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When Horne stepped away from the program after last season, the baton returned to Brown. 

"I'm excited for the program, excited for Coach Brown," Horne said. "I think he was the right pick. He knows the kids. He knows the school. It's the right fit. I was very happy that they chose him, and I think he's going to do a phenomenal job."

CBC announced the coaching change in late June.

"We are excited to have Scott Brown lead our baseball program once again," CBC athletics director Scott Pingel said in a statement. "His vast experience and knowledge will be a tremendous asset for our young men going forward."

Brown has spent the last three seasons as an assistant to Horne in addition to his duties as CBC's assistant athletics director.

After coaching Vianney's baseball program from 2011 until 2021, Brown said he wondered if he'd be a high school head coach again.

"I have always said that, given the opportunity, I would love to do it again," Brown said. 

While at Vianney, he guided the Golden Griffins to a state championship in 2018, two third-place finishes (2011 and 2017) and a fourth-place finish in 2014.

In his first stint at CBC, he picked up two third-place finishes in 1991 and 2007.

"It's funny how things come full circle," Brown said. 

For his career, Brown totaled 553 career wins between the two programs. 

Horne guided the Cadets to two state titles in 2010 and 2015. He collected a second-place finish in 2013 and a fourth-place finish in 2021. He is the winningest coach in CBC baseball history with 318 victories. 

"Sixteen years here, which has been an amazing run, and I've enjoyed every moment," Horne said. "It's been amazing. But at the same time, I just kind of felt it was time for a new voice."

After three years as an assistant under Horne, Brown said he learned some valuable lessons from the departing coach.

"I learned when I was at Vianney, and that was really just sort of to be a little bit more yourself," Brown said. "You don't have to be the person who is a total authoritarian. You can allow other people to do jobs. Trust your assistant coaches, I think, let the players see a little bit more of who you are. I will say this, that was one thing that I appreciated with (Horne), is that he allowed me to be me."

Brown is excited about the prospect of coaching a roster that returns a majority of its production from last year's district runner-up squad.

And while he's racked up plenty of wins, he stressed that he's not in a state-title-or-bust mode.

"My goal is to get (the players) to achieve at the highest level they can," Brown said. "You don't always have that type of talent that it takes to get to that (state-title) level. But if you get them to reach the highest level they possibly can and to have success that way, that's what I really want to do."