Roy Kortmann will begin his 31st season as head softball coach at LIU in 2025 and is amid his third decade as the director of one of the top programs in the Northeast region. During his time at LIU, Kortmann has built a perennial softball powerhouse in downtown Brooklyn by earning eleven Northeast Conference championships (1999-00, 2003-04, 2006-08, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2023) and subsequent appearances in the NCAA Division I Women's College World Series field.
In 2024, LIU saw yet another 30-plus win season under Kortmann in a year that including victories over power five schools Boston College and Maryland. Kortmann reached the career milestone of 800 wins after a 4-0 victory over Stonehill. With 819 career wins the 2025 campaign could be another milestone year for the softball program.
In 2023 Kortmann led LIU to its 20th NEC Championship game in the last 24 seasons and LIU won their conference record 15th conference championship and 11th under Coach Kortmann. The Sharks also made their 11th NCAA regional tournament appearance under Kortmann at the University of Alabama.
In 2021, Kortmann led LIU to a 27-9 overall record and guided the program to the NEC Championship game for the 18th time in the past 22 seasons. As one of the country's top defensive clubs, the 2021 squad finished an impressive number two in the nation in batting average between college powers Oklahoma and Texas. The Sharks had eight players named to the All- NEC team and two players garnered All-Region honors.
In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Kortmann reached an exclusive coaching milestone with his 700th Division I career win in an 8-6 win over Cleveland State. The Sharks finished the season on a seven-game win streak and led the NEC in wins.
Kortmann has set up his teams' postseason success with exceptional play in the regular season, as evidenced by his 12 NEC regular-season titles (2000-04, 2006-10, 2016, 2019), including a pair of five-year streaks. The unparalleled accomplishments of Kortmann and his staff have led to LIU earning NEC Coaching Staff of the Year honors 10 times (1996, 1998, 2000-04, 2010, 2016, 2019) and four players (Rosette Rough, Randi Gillespie, Blaire Porter and Bianca Mejia) being named All-Americans during his tenure.
LIU captured the regular season championship title in 2019, as the program won 36 games, and earned four of the league's six top honors, including Coaching Staff of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Most Improved Player and Rookie of the Year.
The last time LIU won the both the regular season and the NEC title was 2016, when the team raised the program's overall tournament tally to 14 championships. LIU, who beat Robert Morris 3-2 in a decisive game seven, has won more NEC Tournaments than any other conference school.
LIU advanced to four straight NEC Tournament title games between 2012-16 and repeated the feat in 2019, advancing to the NEC championship game as the regular season title holders.
Kortmann led teams have defeated teams from every power 5 conference in the country. Kortmann led a youthful bunch to a victory over No. 14 Michigan at the Florida Atlantic Kickoff Classic in 2013 and a 3-1 triumph over eventual NCAA at-large team BYU while once again playing in the NEC Championship game.
In 2012, a young group of Blackbirds that featured 10 underclassmen swept through the Northeast Conference Tournament and advanced to the program's ninth NCAA Tournament in 14 years.
Kortmann also eclipsed a coaching milestone with a victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) on March 25, 2012. The 3-2 win over the Red Flash, which came in thrilling fashion via a walk-off base hit from freshman Nicole Archer, secured the 500th win in Kortmann's illustrious career.
In 2010, Kortmann and his staff advanced LIU to the program's first Regional Final appearance. Victories over UMass and Boston University helped propel LIU to the best finish in program history and garnered the team votes in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.
For their efforts, Kortmann and his staff were named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Northeast Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the third time in his career he and his staff have received the award.
Kortmann has coached over 100 all-conference players, 10 NEC Pitchers of the Year, six NEC Newcomers of the Year, five NEC Player of the Year honorees, and one of the first winners of the NEC's Most Improved Player awards. His program has produced 33 all-region selections, including 16 first-team members, and his teams have recorded nine 30-plus win seasons.
It is through this success that Kortmann is able to walk into some of the most prestigious amateur softball tournaments in the country and recruit and sign the nation’s best players. Not only are the future student-athletes among the cream of the crop, but so too is the schedule he and the LIU staff puts together each season. Kortmann continues to challenge his team by competing against nationally ranked schools, lifting LIU onto the national scene in collegiate softball.
While Kortmann has averaged over 28 victories per season and reached the 400-win milestone with a victory over Robert Morris in 2008, he also expects the best from his players in the classroom and beyond. He expects the young women that set foot on the downtown Brooklyn campus to compete and succeed in the game of life.
In 2010, LIU took down two ranked teams, No. 16 Ohio State and No. 21 Massachusetts in the NCAA Tournament. In 2009, LIU defeated their first-ever ranked team with an 11-6 win over No. 12 Northwestern. Long Island also knocked off eventual NCAA Super Regional participant Cal State Fullerton in extra innings during the 2007 season.
With the team successes comes individual player honors and the past few seasons have been no different. The trio of shortstop Bianca Mejia (2009), pitcher Blaire Porter (2008) and first baseman Randi Gillespie (2007) all earned spots on the Easton All-America Second Team in recent years. In 2010, Mejia, Porter, and Brynn Lewis were all named to the first team, while fellow LIU athletes Mariesha Marker and Chelsea Martinson were named to the NFCA All-Northeast Region Second Team. After the 2009 season, both Mejia and Porter, along with outfielder Renae Beauchman were named to the NFCA All-Northeast Region Team.
Kortmann has already left an enduring mark on the program, but year in and year out, he and his staff are committed to winning championships and bringing his team to the national stage. With a top recruiting strategy and an overall philosophy based on hard work, it has become evident that while winning is an objective, he believes the program will thrive with players who are the embodiment of the true student-athlete. Coaching and recruiting in such a unique setting, Kortmann has taken an honest approach and has sold his team on the benefits of working hard and staying focused.
"Our girls have a special opportunity to not only play competitive Division I softball at LIU, but they are doing it in the heart of New York City where there will be countless opportunities for them after they graduate," Kortmann said. "Education always comes first and with that, the need to balance academics and their responsibilities on the softball diamond."
A top fastpitch player in his own right, Kortmann is the third coach since the program’s inception in 1982 and its winningest with over 700 triumphs. Kortmann directed LIU to a dominant 2002 performance with a 21-1 conference record. He led the Blackbirds to a then-school-record 37 wins and an NEC Tournament crown in 2001.
In 1999, he guided the team to an NEC Tournament championship and the school’s first NCAA Regional appearance. They became the first women’s team in conference history to win an NCAA event by defeating Manhattan, 4-3, on the tournament’s second day.
In 1998, the Blackbirds won 33 games and qualified for the ECAC Regionals, while Kortmann gained his second NEC Coach of the Year honor along with garnering NFCA Mid-Atlantic Coaching Staff of the Year accolades with assistant coach Bill Gehrke.
The 1996 season enabled him to win his first of 10 NEC Coach of the Year awards. He guided his young team to a 10-6 conference mark and to a successful run in the NEC Tournament that nearly earned the Blackbirds a league title.
LIU teams have been among the top hitting and fielding squads in the NEC. Kortmann maintains a hands-on approach with all facets of his team.
Elevated to full-time status in 1998, Kortmann also served as business manager for the athletic department until 2020, handling the day-to-day operations of department budgets. He was also a member of the LIU Fiscal Integrity Committee.
From 1999-2000, Kortmann was the NFCA Division I All-American Committee Mid-Atlantic Region chair and part of the selection process of Division I All-Americans in Oklahoma at the College World Series. He also was a member of the NEC Sports Committee for softball and served as the NEC representative on the NFCA Head Coaches Committee for 12 years.
Kortmann is a former member of the NCAA Softball Championship Committee, responsible for the selection and seeding of teams that qualify for the NCAA Tournament and the College World Series. In 2004, Kortmann chaired the NCAA Championship Committee on Selection for the College World Series and chaired the committee at the CWS. He has also chaired the East Region Advisory Committee. He is once again on the NFCA/USA Today Top 25 Ranking Committee and has represented the NEC on the NFCA Head Coaches Committee.
In 2018 and 2019 Kortmann chaired the Plus 27 softball committee which promoted the strategy for the success of non-power 5 programs. He championed the cause with presentations at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association national convention.
Kortmann received a Bachelor of Science degree in management from Rider University in 1980 and an MBA from Lehigh University in 1982.
Kortmann also presides as the executive director of the non-profit, Our Treat. This non-profit provides meals to families with a member battling cancer.
He resides in Manalapan, N.J., with his wife Monica. They have four children: Fallon, Conor, Kerrie, and Shannon.
