Lycoming College

A lifelong resident of Williamsport, Melissa (Baer) Montoro is set for her 13th year at the helm of the Lycoming softball program and her 15th with the program overall in 2026.

In her first 11 years as head coach, Montoro has led the team to program-record breaking victories twice, mentored 31 all-conference selections, a league pitcher of the year, four all-region selections, 17 Academic All-District picks, 78 NFCA Scholar-Athletes, led the team to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1997 and led the team to back-to-back conference championship game appearances in 2023-24. She also was named the MAC Freedom Coach of the Year in 2023.

Lycoming finished 18-16 in 2024, finishing the year by eliminating three teams in the Landmark Conference Championship to earn a slot in a conference title game for the second straight year. The Warriors had three players earn all-conference nods and one earn all-region accolades.

The Warriors finished with a school-record 25-14 record in 2023 that included a 12-4 mark in the MAC Freedom, finishing in a three-way tie for first in the regular season and followed that with three elimination game wins in the MAC Freedom Championship to advance to the tournament final. A record seven Warriors earned all-conference honors, including MAC Freedom Pitcher of the Year Kylie Russell, and both Russell and outfielder Morgan Wetzel earned all-region honors. The Warriors finished regionally-ranked for the second time in Montoro's tenure.

In 2020, the Warriors started the year with a 6-2 mark before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season with the Warriors batting .362 as a team, averaging a robust 6.9 runs per game. Senior Kayla Kline became Montoro's third Warrior to earn Academic All-District honors as well. The 2019 season saw the Warriors record their third winning season in four years, finishing 20-16 overall. The team started the season 10-1 and were led by Kline, who became Lycoming's first all-region players since 2004. 

In 2017, Montoro helped the Warriors to a 24-14 finish. The team featured a lineup that hit .298 (the program's best since 2000), scored 189 runs (most since 1995) and slugged .398 (best since 1997). The team's 2.13 ERA was the program's best mark since 2005 and the .959 fielding percentage was the team's best since 2010. Three players earned all-conference honors, including Kline, who broke seven program records while becoming the first first-team all-conference infielder at the school in 12 years.

She guided the team to its best season in over a decade, as the Warriors finished 2016 with a 20-19 overall record, reaching the 20-win mark for the sixth time in school history and the team also excelled in the classroom, as a program-record 11 players 10 players earned slots on the MAC Academic Honor Roll. 

In her first year, Montoro helped the team to 14 wins, the most in the program's history for a rookie head coach.

Montoro, who is the fourth head coach in program history, began her coaching career with the Warriors in 2012, joining the staff as an assistant coach and focusing on the program's pitchers.
 
The 2007 Williamsport Sun-Gazette Player of the Year, Montoro was a four-year letterwinner at Mansfield, winning 17 games and saving two during her career. She also struck out 185 batters in her career while tossing more than 250 career innings for the Mounties.

A standout in the classroom at Mansfield, the criminal justice major earned four Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete mentions, three MU Presidential Scholar Athlete nods, three Division II Athletic Directors' Association Academic Achievement awards and was named a National Fastpitch Coaches of America Scholar-Athlete in 2011.

A graduate of Williamsport Area High School, Montoro earned four letters with the Millionaires and was named the 2006 Sun-Gazette Underclassman Pitcher of the Year. She was inducted into the District 4 Softball Hall of Fame in 2015.
 

The Montoro File
Hometown: Williamsport, Pa.
Wife - Krystin
Daughter - Cali
Son - Jackson

	Education
2011	Bachelor of Science - Criminal Justice	Mansfield University
	Collegiate Coaching Experience
2012-13	Lycoming College	Assistant Softball Coach
2014	Lycoming College	Interim Head Softball Coach
2015-Pres.	Lycoming College	Head Softball Coach
	Honors and Awards
2015	District 4 Softball Hall of Fame
2023	MAC Freedom Coach of the Year
2023	Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year

Montoro Year-By-Year
Year	W	L	Pct.	Note
2014	14	19	.424	Set program record for most wins by a rookie coach
2015	14	20	.412	Program set school record with 10 Academic Honor Roll selections
2016	20	19	.513	Coached team to first winning season since 2005
2017	24	14	.632	Team won a program-record 24 games
2018	12	26	.316	Coached freshman Taylor Gessner to all-conference honors
2019	20	16	.556	Kayla Kline becomes team's first all-region player in 15 years
2020	6	2	.750	Kayla Kline earns Academic All-District honors
2021	10	16	.385	Team posted highest regular-season finish since 2011
2022	9	25	.265	Team notched eight-run comeback, the largest in school history, at Alvernia
2023	25	14	.641	Team finished tied for first in the MAC Freedom
2024	18	16	.529	Team reached Landmark Conference Championship final
2025	13	16	.448	Team had 10 NFCA Scholar-Athletes
Total	185	203	.477