Game situations, too, are a completely different ballgame. Not being able to directly affect the outcome can be somewhat taxing for the rookie coach.

“I’m a little more stressed out than I was as a player,” Brown says. “I call pitches, but I have no control over what the end result is, and that has been a little bit challenging. I’m really lucky to work with a great coaching staff, and all the athletes are really great players, so it’s been a pretty smooth transition.”

With Brown as part of the family, Stony Brook has enjoyed a successful season and will be headed to the America East Championship playoffs next weekend. Indeed, before a recent trio of losses against Binghamton, the Seawolves were sporting an unbeaten 12-0 home record.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

Brown is excited about the upcoming postseason and the success of her new team. However, she says the school she called home for four years will always have a special place in her heart.

“Rachel was a very vested player,” Allard says. “She really cared about her teammates. She really cared about the program, even to this day. I just got an e-mail from Rachel yesterday, and she stays connected to everybody. She has stayed with Harvard softball through this year.”

After four years at Harvard, Brown developed a real bond with the program.

“I am very regularly in contact with [the players],” Brown adds, laughing. “I joke that I am still living vicariously through them. I follow all the games and talk to all the players. I’m also in contact with my coaches now that I can appreciate a lot more what they have done now that I am going through the same thing.”

Indeed, it is that very bond which ultimately inspired her decision to become a coach.

Coaching was a natural progression for Brown. It not only kept her involved with the game she loves, but also handed her the opportunity to create for others the experience that she and her teammates had cherished.

“Looking back, when I think about Harvard, I think about Harvard softball,” Brown says. “It was really the defining experience of my college career. That was a big part of the reason why I wanted to stay involved in college athletics because I know how great the experience of college sports is, and so if I can create that experience for other student athletes here, then I will consider my job a huge success.”