Louisiana Tech head coach Mark Montgomery will be the first to give credit to veteran pitching coach Mike Forsythe on the vast improvement of the Lady Techster pitching staff the past three years.
Forsythe, who teams up with former Techster pitcher and current assistant coach Bianca Duran, has helped guide the Lady Techster staff to becoming one of the most feared in Conference USA.
During Forsythe’s three years on the Tech staff, the Lady Techster pitchers have earned high marks. Bailey Allen (2016), Krystal De La Cruz (2017) and Preslee Gallaway (2018) all earned first team all-Conference USA honors. To put that into perspective prior to this three-year stretch, Louisiana Tech had only one other pitcher (Meghan Krieg) named first team all-conference from 1999 through 2015.
De La Cruz was named the 2017 C-USA Newcomer of the Year while Gallaway was named the 2018 C-USA Pitcher of the Year. Gallaway became the first Lady Techster pitcher to ever be named league pitcher of the year after a stellar junior campaign.
In 2017 De La Cruz and Gallaway became the first LA Tech pitching duo to earn all-conference honors in the same season in program history.
Under Forsythe’s leadership, the LA Tech staff tossed 18 shutouts in 2017 (the most since 1999), including eight in C-USA regular season games and 1-0 shutout wins over WKU and FIU in the C-USA Tournament title run. Despite playing a schedule that included 11 games vs. Power 5 teams, the LA Tech staff combined for a 2.48 earned run average – the third lowest in the last 20 years.
In 2018, Tech’s staff held seven different teams ranked in the Top 25 during the season to two runs or fewer.
Forsythe sports an impressive resume with coaching experience at four other colleges, including stints at Southern Connecticut State, Quinnipiac, Fordham and most recently at Northern Colorado -- where he spent five seasons, including two with Montgomery. He also spent time coaching with the Akron Racers Women's National Pro Fastpitch League.
Forsythe has had success at every stop, making immediate impacts. His resume also includes coaching a USA Softball 2010 Top 10 Player of the Year finalist in Jen Mineau and being tabbed as a member of the 2010 NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
