Brook Donovan begins her third season as head softball coach at Otterbein in 2020-21, after being hired from a pool of candidates in July of 2018.
Donovan, 28, encountered success in her first go-around by leading the Cardinals to the 2019 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament title as the fourth, and final, seed. Otterbein went 21-15 in the regular season before catching fire in the league bracket, winning three-straight games to raise the program's second trophy in three years.
As a result, Otterbein advanced to the NCAA Regional in Illinois, bowing out to a pair of top-25 ranked opponents. Shortstop Alyson Shaw earned first team Academic All-America honors, as she and pitcher Gabby Johnson went on to sign with the American Softball Association.
Her Cardinals then stood with a 6-3 record early on in the spring of 2020 before the season was unfortunately shut down due to CoVID-19.
Donovan came to Otterbein after spending one year as an assistant coach and camp director for Ohio University in Athens. The Bobcats posted a 40-17 record during her lone season, winning the MAC Championship before advancing to the regional final of the 2018 NCAA Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. Ohio was selected as the NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
Prior to her stint at Ohio, Donovan served two seasons as the lead/graduate assistant coach for Division III Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. The Wolverines went 21-17 in her second year and the program had seven players claim NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete awards.
Donovan enjoyed a nice playing career at Division I Coastal Carolina University, competing as a four-year starter in the outfield and guiding her squad to the 2012 Big South Tournament title, where she was subsequently named to the All-Tournament Team. She was a 3x Big South Player of the Week and graduated as Coastal Carolina’s all-time leader for most games played (233).
A member of both the NFCA and ABCA, Donovan holds a variety of experience with instructing camps/clinics and has gained professional development exposure at recent conventions in New Orleans (2016) and Indianapolis (2017).
Otterbein has gone a combined 96-25-2 over the past three seasons, winning three-straight Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season championships and making the first NCAA appearance (2017) in program history.
A native of Bear, Delaware, Donovan holds a bachelor’s degree in sport management and a master’s degree in sport leadership, with a concentration on coaching.
