PILLARS OF THE PROGRAM

the OSU record books and have already left a lasting mark on a revitalized program. Whether it’s career batting average, home runs, runs batted in or almost any other stat in between, the Texas tandem has produced at a level equal to, or greater than, some of the iconic names in Cowgirl softball lore.

Heading into the 2019 season, they stand as the only two players to be a part of the OSU roster during the first four seasons of Kenny Gajewski’s tenure as head coach.

“I think for this coaching staff, they’re two very, very important people,” Gajewski said of the duo. “They’ve been pillars in our lineup and our program. They’re mainstays. Every day we know that two of our nine are set. I just can’t say enough about what they’ve meant to this program and what they continue to mean to us as coaches.”

“Being the first four-year kids is cool, and I know that we both take pride in that,” Lynch said about her and Montgomery’s distinction. “We mess around a lot, but at the end of the day we know how special it is. We feel like this is our team and this is our year that we’re going to lead this team to wherever we’re going to go.”

But the record-setting numbers and statistics are not why Gajewski will remember Lynch and Montgomery after they graduate in the spring.

“They’ve always taken the younger kids and helped guide them through everything. That’s not a trait that every kid has,” Gajewski said. “I told them that their legacy — and it’s what I told (Vanessa) Shippy last year — is not going to be their numbers. Their legacies are not their numbers, but the mark they’ve left on their teammates and what type of people they are.”

Lynch and Montgomery have always been leaders but have also always gone about leading others in different ways.

Montgomery, never one to say more than necessary, has always been cast perfectly in the role of leading by example, while Lynch has tackled the other half of the equation perfectly and is often referred to as the “voice of the locker room.” Together, just like in their relationship with each other, they create a perfect balance that has helped prime the Cowgirls for 2019.

They have had front-row seats to the success of the past three seasons and to the potential that this year’s group possesses. But what they also understand is that their work as leaders, and as agents of change, is never truly finished.

“We want to make sure we leave this program better than we found it,” “Lynch said. “I know that we’ve done that, but we have to continue to improve on it. That goes above graduation and continues afterward because we’ll always have that brand on our chests as OSU softball players.”

“We came here to change a program, and we’re not done until we’re done,” Montgomery added. “And I know that we can look back on everything in however many years and know that we did exactly what we wanted to do.”

Both players have spent countless hours working to change the Oklahoma State program over the past three seasons. In that time, they have seen some of their childhood friends live out dreams of playing in the Women’s College World Series.

Now, Lynch and Montgomery are ready for their turn in the spotlight.

“Our motivation as seniors only grows because now we have something to look back on,” Lynch said. “We are not going to go to a regional final and lose because we know what that feeling is like. I think that drives us a little bit more.

“We love watching our friends’ success and everything they’ve done, but we’re ready for our turn.”

With one year left as teammates, Lynch and Montgomery stand together, the pillars of a program, with more than a decade of history between them. They know how far they’ve come and what they still want to achieve, but regardless of the result, the two will always have limitless memories to fill a lifetime of friendship.

“During my hitting streak, she was one of the first people to say anything to me, and I know when she broke the home run record last year (15 in a single season) I sprinted out to celebrate even though I’d just had a horrible at-bat,” Lynch said, recalling just two of the moments she has shared with Montgomery. “It’s little stuff like that, and we’ve been able to see each other have those moments for a long time. It’s cool to be able to say we’ve seen each other do all that stuff since we were 10.”

“It wasn’t necessarily pretty in the way it worked out, but God knew what he was doing by putting Taylor and me together,” Montgomery said. “I don’t think that either of us would’ve guessed that we would’ve done what we’ve done so far, but we’re not done either.

“I can promise you that.”