Ranked among the top Division III coaches in victories (502-322-5, .608 pct.), Head Coach Charlie Beach is anxiously looking forward to his 23rd season directing the Keene State softball program. Beach, who has led the Owls to eight Division III postseason appearances, capturing four LEC titles (1999, 2000, 2003, and 2005), and earning five NCAA berths (1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2007), is confident that his veteran Owls' team has what it takes to make a run at the conference championship and return to the national tournament.

Despite posting a fine 28-9 (10-4 LEC) record and earning an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, Beach and the Owls look to learn from last season's disappointing finish and head into postseason play with bats blazing.

Fortunately, Coach Beach never met a challenge he didn't like. The Rochester, New Hampshire, native took over the KSC softball program in 1986 and, starting almost from scratch, made the Owls contenders in the competitive New England Collegiate Conference and a legitimate regional power. The Owls have had 15 seasons with more than 20 wins in the last 15 years, and they captured ECAC championships in 1990 and 1993, won their first NECC championship, and made their first NCAA regional tournament appearance in 1994.

Since guiding Keene State through the transition into Division III and the Little East Conference in 1998, Beach has kept the Owls on the rise. After leading KSC to a pair of ECAC tournament berths, Beach directed the team to back-to-back LEC titles and NCAA berths in 1999 and 2000, which included a 33-win season in 2000. The Owls made a return trip to the NCAAs in 2003 when they captured the championship as a fifth seed and again in 2005 when they posted a program-record 34 victories and advanced to the finals of the New England region.

Beach, who surpassed the coveted 500 career victory milestone last season, has produced 29 All-LEC players, including current assistant Meghan McLoughlin, two-time pitcher of the year (04 and 05), and the 2006 Rookie of the Year Jenna Patnode. He credits the many fine Owls who have played on his team for his coaching achievements at Keene State.

"I've been blessed with great players through the years," said Beach, twice named LEC Coach of the Year. "They're the ones who made the program what it has become."

A member of the Keene State physical education faculty, Beach served as the head coach of the KSC ski program, leading the men's and women's teams to NCAA Eastern Division II titles in 1982 and 1984, respectively. He led the Keene city summer league team to the Women's Major Modified Championship in 1989 and led his "Beach Bunch" to the national tournament in 1996. He is a former physical conditioning consultant for the Chicago White Sox and has coached a variety of sports, including football, baseball, and track and field. Beach, a former standout track and football athlete at Spaulding High School, was inducted into the Rochester Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. in physical education from Michigan State University in 1978.

Working alongside husband Charlie on the Owls' bench, KSC grad Deb Beach begins her 22nd season as an assistant coach and handles many aspects of the program, including recruiting and game-day responsibilities. Deb has also joined Charlie in coordinating many of the successful summer teams and camps he has run over the years in the Keene area. Originally from Swanzey, N.H., Deb has been the head softball and field hockey coach at Lebanon High School for the last 22 years. During her tenure, Lebanon captured the State Class I softball title in 1995 and was a finalist in 1996. Beach was recently inducted into the Monadnock Regional High School Hall of Fame.

One of the Owls' all-time top pitchers, Meghan McLoughlin, returns for her second season as an assistant coach with the Keene State softball team.

The ace of the Owls pitching staff in her final three seasons (2003-05), McLoughlin  was a two-time LEC pitcher of the years (2004, 2005), who led KSC to two LEC titles, including 2005 when she was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, after throwing three complete game shutouts, recording 28 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched.

McLoughlin, who earned her degree in elementary/special education in 2006, completed her KSC career by posting a 15-4 mark with a school record 0.21 ERA . The Brattleboro, Vt., native also holds the KSC career ERA mark (0.39) and is second all-time in wins (39) and strikeouts (422).