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RANDOLPH — Parked on a patch of dirt behind Zapustas Ice Arena, Kip Brown was loading up his car with softball gear when memories of the good times flooded forward.
As a child, he often kept score at his brother's baseball games on these diamonds. He's still keeping score here today, but now it's for his old high school's softball team.
And the scores have improved greatly since the early days of his tenure.
“I grew up on this field and here I am, back here with my own team," said Brown. "It’s fun.”
Brown, a 1975 graduate and retired federal employee, took over the Randolph High softball team seven years ago. Back then, there were seasons in which the Blue Devils scheduled games against local JV teams and still would lose by sizable margins.
By 2023, the team had gone back to playing against varsity teams but had scheduled only 10 games due to the lack of suitable, competitive opponents. It finished 2-8 that season, ranking No. 80 among 82 teams in the Division 5 power rankings.
The tide changed last spring, when Randolph, stocked with a roster of underclassmen and newcomers, went 9-8 and clinched a spot in the Div. 4 state tournament for the first time in 10 years. Recalling the long-awaited postseason appearance, Brown smiled and said, “That was definitely a big deal."
A repeat berth is in the making this spring, despite last year's graduation of All-Scholastic pitcher Lilly Dinh. The Blue Devils are 8-4 with six games remaining and would earn an automatic tournament bid with a ninth win. The team is ranked 51st in the Div. 4 power rankings.
“I think that we’ve really come a long way since I’ve been here last year," eighth-grade pitcher Gianna Singleton said.
“Very much a great experience," senior Alexandrea Sanxaridis said of last year's preliminary-round game. "Even though we lost in the first round (to Rockland, 18-1), it’s OK. Hopefully we can make it there again this year. We’re trying our best.”
Even in the down years, Brown could always field a lineup of players, though Randolph does not offer a JV softball team.
Junior Madison Mathes was one of the players who came aboard last year without any prior experience. She had a brief stint on the track team, while some of her teammates came over from the cheer squad.
“My friends and I just wanted to do something," said sophomore Makayla Bembury, who also debuted last year after basketball season. "We started as a team.”
Brown said that during practice, he tosses fly balls to the newcomers (while hitting fly balls to the veterans) and hopes the rookies take to the game and start developing a skillset.
“I tell them there’s three things we’re here for: have fun, first and foremost. Second, get better. And third, be safe," said Brown, who earlier this year put in a mass order of face masks for players to wear in the field.
“They’ve stuck it out and have steadily improved, and the team has steadily improved with them," Brown added. "We’ve got a good batch of girls. They’re good teammates, they’re trying and they kept playing and kept at it. It’s exciting to see.”
Brown accepted an assistant-coaching job at Randolph in 2017 after two years coaching the freshman softball team at Milton High. He received the head-coach title the following season.
Brown, who now lives in Milton, takes pride in recruiting his alma mater's hallways to play at his childhood fields just down the road.
“I look at it like I’ve given back something," Brown said. "This town was good to me. I had a great childhood and upbringing here, I was almost attached to Randolph. I’m (here) to try to repay that a little bit. ... You can’t put a price tag on any of that. Fifty years after I graduated, I’m back here and hanging out with the high school kids.”
“If I could coach anywhere, it’d be Randolph," he said. "This is where I want to be.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Coach Kip Brown, Randolph High softball seeing improvement
Continue reading...
As a child, he often kept score at his brother's baseball games on these diamonds. He's still keeping score here today, but now it's for his old high school's softball team.
And the scores have improved greatly since the early days of his tenure.
“I grew up on this field and here I am, back here with my own team," said Brown. "It’s fun.”
Brown, a 1975 graduate and retired federal employee, took over the Randolph High softball team seven years ago. Back then, there were seasons in which the Blue Devils scheduled games against local JV teams and still would lose by sizable margins.
By 2023, the team had gone back to playing against varsity teams but had scheduled only 10 games due to the lack of suitable, competitive opponents. It finished 2-8 that season, ranking No. 80 among 82 teams in the Division 5 power rankings.
The tide changed last spring, when Randolph, stocked with a roster of underclassmen and newcomers, went 9-8 and clinched a spot in the Div. 4 state tournament for the first time in 10 years. Recalling the long-awaited postseason appearance, Brown smiled and said, “That was definitely a big deal."
A repeat berth is in the making this spring, despite last year's graduation of All-Scholastic pitcher Lilly Dinh. The Blue Devils are 8-4 with six games remaining and would earn an automatic tournament bid with a ninth win. The team is ranked 51st in the Div. 4 power rankings.
“I think that we’ve really come a long way since I’ve been here last year," eighth-grade pitcher Gianna Singleton said.
“Very much a great experience," senior Alexandrea Sanxaridis said of last year's preliminary-round game. "Even though we lost in the first round (to Rockland, 18-1), it’s OK. Hopefully we can make it there again this year. We’re trying our best.”
Coaching first-timers
Even in the down years, Brown could always field a lineup of players, though Randolph does not offer a JV softball team.
Junior Madison Mathes was one of the players who came aboard last year without any prior experience. She had a brief stint on the track team, while some of her teammates came over from the cheer squad.
“My friends and I just wanted to do something," said sophomore Makayla Bembury, who also debuted last year after basketball season. "We started as a team.”
Brown said that during practice, he tosses fly balls to the newcomers (while hitting fly balls to the veterans) and hopes the rookies take to the game and start developing a skillset.
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“I tell them there’s three things we’re here for: have fun, first and foremost. Second, get better. And third, be safe," said Brown, who earlier this year put in a mass order of face masks for players to wear in the field.
“They’ve stuck it out and have steadily improved, and the team has steadily improved with them," Brown added. "We’ve got a good batch of girls. They’re good teammates, they’re trying and they kept playing and kept at it. It’s exciting to see.”
'This is where I want to be'
Brown accepted an assistant-coaching job at Randolph in 2017 after two years coaching the freshman softball team at Milton High. He received the head-coach title the following season.
Brown, who now lives in Milton, takes pride in recruiting his alma mater's hallways to play at his childhood fields just down the road.
“I look at it like I’ve given back something," Brown said. "This town was good to me. I had a great childhood and upbringing here, I was almost attached to Randolph. I’m (here) to try to repay that a little bit. ... You can’t put a price tag on any of that. Fifty years after I graduated, I’m back here and hanging out with the high school kids.”
“If I could coach anywhere, it’d be Randolph," he said. "This is where I want to be.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Coach Kip Brown, Randolph High softball seeing improvement
Continue reading...
