Todd Williams, who guided the Mountain Cats into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) starting in 2014 after seven seasons in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), took over as head coach in 1998.
After struggling through a 12-35 first season, the Mountain Cats turned things around and finished 21-16 in 1999 and 23-19 in 2000. These marked the first 20-win seasons since 1982 when Coach Williams was a pitcher/infielder on the Pitt-Johnstown baseball team. The 2006 season was highlighted with the team setting another school record for wins with a 33-18 record and earning the No. 6-seed in the NCAA North Atlantic Region Tournament. In 2008, the Mountain Cats broke the 2006 wins record by posting a 37-19-1 record, winning the WVIAC Northern Division and advancing to the program’s second NCAA regional tournament.
In 2020, the Mountain Cats were 11-6 prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic that canceled the remainder of the season. In the summer of 2020, Pitt-Johnstown pitchers Braxton Roxby and Isaiah Kearns each signed free-agent Major League Baseball contracts. Roxby signed with the Cincinnati Reds, and Kearns inked a deal with the Baltimore Orioles. In 2021, Region Pitcher of the Year and All-American pitcher Dylan Heid was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11 round of the Major Leage Baseball Draft.
Through 27 seasons, Coach Williams has posted a 586-604-4 overall record. This has been done by recruiting student-athletes who are committed to hard work and dedication to both academics and baseball. The quality of student-athletes in the program has risen every year.
On April 27, 2019, Coach Williams, already the "winningest" baseball coach in school history, earned his 500th career victory with a 5-4 PSAC win over Seton Hill University.
Coach Williams has produced 20 All-Atlantic Region players, including eight First-Team selections, and Jake Warner, a First-Team All-American in 2013 and Dylan Heid a First-Team All-American in 2021. In addition, nine players were All-WVIAC First-Team choices, before Kyle Morrow became the programs initial First-Team All-PSAC selection in 2014. Pitt-Johnstown has had 19 players named to an All-PSAC Team since joining the conference.
The Mountain Cats also have done the job in the classroom with five Verizon Academic All-Americans. In 2001, outfielder Mike Shumaker became the first Mountain Cat to garner First-Team Academic All-America honors. In 2009, pitcher Ben Watkins, the WVIAC and Daktronics Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year, joined Shumaker as a First-Team Academic All-American. The Mountain Cat program boasts a 94 percent graduation rate for its players.
Following the 2009 season, Watkins became the first Mountain Cat under Coach Williams to be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft when the New York Yankees selected him in the 40th round. Then, in 2012, fellow pitcher Kaleb Fleck signed a free-agent contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fleck advanced through the system to AAA in 2015.
Along with the on-field coaching, Coach Williams and his assistants, George Roberts and Rick Roberts, handle all of the recruiting and fundraising duties. They recruit prospective student-athletes from all over Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
Coach Williams is a 1980 graduate of Central Cambria High School in Ebensburg, Pa. He graduated with a degree in Sociology from Pitt-Johnstown and played baseball under Coach Ken Keiper while attending the university.
Coach Williams, who also serves as the Sports Center Manager, and his wife, Beth, have three grown children Travis, Ashley and Luke.
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