Ken Howe celebrated last season, his 21st as head coach of the Keene State College baseball team, by seeing his Owls come of age. He not only led the team to a program best 32-15 record, a first-ever berth to the NCAA tournament, but also to an appearance in the New England Regional finals. Proud of his team's accomplishments, Howe is looking forward to the 2008 season as the Owls attempt to capture a first-ever LEC crown and position themselves as one of the top teams in the region.

"Last season brought a smile to my face, not only for the guys last year, but also for the players from the previous 21 years who have been with me and gone through the growing pains," said Howe.

Coaching a team in one of the toughest Division III conferences in the country is no easy task. But to his credit, Howe, who led KSC to rankings in national and New England polls, has always seen to it that Keene State has fielded a highly competitive team, and this spring will be no different.

Since joining Division III and the Little East Conference in 1998, Keene State has posted four 20-plus-win seasons and a pair of 30 victory campaigns, including last spring when they shattered the school record with 32 victories on the way to earning an at-large berth to the show: the NCAA tournament. Under his direction, the Owls reached the conference's postseason tournament on eight occasions, including trips to the championship game in 1999 and the past two seasons. Howe, who was selected as the LEC's Coach of the Year last season, believes the Owls will be in the hunt for the conference crown once again this spring. Howe's work at Keene State is a local-boy-makes-good story. A former hard-hitting outfielder for the Keene High Blackbirds, he played two collegiate seasons at the University of Central Florida. After a career-ending injury, Howe returned to Keene, where he received his degree in business management from KSC and began his coaching career. Howe served as both assistant and head women's soccer coach at KSC as well as baseball co-coach through the 1989 season.

Energized by a roster that includes several young but talented newcomers, Howe is pleased not only about where the team has been, but also about where it's going. Under Coach Howe, there has been an influx of high-quality student athletes who have a positive effect on the growing program.

A certified umpire who runs several camps in the area, Howe also handles game and contest management during the year at KSC. He lives in Keene with his wife, Merri, and sons Branden and Dustin.

A former four-year pitcher for the Owls, Martin Testo was elevated to the position of Associate Head Coach last spring.  Testo, in his eighth season
with the program, and fourth-year as pitching coach, has developed KSC into one of the premiere pitching staffs in the LEC.  Last season, the Owls posted a conference best 3.29 ERA and had two of its pitchers, Rick Stromgren and Greg Ford, earn All-LEC honors. 

After earning a master's degree from Springfield College, Testo returned to the area where he has coached the Keene Senior Babe Ruth and highly successful Keene American Legion baseball teams. He has served the past three summers as the pitching coach of the Keene Swamp Bats in the NECBL and will take over the duties this summer as the Swamp Bats Head Coach.  The Troy, N.Y., native is a member of the KSC Admissions Office.

Mac Tiani returns to Keene State for his eighth season as an assistant coach. A four-year player at KSC, where he played third and first base, Tiani completed his Owl career with a respectable .295 average and tied a KSC record when he knocked in seven runs against Bridgeport as a freshman. An All-Region and All NECC section as a senior, Tiani will have numerous duties with the Owls, including serving as a bench and first base coach.

Eric Kilburn begins his third season as an assistant coach with the Keene State baseball team. Kilburn, a Keene native, completed his four-year Owl career in 2003. Primary utilized as the teams' designated hitter, Kilburn finished his career with eight home runs, 41 RBIs, and a .243 batting average.

Career highlights for Kilburn include a pair of two-run home runs against LEC rivals Eastern Conn. and Plymouth State as a junior and a key two-run triple in the Owls' first win over Southern Maine his senior year. Kilburn also belted a two-run round-tripper with five RBIs in a freshman game against Western Conn.

Kilburn played three varsity seasons at Keene High School where he helped the Blackbirds reach the semifinals of the State Class L Tournament his junior season.

Kilburn, who received his degree from KSC in physical education/health fitness, will work with Owl hitters and outfielders.

One of the top baseball players to come out of Keene in recent years, Dan Moylan has joined the Keene State coaching staff this season. Moylan, who played professional ball the past six seasons in the St. Louis Cardinal organization, will work primarily with Owl receivers and members of the pitching staff.

Moylan was a four-year All-State catcher at Keene High where he helped lead the Black birds to state championships his junior and senior seasons. The 1997 New Hampshire player of the year, Moylan went on to the University of North Carolina where he was named the ACC's top defensive catcher.  Moylan, who played for the Keene Swamp Bats during the summer, was drafted by the Cardinals following his sophomore season with the Tarheels.

An enthusiastic senior at Keene State, Rick Hession is looking forward to his position as a student assistant on Coach Howe's staff this season.  The Amherst native hopes to learn all facets of the Owls program and move into the coaching ranks after earning his degree.  Hession, a physical education major, was a three-sport athlete at Souhegan (N.H.) high where he played on a championship baseball and basketball team as well as a two-time runner-up football squad.