The Triad High School Athletic Department has announced the hiring of Travis Cross as the school’s new head baseball coach.
Cross returns to lead a program he knows well after serving as an assistant coach and interim head coach during the 2024 season. He remained on the Cardinals’ coaching staff in 2025 before spending the 2026 season as an assistant coach and pitching coach at Hilliard Darby High School.
“We’re excited to welcome Coach Cross and his family back to Cardinal Nation. His familiarity with our program, along with his coaching experience and passion for developing student-athletes, makes him an outstanding choice to lead our baseball program.”
— Triad Athletic Director Jason Malone
A 2003 graduate of Urbana High School, Cross continued his playing career at Urbana University, where he earned a degree in Sports Management. He began his coaching career with the Springfield Green Sox from 2007-08 before serving as an assistant coach at Urbana High School from 2008-13. After stepping away from coaching for several years, he returned to the dugout with Triad in 2024.
Cross’s coaching philosophy is built around a team-first mentality. He emphasizes dominant pitching, elite defense and fundamentally sound baseball. Offensively, his teams will focus on working deep counts, getting on base, creating pressure on the basepaths, and executing situational baseball through bunting and timely hitting.
He also plans to build the Cardinals’ program around four core values: toughness, hard work, consistency, and mental strength.
Away from the diamond, Cross has been a Walmart associate for the past 25 years. He and his wife, Ashley, live in Urbana with their three children, Konnor, Alivia, and Averee.
Cross will take over the Cardinals’ baseball program ahead of the 2027 season as Triad looks to build on its tradition and continue developing successful student-athletes on and off the field.
