RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Tech head softball coach Jordon Jones has announced the completion of her coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season with the hiring of Avery Sanders as the team's pitching coach. Additionally, Jones has promoted Scott Gongola from volunteer assistant to assistant coach.
 
Gongola has been a volunteer assistant under Jones since her appointment as head coach at Tech in 2023.
 
New to the program, Sanders comes to Tech after spending the last two years at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. There she served as the pitching coach and led the development of the pitching staff as well as outfielders, playing a key role in player performance and growth.
 
Additionally, Sanders brings six years of experience as a professional pitching instructor. In that role, she created and shared original drills through a dedicated Facebook page, gaining a strong following among young athletes and parents in her hometown of Thibodaux, Louisiana.
 
In Thibodaux, Sanders also coached for the XLR8 Softball travel team and served as a summer league coordinator at the Thibodaux Recreation Center (TREC). During league operations, she was the head director for both softball and baseball fields.
 
Academically, Sanders holds a Bachelor of Science in General Biology from Mississippi College. She also earned both an Associate of Science and an Associate of Arts from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
 
As a player, Sanders had a standout collegiate career. At Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, she pitched 202.1 innings, tallied 210 strikeouts, and recorded a 2.59 ERA. She posted a season-high 14 strikeouts in a single game against Marion Military Institute.
 
She continued her career at Mississippi College, where she pitched 268.1 innings, struck out 249 batters, and tied the school record for strikeouts in a single game with 13 against the University of Alabama at Huntsville.