April Rosales | Head Coach
Former Hornet April Rosales is the tenth head coach of the Hornet softball program.
Rosales will begin her tenth season as head coach at Emporia State in 2025. She is 239-222 overall, 106-106 in the MIAA, with an MIAA Tournament Championship, two trips to the conference championship game and an appearance in the NCAA Central Sub-Regional championship game.
In 2024, Rosales led the Hornets to their first winning MIAA record since 2019 after finishing both 2023 and and 2022 at 13-13 in MIAA play. Emporia State has won over 30 games each of the past two seasons and made the MIAA Tournament in both seasons.
In 2018, Rosales led the Hornets to the MIAA Tournament championship and her first trip to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament as head coach. The Hornets finished the regular season on a nine game winning streak and extended that to a 12 game streak in the MIAA Tournament. Emporia State advanced to the Central Regional championship game against Minnesota-Duluth.
In her first year at the helm, after taking over in November of 2015 with no seniors on the team,.Rosales had five Hornets named to the Honorable Mention All-MIAA, four on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and two two MIAA Scholar-Athletes.
"This program has been a part of my life for over a decade," said Rosales. "Hornet softball is more than just a program, it's a family and a tradition. The blood, sweat, and tears past players and coaches have put forth won't be lost and I look forward to continuing the success and building on it for years to come."
Rosales spent seven seasons as an assistant with the Hornets and has served as a Graduate Recruitment and Grant Development Specialist for the Graduate School at Emporia State in 2015. She assisted in all facets of the Hornet softball program under both coach Kristi Bredbenner and Julie LeMaire after her all-conference playing career at Emporia State.
"When this position opened, I felt the time was right to look at our former softball student-athletes, those who built the program into what it is today, those who have invested some sweat equity, if you will," said Weiser. "April Rosales exemplifies the hard work and passion for Emporia State Softball that sets the program apart from others."
Rosales was a member of both the Lady Hornets national runner-up teams. She hit .324 with 30 RBI and played nearly every game at shortstop during the 2008 season as the Hornets advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship game. She was named First Team All-MIAA at shortstop after batting .512 in conference action with 13 RBI and was stellar in the field as well with just three errors in 56 chances. In her junior year with the Hornets, Rosales was fifth in the MIAA in on-base percentage at .471 on the season, hit .336 with four home runs and 30 RBI and was ranked ninth in the nation in hit by pitch with 16 on the year. Originally recruited by former Hornet and Iowa State coach Stacy Gemeinhardt, Rosales redshirted during the 2006 season with the Hornets due to three knee surgeries. She played a vital role in the dugout as the Lady Hornets went 62-7 on the year and finished second in the nation.
"I firmly believe April Rosales has the skill, talent, and dedication needed to help our program maintain its championship level, and to help us reach even greater heights," said Weiser.
She is a 2005 graduate of Johnson County Community College. In her two years there, she earned all-region and all-district honors and twice led the Cavaliers to the post-season. She batted .452, slugged .661 with a .567 on-base percentage over the course of her career. Rosales was also a NFCA All-Academic performer.
A 2003 graduate of Jefferson West HS she led the Tigers in nearly every offensive category and was a team captain her junior and senior years.
Rosales Year-by-Year
Year Overall MIAA
2024 31-20 14-12
2023 33-23 13-13
2022 25-30 13-13
2021 21-23 11-15
2020 16-9 3-1
2019 28-28 14-12
2018 30-31 14-12
2017 34-26 15-11
2016 21-32 9-17
Megan Hill | Assistant Coach
Megan Hill is entering her second season as the assistant softball coach at Emporia State. Hill came to ESU most recently, from Enid, Oklahoma where she was the head coach at Northern Oklahoma College.
Hill helped the Hornets improve their team batting average from .276 the year prior to .313 last season, including four players with an average north of .350 for the season. Following the opening weekend of the 2024 season, Hill stepped in for the rest of the season as Coach Rosales was away due to doctor's orders regarding her pregnancy and helped the Hornets to a 30-15 record over the remainder of the season.
In her four years at NOC, Coach Hill’s teams averaged a 3.36 team GPA, and 38 athletes earned Academic All-American status. The 2022-2023 season at NOC was the best season the program had seen in 6+ years, compiling statistical bests in record, home runs, stolen bases, team batting average and team ERA. In her 4 years at NOC, Coach Hill had 13 athletes earn all-conference honors.
Prior to Northern Oklahoma College, Megan was at El Dorado High school. While in El Dorado, Hill led 18 players to All-League honors in just four seasons, as well as earning the AVCTL Coach of the Year honor for the 2017 season. While Hill was in charge of the program her teams set school records for team batting average, most doubles in a season and most hits in a season.
In addition to leading the El Dorado program, Megan also managed a competitive softball organization in the Wichita (Kansas) area. She looked over the functionality of the eight-team organization while implementing her philosophy and goals in the entire program. Throughout the eight seasons in the organization, Hill was also head coach for the U14-U18 age groups, competing at the highest tournaments in the region, focusing on the organization goal of getting the athletes recruited. Megan’s organization saw over 50 athletes live their dream of playing at the college level in just eight seasons.
Coach Hill returns to ESU where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. While at ESU, Megan was a part of the 2006 National Runner-Up team. As a third baseman for the Hornets, Hill earned All-MIAA honors all four years as well as All-Region honors in three seasons and All-American honors in two seasons. Megan was also a four-time All-Academic athlete. She left ESU with school and MIAA records in hits, doubles, home runs and RBI. Coach Hill was inducted into the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame in October of 2018.
Coach Hill is married to James Hill, and they reside in Emporia.
Aaron Hammond | Assistant Coach
Aaron Hammond is in his third season with Hornet softball in 2025.
Hammond spent the 2021 and 2022 as the Head Softball Coach at Emporia HS. Prior to his time leading the Lady Spartans Softball Program, he spent four years as an assistant with EHS Softball, three years as an assistant baseball coach at Northern Heights High School, along with a variety of head and assistant basketball coaching positions at area high schools.
Hammond maintains his position with the Emporia Recreation Commission as the Wellness Supervisor and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Emporia Energy Softball Association.
Hammond attended Butler CC and Bethel College as a part of the Men’s Basketball teams before eventually graduating from Emporia State in 2014.
Originally from Olpe, Kan., he now resides outside of Emporia with his wife, Stephanie, daughter Zoey Lynn, and two sons, Emmitt and Archer.
Dustin Snyder | Assistant Coach
Dustin Snyder is in his second year with the Hornets, and his first as an assistant coach for the Hornets softball team after helping the Hornets in 2024 as a graduate assistant. He previously spent a year at Florida Gulf Coast University as the volunteer assistant coach, primarily working with the outfielders and catchers.
Snyder is originally from Jacksonville, Florida, where his family currently still resides. He graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University (2022) with a degree in Management with a concentration in Sports. He assisted the FGCU softball team during the three years he attended FGCU (2019-2022) and served as the Student Manager.
As student manager, he helped with everyday activities that went on at practice, such as throwing batting practice, hitting fungos to the infield and the outfield, catching
bullpens, and assisted in setup and organization of practice.
For the Hornets, Snyder primarily works with the pitchers and catchers, as well as overseeing academics for the Hornets.