Kevin Croft

Kevin Croft – West Des Moines, IA

Kevin Croft of West Des Moines, Iowa began playing softball at Harlem Community Center in Machesney Park, Illinois. His youth and recreational softball career was not remarkable — his Dad taught him how to score a game when he was a ten-year-old watching the 'Big Red Machine' at a Cincinnati Reds game. In middle school, Hall of Famer Jeff Brown was scorekeeping softball games at a park close enough to Kevin's house that he could ride his bike to visit his lifelong friend. A few weeks later, Jeff needed a substitute scorekeeper and Kevin's USSSA scorekeeping career was underway.

Kevin's high school PE teacher, Hall of Famer Ken Franzen, was looking for a few groundskeepers at Forest Hills Diamonds and invited Kevin and Jeff to work with him. Ken allowed them to announce the annual all-star game, which launched their announcing career. Hall of Famer Brenda Paulsen invited them to announce her annual Women's National Invitational Tournament held at Forest Hills, which introduced them to the highest level of the women's game. In 1993, Forest Hills hosted the USSSA Women's Slo-Pitch World Series and Brenda asked if they could announce and run the press box. After the series concluded, USSSA Executive Director Al Ramsey made his way to the press box and invited them to announce the 1994 Men's Major World Series in Daytona Beach, FL. Thirty-two years and more than 1,000 games later, Kevin has worked every Men's Major World Series since.

Kevin enjoyed having 'the best seat in the house' for athletic events and actively sought out opportunities to do additional side gigs. In 1995, he began a three-year stint as the radio play-by-play voice for Drake Women's basketball, traveling with the team to two NCAA Tournaments and calling games from Washington, DC to Honolulu, HI. He spent several years announcing USSSA's Hall of Fame Dual tournament with Ken as the official scorekeeper in Kissimmee, FL. Since 2017, he has served as the play-by-play announcer for Drake Women's softball games on ESPN+.

In reflecting on his USSSA experience, Kevin noted, "The athleticism and professionalism of the game has elevated over the years. Each year at the Men's Major World Series I marvel at the bat speed and experience of the players. The years at Disney's Wide World of Sports became a family affair, as our children grew up going to Disney every fall! I'd like to thank Brenda for opening the door for me to work in women's sports. I believe the work early in my career was instrumental in me obtaining broadcast roles in women's athletics."

Outside of athletics, Kevin is the father of two children, Andrew and Emily, and has been married to his wife, Jill Kopecky, for 23 years. He graduated from Drake University with a bachelor's degree in Actuarial Science and returned to Drake to earn a Masters in Business Administration. His professional career began at the Principal Financial Group; in 2009 he joined American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company, where he became Senior Vice President and Head of Structured Products, leading a 50-person team managing more than $50 billion. In 2020, he joined the faculty of Drake University as the EMC Distinguished Associate Professor of Practice, and is also the Director of the Kelley Center for Insurance Innovation and Director of the School of Actuarial Science and Risk Management.