcher in program history to throw multiple no-hitters in the same season.
In 2021, Griffin led Canisius to a 22-11 record, highlighted by the program’s first appearance in the MAAC Championship since 2016. Infielder Kara Paradowski, Hufford and infielder Sydney Costan garnered All-MAAC First Team, Second Team and All-Rookie Team distinction, respectively. Paradowski and Costan were also named Canisius Female Athlete and Female Rookie of the Year.
The 2021 squad finished the season with 100 stolen bases, the eighth most in the country. Canisius also led the MAAC in runs (199), triples (7) and walks (131).
In her first season at the helm of the softball program, Griffin earned MAAC Coach of the Year honors after helping lead the Blue and Gold to a 26-19 overall record and a 15-5 mark in league play. The 15 wins in MAAC play helped propel the Griffs to the program's 14th MAAC regular-season crown, its first since 2010. Griffin's first team led the league in three different offensive categories, including triples per game, as Canisius ended the season as the nation's leader in three-base hits per contest.
The 2007 graduate of Mercyhurst College, Griffin served as an assistant coach on Rappl's coaching staff for seven seasons starting in 2008 when she joined the program as a volunteer assistant coach. In her first year with the Griffs, she was a part of the coaching staff that helped guide the Blue and Gold to a school-record 39 wins, a MAAC Tournament championship and a berth into the NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. In 2014, she took over as the team's pitching coach, where she oversaw the development of former Griff hurler Jen Consaul, who set the program's single-season records for appearances, innings pitched and complete-games.
As an assistant coach, Griffin handled day-to-day operations of the program, which included recruiting, scheduling, practice planning and on-field instruction. In her role as a recruiter for the team, she played a role in the recruitment of multiple All-MAAC honorees. Griffin also helped plan and supervise various camps and clinics at Canisius and was active in the Greater Buffalo Community, serving as a volunteer coach with the Canisius Special Olympics basketball and softball teams. Her basketball teams won back-to-back gold medals at the New York State Special Olympics games and in the summer of 2014, her hoops squad earned a silver medal at the USA Special Olympics Games, held in Princeton, N.J.
Griffin is no stranger to Western New York softball, as she played her scholastic ball at nearby Cleveland Hill High School and was inducted into the Cleveland Hill Sports Hall of Fame in 2022. At Mercyhurst, she played in 130 career games and she was a three-time GLIAC All-Academic Team honoree. As a senior in 2007, Griffin hit .264 with three home runs and 18 RBI for the Lakers, while ranking third on the team in on-base percentage (.346), fourth in runs batted in and fifth in total bases (46). She also won six games in the circle for Mercyhurst in her senior season to go with a save and a 3.52 ERA. She was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention list after her junior campaign when she hit .322 with six doubles and 22 RBI.
Griffin earned her undergraduate degree in sports medicine from Mercyhurst in 2007, and she received her master's degree in school counseling from Canisius in 2011.
Griffin is married to Jesse Rosenhahn, a former Canisius student-athlete who played softball for the Griffs from 1996-99. The couple resides in Buffalo.
