College softball: Salinas High grad Montanez named new CSUMB softball coach
MORAGA – Returning to a conference where she put together a historic softball career as a player nearly a decade ago had an appeal to Emily Montanez.
So did becoming a college head coach for the first time, taking the reins of arguably the most successful sports program at Cal State Monterey Bay since its inception into Division II sports.
Yet, the selling point for the former Salinas High first baseman was returning to an area where she honed her softball skills as a youth – where her family remains a short drive from the CSUMB campus.
“I’ve played in the conference,” Montanez said. “It’s competitive. But coming back home was the key thing. It was a no-brainer to take the position.”
Introduced last week as the new softball coach at Cal State Monterey Bay, Montanez’s first official day on the job is Thursday.
The 33-year-old becomes just the second softball coach in school history, replacing Andrea Kenney, who retired last spring after producing over 500 wins in 18 seasons for the Otters.
New CSUMB softball coach Emily Montanez was an associate head coach at St. Mary’s in Moraga last season. (Photo by Tod Fierner)“I have some big shoes to fill,” Montanez said. “I also know that I will do whatever I need to do. I’m excited for what the future looks like. Andrea did an incredible job with the program.”
Having spent the past six years at St. Mary’s – the last five as the associate head coach, Montanez’s last day as a part of the Gael’s coaching staff was Wednesday.
“This (St. Mary’s) is such a special place,” Montanez said. “It was so much fun building the program to where it is now. To see these seniors turn it around from their freshman seasons was incredible.”
Montanez was speaking about St. Mary’s winning its first ever West Coast Conference title last spring to advance to the NCAA West Regionals.
While the Otters stumbled last spring in posting a 19-30 overall record, this isn’t a reclamation project for Montanez.
The program has won five California Collegiate Athletic Association titles in the past 14 years and made eight NCAA Division II appearances, the last coming in 2022.
“I’m looking forward to building the next chapter at Monterey Bay,” Montanez said. “What I will focus on is building the athlete as a person, how to be a leader and successful on the field and after they graduate.”
In a Zoom meeting with players, Montanez said she was greeted warmly by 36 returnees. She’s in the process of hiring a pitching coach as well. CSUMB lost just two seniors and one starter.
“I will meet with the players and get a little more in-depth next week,” Montanez said. “A lot of them are still gone. When we get back to school on Aug. 26, we’re going to go hard.”
While pitching will be the centerpiece of building her program, Montanez is an aggressive coach who will demand execution at the plate and on the base paths.
“If we’re not hitting, we’ll figure out other ways to produce runs,” Montanez said. “We will play small ball. I don’t know what the program was before, but I want to execute every play.”
The Otters were shutout seven times last year and were held to one run on seven other occasions, accounting for 14 of their 30 losses.
While revenue for scholarships has improved at CSUMB, it still has one of the smallest budgets in the CCAA, which can make recruiting challenging.
“The special part of recruiting is finding athletes where this is the best fit for them,” Montanez said. “What’s important to me is making sure the athlete is successful. It’s not just softball. You’re here to get a degree.”
Having served as a hitting coach and infield coach at St. Mary’s, Montanez believes the program’s past success and being from the area will help when it comes to recruiting.
“The location sells itself,” Montanez said. “There are very few programs that are a mile from the beach. There is so much pride in the program.”
A former first baseman at Cal State East Bay, Montanez remains among the top 10 in school history in hits (155) at No. 6 and is No. 10 all-time in home runs and runs scored.
A member of The Herald’s All-County softball team in 2009 at Salinas, Montanez hopes her ties to the area will help in perhaps keeping some of the local softball talent in the area home.
“There’s a ton of talent in the area,” Montanez said. “I’m excited for the ones that want to stay in the area. I realize that’s not for everyone. There are a lot of hard-working athletes that come from this area.”
Montanez had the privilege of working with four former county athletes last spring who were a part of St. Mary’s conference title team.
“I will pursue wherever I can to find the best athletes,” Montanez said. “If it’s down the street or in SoCal, I will find the best ones to fit our program to be successful at CSUMB.”
