The second era of the Cal State Monterey Bay softball began when the Otters tabbed Saint Mary’s College Associate Head Coach Emily Montañez as the second head coach in program history in July, 2024.
Montañez joins the Otters after spending the last six seasons as Sonja Garnett’s top lieutenant at Saint Mary’s (Garnett herself was a former assistant coach at CSUMB). It also was a homecoming for Montañez, who grew up in Salinas and played at Salinas High School.
Montañez helped lead Saint Mary’s from worst to first during her tenure with the Gaels. SMC won more conference games in her first season on the bench than it had in the previous two seasons combined. By the time the dust settled on the 2024 campaign, the Gaels were lifting their first-ever West Coast Conference Championship trophy.
She began her collegiate coaching career at Cal State East Bay after finishing a 4-year playing career with the Pioneers. She joined Garnett on the Academy of Art staff in 2016, where she helped the Urban Knights achieve the best season in program history in 2018 with 40 wins and the team’s first NCAA Tournament bid.
Montañez got her start coaching at the club level with the Salinas Force, coaching the 12s, 14s and 16s teams for four seasons.
As a player, Montañez was one of the best in Cal State East Bay history and ranks in the program’s all-time Top 10 for hits, home runs and runs scored.
