Ballard's new baseball head coach has got a lot of Beaver pride.
Doug Montgomery, who will be taking over for now-former head coach John Lamm, is a second generation Ballard High grad (his dad graduated in '76) and has been in the community all his life, according to a Ballard Athletics press release. He's also been playing baseball all his life thanks to his dad, who was president of the Ballard Little League.
Montgomery couldn't see himself coaching anywhere else.
“Ballard is the only school I’d coach at," he said. "I’ve got so much pride in this school, and this community. I even tell people I’m from Ballard, WA.”
Montgomery graduated from Ballard in 2003 and played two years of baseball at Shoreline Community College, where he was team captain and "Male Athlete of the Year" his sophomore year. He went on to get a business degree at University of Washington Foster School of Business, but had just one more year of semi-pro baseball after getting a torn labrum. For his day job, Montgomery is a financial analyst for a downtown company that develops and licenses financial products for banks and credit unions.
Most recently, Montgomery was pitching coach for the Beavers and helped them take third in the KingCo tournament. team lost the state game to Jackson.
“When I was growing up, and tagging along with my dad to the high school practices, this program was buzzing. It felt like they were always at the top of the Metro standings, and making it to the State Tournament. When we thought of Ballard sports, we thought baseball. That’s what I want to get this program back to. When I think of Rainier Beach, I think basketball. When I think of Bellevue, I think football. I want people to think Ballard, and have baseball come to mind. Ballard has been a high school since 1901, and has never won a state championship for baseball. I want to change that.”
Montgomery will be taking the place of Lamm, who announced at the beginning of last season that he would no longer couch, after four seasons.
Lamm didn't have coaching experience prior to joining, but he was able to take over in a pinch and made sure to be a presence in kids' lives. For Lamm, baseball wasn't just a game, but it was a safe place and an avenue to make a difference in kids' lives. According to the Ballard Athletics press release, he would say to parents, “I will use baseball to make better young men and if we get better at baseball that is just a bonus."
Lamm said he was most proud of the dramatic improvement in his student-athlete’s grades and attendance. His work also paid off on the field, with his team reaching post-season play in his last two years. In 2011, the Beavers made the playoffs for the first time in a long time, and in 2012 the Beavers took 3rd in the KingCo Tournament -– eventually losing to Jackson in the winner to State game.
In the press release, Lamm had this to say:
“I have been blessed to have the privilege to coach my beloved Beavers and am fortunate that I had a great group of young men to help put the Beavers back on the baseball map. I am not sure I can express how difficult it was to step down but to those who know me, well you do.”
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