Brian Savard, Director of Athletic Communications, Plattsburgh
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Brianna Ferchen, who spent the 2019 season as an assistant coach at Plattsburgh State, has been named the Cardinals' head softball coach, as announced Monday by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation. John Flynn, who served as Plattsburgh State's head coach in 2019, will remain on staff as an assistant coach, a position he occupied for two years prior to this past season.
"We are absolutely thrilled to have Brianna join us as our head coach," Plattsburgh State Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Mike Howard said. "It was very clear throughout her first year here in Cardinal Country that she is incredibly passionate about the game of softball, a skilled instructor in every facet of the game and very well respected by the student-athletes. I would also like to personally thank assistant coach John Flynn for his leadership in guiding our team on an interim basis last year and his continued dedication to our program. I am confident that Brianna's leadership will continue to move our program forward and have no doubt that our team is in great hands with this coaching staff leading the way."
Ferchen made an immediate impact as an assistant coach last year, as the Cardinals nearly qualified for the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament and split a pair of one-run games with eventual NCAA Division III Tournament participant SUNY Geneseo. Two student-athletes earned All-SUNYAC honors, while Jennifer Groat earned the 2018-19 SUNYAC Dr. Dolores Bogard Award and was named the 2019 SUNYAC Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-America.
Prior to Plattsburgh State, Ferchen assisted with SUNY Cortland's softball program during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years, helping the Red Dragons win a SUNYAC championship and an NCAA Division III Regional title in 2017. Her duties included working with the outfielders, preparing fitness circuits during practice, scouting and recruiting prospective student-athletes, scouting opponents, working with slap hitters and overseeing the bat lists and bat checks throughout the season.
As an undergraduate student-athlete, Ferchen competed at The College at Brockport from 2012-15. She authored a .343 career batting average, going 144-for-420 at the plate, in addition to collecting 12 doubles, four triples, 46 RBI and 71 stolen bases throughout the course of her career. Ferchen set career program records in stolen bases and stolen-base attempts, and she earned All-SUNYAC honors in both 2013 and 2014. She was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Scholar-Athlete in 2012 and was a SUNYAC All-Tournament Team selection in 2014.
"I want to thank Plattsburgh State for giving me an opportunity to be the next head softball coach," Ferchen said. "I am very grateful for the opportunity to continue to work with the Plattsburgh State softball team. I believe in developing student-athletes both on and off the field. It is important to me to develop a relationship with all my players and be able to watch then grow both academically and athletically while they are at Plattsburgh State. We will be working hard to continue to be a competitive team in the SUNYAC and make it back to the SUNYAC Tournament. I am eager to get started and looking forward to the start of the semester."
Ferchen earned her Bachelor of Science in kinesiology and exercise physiology from Brockport in 2015 and her Master of Science in exercise science from Cortland in 2018.
