Captain Comeback: Former Charger Softball Standout Julie Maloney Bianchi Now Leading in Education
Written by Doug Goodnough
Julie Maloney Bianchi, ’91, was an all-state high school shortstop on her way to an NCAA Division I scholarship before a severe knee injury derailed those hopes.
A friend told then-Hillsdale softball coach Carolyn Gladnick about Julie, and Gladnick took a chance that the knee would heal. It did.
“I always knew I wanted to go to a small school, but affordability was an issue,” Bianchi said. “The College was able to put things together to make it possible. Boy, did it ever work out well for me.”
She became a key contributor on the powerhouse teams that were recently inducted into the Hillsdale Athletic Hall of Fame. A first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference performer in 1990 and 1991, she became a captain and fixture at third base for the Chargers.
“We had to be gritty because we came from nothing,” said Bianchi of the program’s struggles to be competitive in the GLIAC. “We hated to lose more than we loved to win.”
She recounted some of the “unusual” road trips during her playing days. One was to Sault Ste. Marie for a series with Lake Superior State. When the Chargers arrived, heavy rains made the home team’s field unplayable. Undeterred, the teams took a ferry over to nearby Drummond Island, playing on a field well short of college standards.
Bianchi said she was proud to help start Hillsdale softball’s winning tradition.
“I was so happy for them last year,” she said of Hillsdale’s 2022 conference championship team. “They are an exciting group. It’s amazing to see how the game has evolved.”
A longtime teacher and coach at Detroit Country Day School before moving to Florida with her husband, Dan, about four years ago, Bianchi is currently the Associate Head of School for Academics and Innovation at The Out-of-Door Academy, an independent school in Sarasota. In this role, she oversees the K-12 curriculum for all of the school’s campuses and works closely with division heads to help in areas like professional development, mentoring, and hiring.
A club champion of her golf league, Bianchi also likes to fish off of Tampa Bay. She said she continues to be impressed with her alma mater.
“Coming back last spring after so many years and seeing how amazing Hillsdale’s campus is—and I thought it was amazing when I went there—it just makes me even more proud than I was before,” said the English major.
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in March 2023