Kevin O’Brien retired as the Merrimack Valley athletic director last June after working in the school district for 37 years. But, he decided to stick around for a third season as the Pride’s softball coach. Now 5-4 through this weekend after beating Sanborn, 4-3, on Saturday, MV sits in 10th place out of 19 teams in a loaded Division II. 

O’Brien discussed what it’s like for him to still be around MV athletics after retiring as AD, why he’s stuck around and provided an update on his team and where they sit with about a month left in the season.

Responses have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity:

Concord Monitor: You retired as athletic director last year, but what made you want to stay on as the softball coach?

Kevin O’Brien: It was a combination of talking with the girls, and I’ve been associated with the school for a long time. Several of them asked me if I would consider doing that, and I talked it over with my wife. I actually don’t live in New Hampshire, (but) it was all cool, so I came up. 

I’m very, very fortunate. We have a great group of kids, a great group of parents, and they’re a lot of fun to be around. They clearly understand how I coach, and that at 4 o’clock, it’s time to go to work.

CM: Where are you living?

O’Brien: Pawleys Island, South Carolina. 

(Jokingly) It’s a long commute each day, but it’s worth it.

CM: What’s it like for you still being around MV athletics but not in the role that you had been in for such a long time?

O’Brien: It was a little bit of an adjustment. Kenny Edwards, who took over the AD job, is an extremely nice man. Very knowledgeable, and quite frankly, we’ve become pretty good friends. We talk on a regular basis. 

My time has passed, and it’s cool. There will always only be one high school for me, and that’s Merrimack Valley. Only one high school for me.

CM: What’re your thoughts on how the softball team has performed so far?

O’Brien: Softball’s a long season when you’re stuck inside in the New Hampshire weather, so once you get outside, it goes by in the blink of an eye. Right now, I like where we’re at. We’ll continue working on our situational approach at the plate – we get better at that every game knowing situations, knowing when to shorten up, knowing what your job is. 

Our goal is to position ourselves for the tournament and be playing our best softball in the first week of June. I tell the girls all the time: We need to learn from each experience and get better and make adjustments after each game. 5-4 works for me.

CM: Any particular players whose performances have stood out?

O’Brien: Our senior leadership has been outstanding. Liv Lacasse is a pitcher. She knows how to manage games. She’s been pitching for a long time. She’s a senior captain. Kalee Keyser is my third baseman. She’s another senior captain. Very good leadership, and that’s been tremendous. I’ve known them their whole high school careers. Great group of kids. They keep me laughing all the time. We have a lot of fun. I’m big about enjoying it. We laugh every day in practice, (but) as I said earlier, they know how I am as a coach. 4 o’clock, time to go to work. They’re really all in tuned to that.

CM: Anything else you want to add about softball season so far?

O’Brien: It’s been great. In Division II, this area’s blessed. Coe-Brown, Bow, John Stark. They’re all very good teams, and it’s extremely competitive. It’s great for softball, for the area. Pembroke has had a great tradition of softball over the years.

I don’t think that people always understand that it’s a lot of fun, and it’s very competitive every time that you take the field against the local schools. 

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