SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara Head Softball Coach Gina Carbonatto announced on Friday the hiring of Kaitlyn 'Kat' Guevara as an assistant coach bringing with her five plus years of experience coaching at the collegiate level.
 
Guevara joins the Broncos from Monterey Peninsula College where she served as the head coach last season and prior to that was an assistant coach at West Valley College for four seasons including a stint as an interim head coach. 
 
At West Valley, Guevara was hired as the pitching coach and eventually also took on the role of the hitting coach under medal-winning Olympian Vicky Galindo Piatt before landing the head coaching gig at MPC in 2023.
 
"I am incredibly grateful to Coach Carbonatto for this opportunity to join such a prestigious university and an outstanding coaching staff," said Guevara who goes by the first name, Kat.  "I am eager to dive into my role and work hard to do my part to elevate this program. I am excited to be a part of something great."
 
Guevara has more than a decade experience as a private pitching and hitting instructor.  She also worked at the Kinetic Performance Institute, an athletic training facility in Morgan Hill, California as the Lead Skills Coach utilizing and analyzing Blast, Rapsodo and HitTrack metrics for skill development. 
 
At Santa Clara, Guevara will work with a veteran pitching staff that returns four hurlers who combined to record 27 of the team's 30 victories, matching the program record for the most single season wins in history.  All-West Coast Conference second team selection Hannah Edwards set career highs in wins (13), ERA (3.01), appearances (29), starts (21), innings (123 1/3) and strikeouts (70) to cement herself as the ace of the staff and returns as a redshirt senior in the spring.  And reigning WCC Player of the Year, Hazyl Gray, a two-way standout, enters her third season on the Mission Campus. 
 
"I'm beyond thankful for Coach Deering's tenure with our pitching staff.  She has built and recruited a dynamic group of dedicated and hungry pitchers," said Carbonatto. "I look forward to the continued growth and development of our staff with the hiring of coach Kat.  I'm thrilled for our pitchers to get to work with her.  She has great experience using some of the most advanced pitching technology available in softball and a passion for coaching that will propel us to winning championships. Welcome back to the heart of the Silicon Valley, Kat. I can't wait to get out on the field and see what we can accomplish this year!"
 
Guevara coached and played in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) having been named 2015 All-NorCal and 2016 All-State selection as a player at West Valley before transferring to Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. 
 
Guevara was picked in the fourth round in The American Softball Association (ASBA) draft to play ball in Mobile, Alabama during its inaugural season of the independent professional league. 
 
After graduating Lyon College with a bachelor of arts degree in history, Guevara embarked on a coaching career, first as an assistant travel ball coach in Arkansas and then at San Jose from 2019 to 2021.  She then worked at the Kinetic Performance Institute while as an assistant coach at West Valley. 
 
Guevara also has a master of science degree in coaching and exercise sciences from Concordia University-Irvine.

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