Brook Capello enters her second season as head coach of the Newbury College softball program. In her first season at the helm in 2011, the Nighthawks improved in all facets of the game which helped them to their first appearance in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) semifinals with a 9-7 conference record.

Under Capello’s leadership, the Nighthawks bested their previous season totals in eight categories: batting average, slugging percentage, triples, homeruns, stolen base percentage, strikeouts looking and errors. They finished the season hitting .264 as a team - 11 percentage points shy of their all-time season-high but 11 better than 2010’s .255. In addition, the Nighthawks saw a dramatic increase in their power numbers, toppling season-highs in slugging percentage (.364), triples (11), homeruns (9) and total bases (308) as well as coming within four of 2010’s season-high 40 doubles.

While the Nighthawk bats were red-hot, there were great strides being made in the field. Newbury pitchers nearly averaged one strikeout per inning (6.34) as they struck out 176 opposing batters – 48 of them looking, a new single-season record. The fielders behind the pitchers were also greatly improved committing less errors then they have in the three previous seasons.  

Prior to the 2011 season, Capello spent four years as an assistant coach with the Nighthawks.  As an assistant coach at Newbury, she has helped the program make great strides including two trips to the Association of Division III Independents Championship Tournament in 2007 and 2008. In 2010, Capello helped lead the Nighthawks to their first NECC post-season with a 12-24 record.

In addition to her duties as Head Softball Coach, Capello also serves as Newbury’s Game Management Coordinator and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Advisor. A native of Hanover, Mass., she received Master’s Degree in social work from Boston College in 2010 after earning her Bachelor’s Degree in criminology from Stonehill College in the spring of 2006.

Alicia Burnett enters her second year as assistant coach under head coach Brook Capello. In her first season as pitching coach, the staff has seen immense improvement on the rubber. Last spring, they averaged nearly one strikeout per inning (6.34) as they cruised to 176 strikeouts - 48 of them looking, a new single-season high.

Under Burnett's guidance, the pitchers helped the Nighthawks to their first appearance in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) semifinals with a 9-7 conference record - their best since the conference was founded in 2008.

Prior to coming to Newbury, she served as an assistant softball coach at Arlington High School (MA) and before then was an assistan t head coach for the West Florida Elite Under-18 travel softball team in Pensacola, Fl. In addition, she served as a camp counselor for the Pensacola Junior College Softball Camp and Lisa Fernandez Softball Camp in Milton, FL from 2005-2008.  

Burnett graduated from Lesley University in May, 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Counseling Psychology after transferring from Pensacola Junior College (FL). While at Lesley, she was a two-year member of the softball team and captain of the team during her senior season. Burnett also earned New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Pitcher of the Year honors in 2009 as well as NECC Tournament MVP.