Kali Pugh

Pugh was hired in September of 2022 and enters her second season with the Roughriders in the spring of 2024.

Pugh comes to Yavapai College from San Diego City College where she was the head coach of the Knights.

Prior to coaching the Knights, Pugh was an assistant coach at her alma mater Palomar College from 2017-22. While coaching the Comets, Pugh coached with Hall of Famer Mark Eldridge and her previous head coach Lacey Craft.

Prior to her coaching career, Pugh put together one of the most impressive resumes that a softball player could accomplish.

After attending Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, California, where she was a four-time varsity letter in softball and field hockey while earning 2013 Female Athlete of the Year honors, Pugh decided to start her collegiate softball career at Palomar College in San Marcos, California.

In her two seasons with the Comets, Pugh was a two-time First-Team NFCA All-American, two-time California All-State selection, Conference Player of the Year during both of her seasons in 2014 and 2015, 2014 CCCAA Player of the Year, 2015 State Golden Glove winner and 2015 Scholar Athlete award winner while helping lead the Comets to a CCCAA Championship during her sophomore season in 2015.

Her 2015 championship team wound up with a 41-4-1 overall record while the 2014 Comets went 33-6.

Her stats from Palomar are just as impressive as the accolades as she hit .596 as a freshman with eight homers, 59 RBIs, 60 runs scored, 81 hits, 17 doubles, four triples, an OBP% of .619 and SLG% of .956. As a sophomore, Pugh hit .517 with 15 homers, 65 RBIs, 68 runs scored, 10 steals, 76 hits, 12 doubles, seven triples, 20 walks, an OBP% of .573 and SLG% of 1.000.

After Palomar College, Pugh earned a scholarship to Oklahoma City University, a historically successful NAIA program, where she played for Hall of Famer Phil McSpadden.

While with the Stars, Pugh's excellence continued as she helped lead the Stars to back-to-back NAIA National Championships in 2016 and 2017 while earning two-time First-Team All-American honors, 2017 NAIA National Player of the Year honors, 2016 Conference Newcomer of the Year honors, 2017 Conference Player of the Year honors and 2017 Dean's Honor Roll accolades.

Pugh's 2016 squad went 67-3 while the 2017 team went 68-1, bringing her overall record as a player to 209-14-1 (.933) with three championships to go along with it.

In 2016, as a junior, Pugh hit .417 with 84 runs scored, 100 hits, 20 doubles, five triples, 15 homers, 68 RBIs, 26 walks, 20 steals (in 20 attempts), an OBP% of .472, a SLG% of .729 and an OPS of 1.201.

During her senior season in 2017, Pugh hit .462 with 95 runs scored, 114 hits, 23 doubles, two triples, 23 homers, 86 RBIs, 22 walks, 27 steals (in 29 attempts), an OBP% of .505, a SLG% of .850 and an OPS of 1.355.

Pugh also earned her bachelors degree from Oklahoma City University in 2017 and masters degree from Azusa Pacific University in 2019.