Roy Kortmann remembers his first win.

“We beat Delaware State,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle, “By a lot.” That was 818 wins ago.

In between, the man who coached women’s softball at Brooklyn’s Long Island University for 30 seasons looks back at a career that, well, had its biggest challenge before he even started.

“A dear friend – Ken Kalyka – really worked on me,” the soon-to-be 67-year-old former coach said. “His daughter Kristy played softball at LIU. Ken asked me more than once to be the next coach, when there was a vacancy.”

Finally, Kortmann gave in. “Ken gave me the phone number of Margaret Alaimo, the LIU athletic director at the time, and we met.”

And it was a marriage made in heaven – but not at the start.

The Rider College graduate was a top fast pitch player in his own right

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