HIGHLIGHTS
- 160-77 record at Swarthmore (.675 win percentage)
- Centennial Conference Champions: 2023, 2025
- Advanced to the final of the NCAA Ashland Regional in 2023
- Centennial Coach of the Year: 2022
- Led Swarthmore back to postseason in her second season
- Coaches Canada's Junior Women's National Team
- Former Division I coach at Colgate
- Former Ivy League Player of the Year and Princeton's all-time home run leader
Melissa Finley began as the head coach of Swarthmore College Softball prior to the 2017-18 school year. In seven seasons with the Garnet, Finley has posted a record of 160-77 (.675 win percentage).
2025
Swarthmore captured its second Centennial Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth in three years. The Garnet recorded a program-record 33 wins, finishing with a 33-12 record. The squad also achieved the first national ranking in program history, reaching a peak of No. 22 in the NFCA poll. Lilly Goldberg was chosen the NFCA Division III Freshman of the Year and to the All-America Third Team. Olivia McClammy rewrote the offensive record book, setting eight new school marks.
2024
The Garnet went 23-10 and came just one win shy of the Centennial Championship Series. Swarthmore recorded victories over No. 7 Rowan University and No. 8 Case Western Reserve University during the campaign. Emily Bertrand and Olivia McClammy were both named to the NFCA All-Region V Team.
2023
Swarthmore posted 25-plus wins for the second consecutive season, finishing with a 26-18 mark, and made history with the first Centennial Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Garnet made it to the final of the NCAA Ashland Regional before being saddled with a runner-up finish. Olivia McClammy received her second career All-Region selection.
2022
Returning from a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Garnet registered a program-record 29 victories and earned the top seed for the Centennial Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. Ultimately, Swarthmore came up short of a title but Gwen Glatz became the first Garnet softball player to earn All-America honors. Glatz was also named the Centennial Player of the Year while Meg Ozawa garnered Pitcher of the Year accolades and Alexandra Simon was chosen the conference's top rookie.
2020
Swarthmore was off to a remarkable 10-3 start (.769 win percentage) before the 2020 season was cut short. The team had been batting .315 with an OPS of .799 while holding opponents to a .259 average and a .689 OPS.
2019
Finley led the Garnet back to the postseason for the first time since 2010 with a 22-15 overall record and a 9-7 record in Centennial Conference action in 2019. The fourth-seeded Garnet lasted three games in the double elimination tournament,
winning the second game 6-5 over Ursinus College in dramatic fashion. Two student-athletes earned all-conference honors, with Maddie Bowe being named to the All-CC Second Team and freshman Gwen Glatz making the All-CC First Team and being named the Rookie of the Year.
2018
In 2018, her first season as head coach of the Garnet, Finley led the Garnet to a 17-13 record, the program's first winning season since 2008. The Garnet just missed qualifying for the Centennial tournament, but had two named all-conference, Elizabeth Curcio and Kennedy Kings, the Defensive Player of the Year.
She worked as the head coach of NCAA Division I Colgate University for five seasons and advanced to the Patriot League Tournament in 2013 and 2015, and prior to that, she coached at the University of Pennsylvania for four seasons as an assistant coach.
Finley also coached in many capacities with Team Canada's Senior Women's Team, Team Canada's Junior Women's Team and Team Canada's Elite Team. Most notably she led the Junior Women's Team to a bronze medal at the Junior Pan American Championship in 2019 and was a staff member with the Senior Women's Team that won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Chiba, Japan in 2018. Finley was also a member of the national team for several years as an athlete, winning the silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Finley played at Princeton University and graduated as the school's all-time leader in home runs with 37 in her career. Her 14 home runs in 2003 led her to earning Ivy League Player of the Year honors. The collegiate power-hitter could also get the job done in the circle, winning 22 games as a pitcher.
Coaching Record
| Team |
Year |
W-L-T |
Win % |
Conf. W-L |
Conf. % |
Postseason |
| Colgate |
2013 |
16-32 |
.333 |
9-11 |
.450 |
Patriot League Second Game |
| Colgate |
2014 |
13-30 |
.302 |
5-13 |
.278 |
|
| Colgate |
2015 |
17-21 |
.447 |
9-9 |
.500 |
Patriot League Third Game |
| Colgate |
2016 |
12-29 |
.293 |
7-11 |
.389 |
|
| Colgate |
2017 |
13-30-1 |
.307 |
3-15 |
.167 |
|
| Swarthmore |
2018 |
17-13 |
.567 |
7-9 |
.438 |
|
| Swarthmore |
2019 |
22-15 |
.595 |
9-7 |
.562 |
Centennial Conf. Third Game |
| Swarthmore |
2020* |
10-3 |
.769 |
n/a |
n/a |
|
| Swarthmore |
2022 |
29-6 |
.829 |
15-1 |
.938 |
Centennial Runner-Up |
| Swarthmore |
2023 |
26-18 |
.591 |
8-8 |
.500 |
Centennial Champions; NCAA Regional Runner-Up |
| Swarthmore |
2024 |
23-10 |
.697 |
11-5 |
.688 |
Centennial Fourth Round |
| Swarthmore |
2025 |
33-12 |
.733 |
15-1 |
.938 |
Centennial Champions; NCAA Regional |
| Total at Colgate |
5 seasons |
71-142-1 |
.334 |
33-59 |
.359 |
|
| Total at Swarthmore |
7 seasons |
160-77 |
.675 |
65-31 |
.677 |
|
| Total |
12 seasons |
231-219-1 |
.513 |
98-92 |
.516 |
|
