Getting ready to start his 25th year leading the Owls, Ken Howe is getting ready to mix-and-match his new look Owls after a 27-17-1 record and at-large berth into the NCAA tournament last season. "There will be a new look to the team this year," said Howe. "We got a lot of new players and guys changing positions, but we think the pieces are going to fall into place."

The 2010 Owls, who shared the Little East Confernce Regular Season Championship with a 10-4 league mark, and saw Howe reach the 400-win milestone for the Owls on March 14th against Simpson (IA) College in Mesa, Arizona. “A lot of it has to do with longevity, because there were many losses along the way, but I couldn’t have done it without the many great players and assistant coaches I’ve been able to work with over the years.”

2009 saw the Owls finish near the top of Division III in most offensive categories including #1 in the country in slugging percentage (.588). The Owls also finished second in batting average (.370), 14th in both hits (560) and runs (434) and 17th in homers (51). KSC finished the season 25-16 and made it to the LEC Championship game after bouncing host Southern Maine from the tournament.

In 2008, Keene State baseball had a program best 34-11 record, a first-ever Little East tournament championship and a second straight NCAA tournament appearance. “We worked very hard to get the program to that level, said Howe.  “We need to work even harder to keep it there.”

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 three consecutive 30 victory campaigns, including last spring when they shattered the school record with 34 victories on the way to capturing its first LEC championship and earning its second straight NCAA tournament berth. 

Under his direction, the Owls reached the Conference's postseason tournament on nine occasions, including four trips to the championship game, culminating with last year’s crown. Howe, who was selected as the LEC’s coach of the year in 2008, 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 in 2008.  Testo is in his 10th season with the program and sixth-year as pitching coach.

He has developed KSC into one of the premiere pitching staffs in the LEC.  In 2008, 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.

One of the top baseball players to come out of Keene in recent years, Dan Moylan joined the Keene State coaching staff in the 2008-09 season. Moylan, who played professional ball from 2002-2008 in the St. Louis Cardinal organization, will work primarily with Owl catchers 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.

John Raiola joined the Keene State College baseball coaching staff as a graduate student assistant in 2009-10.

In his second season, Raiola, will be involved in many facets of the program, working with the pitching staff and serving as the teams’ first base coach.

“John is another pair of eyes for the coaching staff,” said Keene State head baseball coach Ken Howe.  “He’s very knowledgeable and has stepped right in and been a big help.”

After pitching for head coach Jim Foster at the University of Rhode Island, Raiola began his coaching career at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico.  Raiola spent the 2009 summer with the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) Champion Newport Gulls, working primarily with outfielders and pitchers. 

Raiola graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2008 with a degree in journalism.  The Newport, R.I. native currently resides in Keene and is pursuing a degree in school counseling at Keene State.