(Walnut) Walnut has often been described as a baseball town and one of the central figures in that was longtime high school coach Bob Gross. Gross enjoyed his own playing days in Walnut so much that he wanted to pay it forward.
Gross played all sports, but baseball was his favorite and he’ll always remember playing catch with his dad. “My dad was a farmer and he’d come in at 7:30 covered in dirt and I’d meet him in the yard with my glove and a catcher’s pad. I’m sure there were times he was tired and wanted to go in and relax, but he always made time for me and that meant a lot.”
Between 1995 and 2005 Walnut qualified for state in baseball four times. They also had a stretch of six straight district championships. “That’s not all coaching. You have to have good players that buy into what you are teaching. We always used to schedule teams like Lewis Central, Thomas Jefferson, and St. Albert. You don’t get better playing weaker teams and the guys kind of embraced that challenge.”
Walnut had its share of stars that Gross was able to coach. Gross points to players like Larry Dant, Justin Gross, and Tyler Blum. There were countless athletes that worked hard to get the most out of their physical ability. He shares one of those examples.
Gross actually got his coaching start as an assistant girls basketball coach at Griswold where he worked with and learned a lot from Kent Gade.
Any time the peak years of Walnut baseball are referred to, Bob Gross and Denny Book should be mentioned in the same breath. Gross says they had a good cop, bad cop dynamic and admitted he was the bad cop.
Gross stepped away from baseball following the 2009 season. After a few years out of coaching he accepted the head girls basketball and softball positions at Griswold where he retired in 2018.
Previous Coaches
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
