GETTYSBURG, Pa. – After spending the last three seasons as the head softball coach for her alma mater, Brooke Kalman '14 has announced that she will depart Gettysburg to become the head coach at Division I Drexel.

"One of the best decisions of my life was made when I was 17 years old and chose to attend Gettysburg College as a student-athlete," Kalman said. "The next best decision came about four years ago when I chose to come back to Gettysburg to grow the softball program. We did a lot in the last three years and it's all due to a core group of inherited players coupled with talented new players who bought in and believed they could be a nationally ranked program. One of the hardest decisions of my life came just a few days ago when I decided to take a job back in the area that I grew up in."

Over the last three seasons, Kalman has guided the Bullets to a 93-35-1 mark, including the program's first 40-win season. Gettysburg appeared in the Centennial Conference (CC) tournament in each of her three seasons, including winning the 2024 title. She guided the Bullets to NCAA tournament appearances in each of the last two years, including hosting an NCAA regional for the first time in program history. Gettysburg capped a perfect 16-0 home schedule with the regional title and advanced to a superregional for the first time.

"It is bittersweet to see Brooke move on from Gettysburg," Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Campus Recreation Mike Mattia said. "I am happy for her that she will be closer to home and able to showcase her coaching talents in Division I. However, Gettysburg is losing a great coach, who in very short order, turned her alma mater into one of the top softball programs in the country. Beyond her coaching abilities, Brooke did a phenomenal job instilling life lessons, and went out of her way to help individual members of her team off the field when they needed it. I wish Brooke all the best with her transition to Drexel, and I am confident that Gettysburg will find a great new coach to take over the helm and lead the team to continued success."

In her first season as the head coach of the Orange and Blue, Kalman guided the team to a 24-14-1 record for the most wins since 2018. She mentored both the conference Player (Giovanna Komst '24) and Pitcher (Paige Forry '25) of the Year. Her pitching staff led the conference in earned-run average (2.83), strikeouts (209), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.19), shutouts (9) and WHIP (1.43). The Bullets placed five players on the all-conference team and three on the all-region team that included a pair of first-team honorees for the first time in program history.

Her second season brought a 28-13 mark and her first conference championship, going 3-0 in the tournament on three different fields. She mentored Forry to her second straight Pitcher of the Year honors as the only pitcher in the conference to post an ERA under 2.00 for the season at 1.87. The pitching staff led the conference with the most strikeouts (208), fewest walks (65), WHIP (1.19) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.20). The offense cranked out a conference-best 69 doubles and had the second-best overall slugging percentage in the league at .410.

The 2025 team soared to new heights, eclipsing the 40-win mark for the first time in program history. The Bullets reached as high as 13th in the national poll for their highest ranking ever, winning 23 of 24 games from the time they returned from Florida through the end of the regular season. Gettysburg earned the program's and conference's first at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, hosting a regional. Forry claimed Pitcher of the Year honors for the third straight season and joined Audrey Bergan '27 as the program's first-ever All-Americans. Kalman and her staff were named both the CC and NFCA Region V Coaching Staff of the Year.

Her offense in 2025 led the conference in batting average (.331), hits (435), slugging percentage (.427), walks (151). Bergan led the conference with a .466 batting average and program-record 76 hits. Forry, who recorded 30 wins in the circle, had the first 200-strikeout season in program history with 215.

"I want to thank Mike Mattia for bringing me back to Gettysburg and trusting me and sticking with me through the ups and downs of the last three seasons," Kalman continued. "I hope everyone gets to work for an AD like Mike someday. He's one of the best. I want to thank Luke Stillson for going above and beyond for our program. I want to thank all of our assistant coaches over the last three years. Although none were full-time, they always gave full-time effort. Finally, to all of my players: four years ago, I challenged you to win a D3 National Championship – you can do it. This is your program. You've changed it forever. I will forever be Gettysburg Softball's biggest fan. I love you all.  Never settle and always remember to punch back."