LA Tech Coaching Honors
* 2019 C-USA Co-Coach of the Year
* 2019 LSWA State Co-Coach of the Year
* 2019 NFCA Mideast Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year
* 2017 LSWA State Coach of the Year
* 2014 C-USA SAAC Coaches Choice Award


During his seven years in Ruston, Mark Montgomery has elevated the Louisiana Tech softball program to a level it hasn’t seen on a consistent basis since the mid-1990s.
           
To see the proof of Montgomery’s success in recruiting, coaching and developing the total student-athlete, people need to look no further than the graduating class of 2019.

Morgan Turkoly, Jazlyn Crowder, Preslee Gallaway, Krystal De La Cruz and Berkley Calapp led Tech to 149 wins during their four years in Ruston, the sixth most in program history. Tech finished in the top four in the league each season, including claiming the program’s first regular season title (2019) and a pair of C-USA Tournament championships (2017, 2019) and NCAA Regional appearances.

Turkoly (2018) and Crowder (2019) were named the C-USA Players of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Gallaway (2018) was named the C-USA Pitcher of the Year, the first in program history. De La Cruz (2017) was named the C-USA Newcomer of the Year. The five seniors combined for 11 all-conference honors.

And in a day and age where many programs rely on Division I transfers to win, Montgomery has succeeded with high school recruits and small school transfers. A novel concept.

This past season, Montgomery led Louisiana Tech to 45 wins, the program’s first regular season conference title and a second C-USA Tournament title and NCAA Regional appearance in the last three years. The 45 victories were the second most in program history while Tech’s 19 C-USA wins were the most ever.

Tech’s success came in spite of a plethora of injuries that saw six every day starters miss more than 70 starts; Tech had a full roster of healthy players for 8 out of 61 games. Montgomery and Co. also managed to overcome an EF3 tornado that destroyed the Lady Techster Softball Complex (along with multiple other athletic complexes, businesses and residential areas) when it hit in the early morning hours of April 25.

Tech won five of its last six regular season games following the tornado to claim the league title before recording three victories in three days to capture the C-USA Tournament championship in Birmingham.

For his team’s efforts, Montgomery was named the Conference USA co-Coach of the Year (along with North Texas’ Rodney DeLong) and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State co-Coach of the Year (along with UL-Lafayette’s Jerry Glasco). It marks his first C-USA Coach of the Year honor and his second LSWA honor (2017).

Montgomery and his staff were also recognized by the NCAA as the Mideast Region co-Coaching Staff of the Year (along with Southeast Missouri State).

Montgomery has now led the program to five straight 30-plus win seasons for the first time since the 1990s, a pair of NCAA Regionals, one regular season C-USA championship and two Conference USA Tournament titles and 226 wins during his seven years at the helm, including an average of 39 wins over the past three seasons.

When Louisiana Tech hired Montgomery to lead the Lady Techster softball program in 2013, the veteran collegiate coach spoke of his vision for a five-year plan.

Montgomery delivered right on time.

The 2017 season -- Montgomery’s fifth in Ruston -- turned into a memorable one for the Lady Techster faithful as Louisiana Tech captured the Conference USA West Division crown, won the league tournament title and participated in the program’s 10th NCAA Regional.

For his efforts Montgomery was voted the Louisiana State Coach of the Year by the LSWA, the first honor by a LA Tech softball coach since Hall of Famer Bill Galloway earned the same award in 1988.

Since his arrival in Ruston, Montgomery has brought a philosophy of developing the complete student-athlete, and his players have embraced this culture.

His philosophy has already proven successful both on and off the diamond.     

Montgomery owns a mark of 226-161 since coming to Tech and a career collegiate head coaching record of 556-483 in 19 seasons, 17 of those on the Division I level.

His players have also won numerous awards for their play on the field, their work in the classroom and their contributions in the community. In four of the last six years, Lady Techster softball players Natalie Moran, Janine Godwin, Kristen Miles and Morgan Turkoly each earned the Conference USA Spirit of Service Award, designed to recognize the community service efforts of the league’s student-athletes, based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport.

Turkoly was named one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, which encompasses competition, classroom, community and character. She joined Oklahoma’s Sydney Romero, Florida’s Kelly Barnhill and Amanda Lorenz, and Kentucky’s Katie Reed as a Senior CLASS Award 1^st team All-American. She was also nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Godwin was also named the Conference USA recipient of the 2015 Woman of the Year Award, one of 57 NCAA Division I female student-athletes from across the country honored with the recognition.

Former Techster Erin Kipp was named an Academic All-American during Montgomery’s first season in Ruston.

On the field, Montgomery’s players have also seen significant recognition, setting program records in 2019 with seven all-Conference USA honorees (16 over the last three years), seven C-USA All-Tournament honorees and five NFCA All-Mideast Region honorees.

In addition to the superlative honors from his graduating senior class, freshman Lindsay Edwards was named the 2019 C-USA and LSWA Freshman of the Year, joining another former Montgomery player Anna Cross (2013 WAC Freshman of the Year).  

Montgomery has also received recognition for his coaching style during his time at LA Tech. He received the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s Coaches Choice Award in 2013-14. The SAAC Coaches Choice Award recognizes a coach that is committed to fostering student-athlete development and welfare through a positive athletic and academic atmosphere. Each C-USA institution selects a nominee and then voting is done by the conference SAAC representatives during its annual in-person meeting.

Montgomery came to Louisiana Tech after spending two years at NAIA Georgetown (Ky.) College, eight years at Centenary College and two years at Northern Colorado.

The Kentucky native has led his teams to 11 winning seasons during his 17 years, including 10 seasons of 30 or more wins, while guiding Centenary to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 2004 and 2005. During his time at Centenary (2003-2010), Montgomery won 216 games, including victories over Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, Minnesota, Syracuse, Boston College and New Mexico.

Montgomery led the Ladies to the program’s first winning season in 13 years in 2004 and a program record-tying 36 victories as Centenary captured the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament championship and advanced to the school’s first ever NCAA Tournament. Centenary led top-ranked Arizona late in the game before eventually falling 2-1 to the Wildcats.

The following season saw Montgomery and the Ladies win 31 games, capture their second straight Mid-Continent Tournament title and return to the NCAA Tournament.

Following Centenary’s decision to drop down to Division III, Montgomery coached the Ladies in 2009 and then accepted the head coaching position at Northern Colorado where he led the program to back-to-back second place finishes in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division (2nd place) each season while being named the PCSC Mountain Division Coach of the Year in 2011. The 2012 team won a school record 25 games and broke 21 school records.

Montgomery’s teams have always been highly successful away from the softball diamond as each one of them has registered a team grade point average above 3.0 for the past 15 years. His 2001 team at Georgetown College posted a cumulative GPA that ranked in the top 10 of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Academic Teams. His Northern Colorado team in 2012 finished ranked No. 2 in the country in team GPA.

Prior to his collegiate coaching experience, Montgomery served as the softball coach at Lafayette (Ky.) High School where he won seven district titles, five regional titles and one state championship title while posting a 170-73 record.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky in 1992 and his master’s degree from Georgetown College in 2000.

Montgomery and his wife Melanie have three daughters: Bailey, Emma and Adrienne.


 
School                         Year    Record            League/Finish            Postseason     
Georgetown (Ky)        2001    36-15               24-6/2nd*                    NAIA Regional
Georgetown (Ky)        2002    36-16               20-5/1st**                   NAIA Regional
Centenary                    2003    20-35               No league                    ---
Centenary                    2004    36-28               16-8, 2nd***               NCAA Regional
Centenary                    2005    31-28               11-9, 3rd****             NCAA Regional
Centenary                    2006    31-25               13-9, 2nd                     ---
Centenary                    2007    22-27               6-6, 4th                        ---
Centenary                    2008    34-26               17-7, 2nd                     ---
Centenary                    2009    32-23               13-9, 3rd                     ---
Centenary                    2010#  10-34               4-19, 9th                      ---
Northern Colorado      2011    17-35               13-7/2nd-Mtn              ---       
Northern Colorado      2012    25-28               10-10/2nd-Mtn            ---
LA Tech                      2013    27-26               11-10/4th                     ---       
LA Tech                      2014    19-33               7-16/12th                     ---
LA Tech                      2015    31-19               12-9/3rd-West             ---
LA Tech                      2016    32-22               12-9/3rd-West             ---
LA Tech                      2017    38-24               16-8/1st-West*****    NCAA Regional
LA Tech                      2018    34-23               15-9/2nd West             ---
LA Tech                      2019    45-16               19-5/1st******           NCAA Regional           
Totals               19 Years           556-483                         239-161
 
#, Centenary declared move to DIII prior to 2010 season
*, 2001 Mid-South Conference Tournament Champions
**, 2002 Mid-South Conference Regular Season & Tournament Champions
***, 2004 Mid-Continental Tournament Champions
****, 2005 Mid-Continental Tournament Champions
*****, 2017 C-USA Tournament Champions
******, 2019 C-USA Regular Season and Tournament Champions