Lake Forest College

The 2025 season was the eigth at the College for Forester Pitching Coach Laura Fillipp, who also assists the head coach in nearly all aspects of the program.

Lake Forest posted a 28-16-1 overall record and claimed their second straight Midwest Conference championship with a 14-2 mark during league play in 2025. Lake Forest also hosted and won the four-team MWC Tournament to advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Seven Foresters were named all-conference, including pitchers Riley Stiles and Hannah Smith. Stiles was also one of the team's National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region IX honorees.

Five Forester pitchers recorded at least one victory in 2025 and the staff finished with a 3.31 earned run average. They were even more effective in MWC play, winning 14 of 16 games and posting a 2.07 ERA.

Lake Forest is 197-103-3 overall and 91-15 in conference play with five league titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances in Fillipp's eight seasons on staff. Forester pitchers have combined for a 3.18 earned run average, 1,088 strikeouts, a dozen all-conference selections, and a pair of MWC Pitcher of the Year awards during that span.

"Coach Flip" came to Lake Forest after a pair of seasons as the head coach at Rockford University. She also served as the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for 13 years (2002-14) and as the interim head coach at Penn State University in 1996. Additional experience at the collegate level includes three seasons as an assistant coach and instructor of kinesiology at Penn State and one as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Northern Kentucky University. Fillipp also coached and/or held positions in elementary, middle, and high school athletic departments for about 15 years and has instructed at numerous softball camps and clinics.

A successful player as well, Fillipp competed on four national championship teams and tallied over 200 home runs as a left-handed power hitter. The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) inducted Fillipp into both its National and Illinois Hall of Fame, and she is also a member of the College of Lake County Athletic Hall of Fame.

Fillipp graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in education and a coaching minor and certificate.