About John Kelly

John Kelly was named the head softball coach at St. Ambrose in December 2022.

In 2026, the Fighting Bees cruised to a 20-7 CCAC record (30-19 overall), including an impressive six 3-game series sweeps and a tie for second place in the conference regular season. The 2026 season saw SAU play the most difficult non-conference schedule in program history with competitive games against Top-25 teams: World Series champion Madonna, World Series runner-up Southeastern, No. 16 Grand View, No. 20 Central Methodist and No. 24 Midland… along with conference opponent No. 21 Saint Xavier.

The Bees finished eighth nationally in stolen bases (147), led by centerfielder Shai Erdrich’s 80 steals (No. 2 nationally), extending her St. Ambrose career stolen base record to 227, while setting the new single-season runs scored record at 55, as well as setting new program records for career runs (182) and career hits (214). The Fighting Bees also slugged the 15th most triples in the nation with 19. SAU also finished with an impressive 162 walks/hit by pitches for the season, and only 114 strikeouts and a team season OPS (on base plus slugging) of .832.

Individually the Bees placed five on the CCAC All-Conference teams, including Becca Haag (junior), Shai Erdrich (grad student), Taylor Martyn (junior), Leah Maro (junior), and Shea Meech (freshman). Erdrich was also named to the NFCA All-Region team. The 2026 team placed 13 Bees on the Easton/NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete team.

Coach Kelly continued with his national leadership roles in 2026 as a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Head Coaches Committee, served his third year as CCAC conference rater (seventh year overall, including four years with the Sun Conference), served as North ARC (Area Ranking Committee) chair and was a member of the NAIA Softball National Selection Committee for the 2026 national softball tournament.

In 2025, Coach Kelly led SAU Softball to the CCAC Tournament championship game for the first time in program history. The Fighting Bees received five All-Tournament team selections: Mya Millsaps, Ellie Downing, Kylee Claypool, Ada Boysen and Mady Reed. 

The Fighting Bees finished strong, beating 10 of their last 13 conference opponents for a third-place regular-season finish, while receiving six CCAC all-conference selections: Becca Haag (first team), Ada Boysen (first team), Mady Reed (second team), Leah Maro (second team), Ellie Downing (second team), and Kylee Claypool (second team). Reagan Engberg was named to the CCAC Gold Glove team.

The 2025 team took a big jump in power as they finished, for the season, among CCAC teams, No. 2 in doubles, No. 1 in triples and No. 2 in home runs — raising their team OPS (on base + slugging) nearly 100 points from the 2024 season.

The 2025 team also included 18 Easton/NFCA All-American Scholar Athletes (3.50 GPA or better), boasting a spring semester team GPA of 3.52!

His 2024 team had three all-conference performers: Shai Erdrich, Becca Haag and Alyssa Schumacher all earned first-team recognition while Emilee Erickson was named to the second team.

In his first year with the Bees, Kelly led the team to 25 wins. Three players earned all-conference recognition, including Erica Ralfs, who also received NFCA First Team All-Region accolades.

"From the first moment I stepped on campus, St. Ambrose felt like home to me," Kelly said. "The rich tradition of SAU, its commitment to academic excellence and innovation, along with a holistic and compassionate approach to education as a Catholic institution, create an exceptional environment to both coach at and recruit to. I look forward to continuing to build the softball program to national prominence with elite student-athletes of the highest character and academic dedication."

Prior to taking the job at St. Ambrose, Kelly served as head coach at Cloud County Community College in Kansas in 2022, and as head coach at NAIA member Ave Maria University in Florida from 2017-2021, where he led the Gyrenes to 81 victories in four seasons (including a 61-34 record in non-conference games), while setting numerous program records during his tenure.

At Ave Maria, Kelly coached nine All-Sun Conference selections, six NFCA All-Region selections, five NAIA Academic All-Americans and the 2021 NFCA Golden Shoe Award Recipient (given to the most outstanding base stealer from an NFCA member institution) in Kalie Romig, who stole 54 bases to lead all players at the four-year level that year.

Kelly's best season at the helm of the Gyrenes came in the 2020 COVID-shortened season as Ave Maria posted a program-best 14-game winning streak, starting the season 16-3 before finishing the abbreviated year with a 19-5 overall record. The .792 winning percentage set a program record as the Gyrenes posted a 4-2 record against teams that were either ranked or receiving votes. For the season, Ave Maria outscored opponents 175-76. In 2021, Ave Maria received votes for the NAIA Top 25 while starting the season 14-4.

Kelly was previously an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Georgia Tech in 2016-2017. While at Georgia Tech, he was responsible for hitting, outfield, base running and mental game instruction as well as in-game defensive positioning.

Prior to his time at Georgia Tech, Kelly coached seven seasons with national travel softball powerhouse The Next Level (TNL) in San Diego, Calif., and two seasons as head coach at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, winning a CIF State Championship in 2015 while compiling a 43-22 overall record.

Kelly is a well-known mental-game expert having authored several books and audio programs on the mental game of sports, including "How She Thinks is How She Plays," and has worked with hundreds of athletes and teams at all levels from coast to coast on improving performance through mental-game mastery.

Kelly played collegiate baseball at the Division I level as a pitcher and outfielder at the University of San Diego, graduating from USD with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. He earned a Master's of Education in Counseling Psychology, Positive Coaching and Athletic Leadership from the University of Missouri in 2020.