The 2026 season was Joe Kinsella's 20th at Lake Forest College and 27th as a collegiate head coach. The five-time Midwest Conference Coach of the Year owns a 466-284-4 overall record and impressive 234-42 mark in MWC play during his Forester career.
Under Kinsella's direction, the 2026 Foresters posted a 2414 overall record, finished second in the conference with a 12-4 mark in league play, and advanced to the championship round of the MWC Tournament for the third consecutive season. Shortstop Kaia Mismash, who ranked among the NCAA Division III leaders with a .528 batting average and 44 stolen bases, was named MWC Position Player of the Year and the program's third All-American. She was joined by Lia Taglia as all-region selections and they were among six Foresters earning All-MWC accolades.
The team's conference championship in 2025 was the program's eighth in the last 12 full seasons and Lake Forest has advanced to every four-team MWC Tournament since 2000. The Foresters have also claimed five conference tourney titles and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament six times during Kinsella's tenure. They have also won a total of 10 NCAA Tournament games and a regional title during that time.
Kinsella's players have earned 100 all-conference awards and 17 MWC Player or Pitcher of the Year honors in the last 20 years. He has also coached Lake Forest players to 36 All-Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Fourteen Foresters were named Academic All-MWC in 2026, giving the team 177 selections since Kinsella took over as head coach. They have also earned the MWC Elite 20 Award five times since 2016. In addition, five of his players received Academic All-District® honors from College Sports Communicators in 2026 and Josie Klein was named First Team Academic All-America® by the same organization in 2022.
Lake Forest has excelled in numerous statistical categories under Kinsella's direction. Members of the program set or tied 13 school records in 2026 and the program's top marks in 74 different categories have been recorded during Kinsella's time as head coach. Among the records set during his tenure is the 2015 team's 35 victories en route to an NCAA Regional Tournament title and appearance in the Super Regional round. In addition, Lake Forest has led the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs, runs batted in, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, total bases, stolen bases, walks, hit by pitch, earned run average, opponent batting average, saves, strikeouts, putouts, assists, and fielding percentage during Kinsella's tenure.
Kinsella has won 585 games in 27 seasons as a collegiate head coach. His 200th career victory was the Foresters' last of 2010, his 300th was earned during the 2015 season, and his 400th late in 2019. Triumph number 500 came against Monmouth College during the final doubleheader of 2023 and he reached 400 victories as Lake Forest's head coach at Illinois College on April 14, 2024.
Kinsella was the head coach at Millsaps College for six years before coming to Lake Forest. He took over a 1-26 program at Milsaps and directed it to three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference West Division championships, one league title, and an NCAA Regional third-place finish. Individual Lady Majors were named All-SCAC 38 times, earned 36 Academic All-SCAC honors, and were voted SCAC Players of the Year twice during his six seasons. He was named the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2003. He also founded and directed Joe Kinsella’s Major Impact Softball Camps LLC, which he ran throughout Mississippi during the summer. In addition to softball, he was an assistant football coach from 2000-03.
Prior to coaching at Millsaps, Kinsella was the head coach at Dakota Wesleyan University for one year, an assistant softball and football coach at Illinois Wesleyan University for two seasons, a campus minister at St. Patrick High School in Chicago, Illinois for a year, and a softball, track & field, and cross country coach at Resurrection High School in Chicago for three seasons.
Kinsella graduated from Joliet Catholic High School in Joliet, Illinois, and Illinois Wesleyan University. His high school football team captured a state title and his college squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
