Jennifer Onwe - Head Coach

Onwe spent the last three seasons as an assistant softball coach at her alma mater Sage College. During that time, she held the Interim Head Coach position on two separate occasions. In addition to coaching, she was also the recruiting coordinator for the Gators softball program from 2017-2019. She was a four-year letter winner for Sage and a team captain during the 2015-2016 season. Onwe attended Sleepy Hollow High School where she was a four- sport scholar athlete. In softball, she was a team captain, all- league shortstop for four straight years and a two-time all-section honorable mention selection. She was the starting goalie for soccer all four years and was an all-league selection in back to back seasons as well as an all- league performer in the shot put. She has her bachelor’s in applied biology and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Gary Sears - Program Head Coach

Sears is no stranger to the Capital District having spent the past 15 years in various capacities, including five seasons as the head coach and manager of the Capital District (CD) Crossfire 16U Elite A and 18U Elite teams. In that role since, 2011, he has coached winning elite travel teams in national and world championships and won coaching awards such as the USSSA Sportsmanship Award. He has also coached at the high school level, as well as collegiate level, through the years and holds college level certifications in softball. A former assistant softball coach at the College of Saint Rose in 2012, he also served as the head coach of the Miss Shen 23U/Open Team in 2015.

Erika Kenney - Pitching Coach

Erika has been playing softball since second grade. She started pitching when she was in 4th grade and began taking lessons in 6th grade. Erika is a very experienced travel softball player having played 14U through 18u on two different travel teams that qualified for Nationals. Erika was captain of her JV and Varsity softball teams in High School and earned 3 MVP/MVO awards. After graduating high school, she went on to play four years at Division III Morrisville State College where she pitched, played middle infield, and outfield positions. While in college she made it in the school’s record book 6 times, 3rd in games started, 4th in complete games, 3rd in innings pitched, 10th in earned run average, 6th in strikeouts, and currently claims the top spot in career appearances on the mound.

Hannah Hoffman

Hannah has 4 years of experience coaching travel softball. She was a member of the CD Crossfire 16u College Showcase team from 2012-2014. While playing for Crossfire, her team finished 5th in the USSSA National Championship in Ocean City, Maryland. She attended Averill Park High School and played throughout her 4 years; she then attended Hudson Valley Community College. While playing for the Vikings with Coach Shelby Fenton, she was a 2 year starter, finished her freshman year with the third highest batting average in the nation and their team placed third at the 2015 NJCAA National Championship in Rochester, Minnesota. Hannah then went on to play at SUNY Cobleskill, was a 2 year starter and was selected to the 2016-2017 NEAC North Division All-Conference First Team, 2017-2018 NEAC North Division All-Conference Second Team, a recipient of Cobleskill’s 2018 Outstanding Athlete Award, 2016-2017 Most Valuable Player Award and 2016-2018 Scholar Athlete Award. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, with a Minor in Sports Management. She is very excited to be back with Crossfire to help young women achieve their goals of playing softball at a competitive level.

Shelby Fenton

Shelby has 3 years of experience coaching travel softball and has 4 years of college softball experience. She attended Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) where she was a 2-yearstarter, captain, named to the second-team all-region team and finished her sophomore season with the second highest batting average in the nation. Shelby’s freshman year the HVCC softball team placed 3rd at Nationals. After graduating from HVCC, she went on to attend the College of St. Joseph, where she was a 2-year starter, captain, named a second-team all-american, named to the YSCC all-conference team, and was an academic all-american. Shelby was also a 4-year varsity starter at Catholic Central High School, where she was named to the first and second-team all-big ten teams, earned the Jim Hourigan Memorial Award, and won Crusader of the Year.

Tom Hoffman

Tom has been apart of the softball world since the year 2000, he has been coaching softball for over 15 years. He has extensive knowledge of the game and has spent countless hours on the field practicing and coaching Coach Hannah. His patience, kindness & love for softball is essential for coaching the younger generation.

David Apkarian - Program Manager / Coach

Shawn Boschelli - Strength & Conditioning Coach