Yesterday Jay Bolden and I had the privilege of talking with pitching coach Bill Hillhouse for an upcoming From the Coach’s Mouth podcast. If you’re not familiar with him, Bill was the youngest pitcher ever to play for the Team USA Men’s National Team when he joined it in 1993, and was an outstanding player who competed all over the world, winning wherever he went.

(If you’re interested in learning more about his softball resume, I’ve included more facts below.)

Bill then started giving lessons, mostly to female players, as his playing career was winding down. He saw the terrible hello elbow mechanics that were being taught widely at the time and became a very vocal advocate for learning to pitch the way the body moves naturally and the way all the top-level pitchers actually threw – what we today call internal rotation, although he’s not a fan of that description either for various reasons.

He named his business the House of Pitching, and he put out a series of DVDs to help spread his teachings more broadly than he could one-on-one. My guess is thousands of pitchers benefitted from the work he did in explaining everything from basic to advanced pitching mechanics in his lessons, clinics, and DVDs.

It was a business that again took him all over the world and afforded him a comfortable although not lavish living. He was also a columnist for Softball Magazine at the same time I was, which is where we met and became friends.

Then in July of 2025 Bill got the news no one wants to hear: he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. In typical Bill fashion he didn’t make a big deal about it, not wanting to burden others with his issues, but as we all know getting sick here in the good ol’ USA isn’t cheap.

Suddenly, not only did he have all these medicals bills but he was also cut off from his only source of income – giving lessons.

Which brings me to the point of today’s post. After all the years of helping others (including many who were indirectly assisted by his influence on other pitching coaches like me), Bill could use a little help himself.

His girlfriend set up a GoFundMe page to help him with his expenses while he does his best to battle this disease. He knows it’s not a winnable fight – there is no “cure” for pancreatic cancer – but as a competitor he’s not just sitting around waiting for the inevitable.

In fact, he told us he’s been giving lessons again on a limited basis, and while it’s bringing in some revenue it’s less than he needs to live a normal life. So here’s my ask today.

I know times are tough right now, but if you can please go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bill-hillhouse-through-his-cancer-battle and leave a donation. Even $5 or $10 will help, especially if a lot of people choose to do it.

So maybe instead of your morning Starbuck’s or those McDonald’s Diet Cokes you enjoy, take one day and dedicate that money to Bill. The big corporations won’t miss it, but it will sure make a difference to a guy who has made a difference to so many of us in the fastpitch softball world – including many who don’t even know it.

Thanks for considering it. And keep an eye out for our conversation with Bill coming up in a couple of weeks over at the From the Coach’s Mouth podcast. It was a lot of fun and I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Bill Hillhouse Mini-Bio

Bill Hillhouse was a star pitcher in international men’s softball, playing all over the world including eight seasons competing in New Zealand. He was not only a two-time member of the USA Men’s National Team but was the youngest pitcher ever to play for that team when he joined it in 1993. Among his accomplishments are being named the Pan American Games M-V-P, winning the Men’s Major National Championship three times, earning a gold medal at the U-S Olympic Festival, and being inducted into the USA Softball of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 2022.

Bill’s coaching career is equally stellar. After stints as a pitching coach consultant for division 1 Drexel University and the University of Georgia, in 2018 he joined the staff at Providence College in Rhode Island. A strong advocate of men’s fastpitch, he also served the sport as a commissioner for the International Softball Congress from 1997 to 2013.

He is probably best known, however, as a private coach. Operating under the House of Pitching moniker, Bill gave individual lessons and conducted group clinics all over the US and the world. While he coached many high-level softball pitchers to successful college careers, including 2025 WCWS winner Tegan Kavan, he never really publicized his association with any of them. As he told Jay and me, “Their accomplishments were theirs, not mine, the result of a lot of hard work and dedication. I teach everyone the same things but get varying results, so the difference is really in them.”