NAPERVILLE — New leadership is set to take the field in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) in spring 2026, as three institutions have announced head coaching appointments in baseball and softball. Carthage, Carroll, and Millikin each introduced accomplished coaches who bring a blend of collegiate experience, competitive success and dedication to developing student-athletes on and off the field.
 
Baseball
John Lequia was named the 16th head baseball coach for Carthage. He has served on the Carthage coaching staff as a part-time assistant since 2009 and also coaches and instructs players aged 12 to 22 at Hitters Baseball in Racine, focusing on hitting and high-level athletic performance. Lequia, a native of Racine, Wis., played at Bradley before transferring to Carthage for his senior season in 2009, where he earned American Baseball Coaches Association second-team All-Central Region and second-team All-CCIW honors. He graduated from Carthage in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education.
 
Softball
Ericka Hess was appointed as the fifth softball head coach for Carroll on June 24. Hess joins Carroll from Hillsdale, where she spent three years as an assistant coach, coordinating team logistics, developing practice plans and organizing youth and recruiting camps. Prior to Hillsdale, she gained experience as the head varsity coach at Iroquois High School and as a softball instructor for Erie Elite Athletic Academy. A 2019 graduate of Geneva, Hess was a four-year member of their softball team and also served as Vice President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
 
Millikin selected Brian Levin as the new head coach for the Big Blue softball program on Aug. 6. Levin brings 13 years of head coaching experience and a career record of 418-220, having previously coached at institutions such as Southern Mississippi, Belmont and Missouri-St. Louis, in addition to two years as an assistant coach at Iowa. His notable achievements include leading teams to four consecutive NCAA Division II Tournament berths, three Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championships, and earning GLVC Coach of the Year twice. Furthermore, Levin is a military veteran with 20 years of service, including 15 years with the 5th Special Forces Group, and he was a two-time all-conference collegiate athlete in football and baseball.