Lindsay Montemarano Sparking Wolverines Once Again

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Every batting order tends to have one hitter who sparks it.

For the University of Michigan softball team, that player in recent years has been Lindsay Montemarano, a four-year starter at third base who also flashes some serious leather in the hot corner.And that spark has to do more with personality than anything. It has to do with the player whose homer or base-clearing double gets everyone in the dugout nodding their heads and feeling more confident.

She was nicknamed "Monte Pizza" in 2015, when she initiated the team's tradition of pretending to make a pizza when they reached base after a big hit. She's also the one who has a special handshake with every teammate during pre-game introductions. She's the one who makes it fun, and that's an ingredient to success that can't be understated.

Montemarano, playing in her final regular-season game at Alumni Field, pulled a two-run homer in the third inning of Tuesday night's (May 2) 8-0 run-rule win over Western Michigan in five innings.

It's beginning to feel like last season, when she was an All-Big Ten second team selection, again for her now. Montemarano has busted out of a slump to lead the No. 19 Wolverines (37-10-1) in both hitting (.467) and on-base percentage (.733) over the last 10 games.

"You know, she's working," said Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins. "She's accepting constructive criticism, and she's accepting ideas. We're trying to throw out something that will work for her. I like where she's going, and she's had better energy. I think as you play better, you get better energy, and hopefully she's hitting stride.

"It's a good time to hit it."

The Wolverines finish the regular season with three games at Rutgers this weekend (May 5-7) and next week host the Big Ten Tournament before beginning NCAA Tournament play. They've reached the Women's College World Series the past two years and covet the regional and super regional championships that would return them to Oklahoma City.

Montemarano's fiery personality has been central to the pure joy Michigan has played with in its last two postseasons.

"That's the Monte personality," said Hutchins. "It's been kind of absent over periods of this year. It's hard to be a senior sometimes, but the one thing that they're going to remember is the end of our year. The only thing they are going to remember is the postseason.

"It's the only thing that matters, and she's coming around at the right time."

Montemarano batted .323 with nine doubles, 10 homers and 41 RBI in 2016.

Her 10-game surge has raised her batting average from .263 to .295, but she remains well off last season's totals with only four doubles, two homers and 18 RBI.

She's turned things around, though, and knows it.

"In the beginning of the season," said Montemarano, "I had to fight through a couple of personal things that were going on with myself. I wasn't able to put in the reps that I really wanted to put in, and I had to change a couple things around. But lately, I've been feeling really good, and I've been able to put in a lot of extra work.

"Working with all the coaches and trusting the process and sticking with hard work pays off. That mindset -- trying to do anything I can for the team -- I'm just really happy that it's coming together because we're getting to the most important part of our season, and I'm just going to do what I can for my team and do my best for my team."

What does she like about her current hitting stroke and approach?

"I'm just really loose right now," said Montemarano. "I've been working on getting some whip and using my legs a lot more than I was in the beginning of the season. Earlier in the season, I was using too much upper body and got into a couple of bad habits due to a couple of things that were going on.

"But I feel really loose and really strong right now in my lower half, and I've been working real hard on getting some whip back. So, I'm seeing the ball well and trusting the work I'm putting in, and that it's good enough."

The homer against the Broncos is her first since the sixth game of the season at North Carolina State on Feb. 17, and that means it also was her first at home as a senior.

"It was really awesome," said Montemarano. "I haven't hit a ton of home runs this year, and it was the second one. I'm trying not to do too much and just want to get on base and do something for my team -- whether that's a walk, hitting it over the fence or putting the ball off the wall.

"The fact that the ball went over, it shows that hard work does pay off, and if you trust the process it pays off. And one of the best feelings is touching home plate when your team is so excited for you, and everyone was so excited for me. I was so excited to do that today, and it was just really, really fun."

It was a "Monte Pizza" kind of moment, one when the Wolverines bounced for joy and felt good for her while feeling even better about their team's chances during the pending postseason run.

The whole team has been on a roll over the last six games, and that began when Hutchins benched players, Montemarano included, after a 1-0 loss in 10 innings at Wisconsin wasted a two-hit, 18-strikeout performance from ace Megan Betsa in going the distance.

Michigan has averaged 7.2 runs and belted 14 homers in the six games since. The Wolverines had hit only 27 homers in the first 43 games this season.

Montemarano credited a home run derby contest, additional long ball drills and more live batting practice for the power surge and is looking forward to her favorite time of the year.

When asked what she enjoys most about the postseason, she replied: "I'm really excited. I love this part of the season. The whole season is really fun, but you learn a lot about yourself and your team and who you are as a team through the whole season. And it's peaking at the right time, and understanding that the first game of the season doesn't dictate where you are at the last game of the season.

"Our goals never change. Our goal is to make it back to Oklahoma City, and we knew that from the start. Roadblocks are good. We've learned a lot this season, and we're peaking at the right time and really coming together as a team. As long as we stay together, good things will come.

"Trusting is paying off right now."