Penn-Trafford's Marissa Lamison-Myers heads Colgate softball program

Once an impressionable young catcher with a powerful swing and commanding presence, Marissa Lamison-Myers was grateful to have pop in her bat and “pop” in the dugout.

Lamison-Myers became transfixed on her father Chuck's every move when he coached her in travel softball.

Also growing up, she watched her father, who is the softball coach at Pitt-Greensburg, coach football and wrestling.

“I grew up playing the sport and watching my dad, and I played with my sister (Micala),” said Lamison-Myers, a Penn-Trafford graduate who played four years at Clarion. “After I hung up my cleats, I really wanted to coach.”

Fast forward and Lamison-Myers is beginning her first stint as a college head coach after a steady incline of success as an assistant.

Colgate named her head coach last month.

“This will be my seventh year of coaching collegiately,” said Lamison-Myers, 29, who coached travel ball with the Pittsburgh Predators for 10 years and was an assistant at Penn-Trafford in 2011. “It's already just flown by.”

Lamison-Myers coached four years at Bucknell after a flash-bang two seasons at Division III Tufts (Mass.), where she helped the team to a national runner-up finish in her first season, and a national championship the next.

At Bucknell, a conference foe of Colgate in the Patriot League, the grooming process began.

“I had been behind the scenes at Bucknell the past two years, helping my former boss along,” she said. “I picked up a lot of experience in the administration side of things. I feel like I am ready.”

Her “boss,” Courtnay Foster, resigned last month, expediting Lamison-Myers' move after a blink-of-an-eye stint as interim coach.

“My summer of searching began when (Foster) left and I scoured the internet for a bunch of jobs,” Lamison-Myers said.

Infused with experience, she applied at Colgate and landed an interview days later.

“In five-and-a-half days, they did the interview and made me the offer,” Lamison-Myers said. “I knew that was the place for me. They made me feel like a part of the Raider family from the beginning.”

Melissa Finley resigned as head coach at Colgate in mid-July to take the head job at Swarthmore.

Colgate acted promptly to secure her replacement.

“Her leadership, drive and softball IQ will help lead our program to new heights,” said Colgate athletic director Victoria Chun of Lamison-Myers. “In addition, she has shown an unwavering commitment to student-athletes pursuing the highest level of academics and athletics that perfectly align with our core values.”

Lamison-Smith learned a lot from her father but said her demeanor might differ from his.

“I think you mellow out with age the longer you do this,” she said. “I am more mellow than my dad. I rule with an aura that revolves around standards and goals. I am very clear on those. I don't need to yell if you know you didn't meet those standards and goals.”

Chuck Myers is anxious to see his daughter work with her own program.

“It is a sense of accomplishment for me,” he said. “I tried to give her a solid background as a person, player and coach. I am very proud of her as a person and a coach. She has worked very hard and has overcome a lot of obstacles. She is a great recruiter and very knowledgeable of the game. I pick her brain now instead of her picking mine.”

And Lamison-Myers plans to pluck players from the WPIAL — and Westmoreland County, the hot-iron spot for the sport of late.

“I will try my hardest to get Western Pennsylvania kids to upstate New York,” she said. “Western Pa. is an underrated and overlooked area.”

Colgate will play Bucknell three times next season, making for a potentially awkward but unique reunion.

“I'll be going against a whole team I recruited,” Lamison-Myers said. “It's going to be a strange situation for sure.”

Bucknell went to three Patriot League tournaments with Lamison-Myers on staff. She worked with pitchers and catchers before doing more in-game situational coaching at third base the last two years.

Bucknell's all-time strikeouts leader, Amanda Fazio, whom Lamison-Myers coached, plans to join Lamison-Myers as an assistant.

Lamison-Myers said she will stay with in-laws in Syracuse and commute to Hamilton, N.Y. — about a 45-minute drive — until she is through selling her home in Lewistown.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.