Once a Jersey girl, always a Jersey girl.

Technically, it’s “New Jerseyan,” but however you want to say it, Kim Lombardi-McDougall—the head softball coach at St. John Vinney High in Holmdel, New Jersey— is already a fastpitch softball legend in The Garden State.

And now she’s a legend nationally as she’s officially recognized as of today as the Line Drive Media 2026 National High School Softball Coach of the Year.

The 2026 season was a record-setting one for Coach Lombardi-McDougall, who captured the New Jersey state softball title—her seventh overall—in her 22 amazing years as head coach for the Lady Lancers.

She also hit a coaching milestone with win No. 500 in a season that saw St. John Vianney High go 30-0 this spring and finish No. 14 in the final Line Drive Media-produced SUPER 70 High School Softball Team Rankings published last month.

Perhaps best of all for the coach, who took over the helm of the Catholic school’s softball program at the young age of 23, she was surrounded by family in this amazing season as her two daughters—recently graduated senior Madison (age 18) and freshman Peyton (age 15) were key contributors for the Lancers and her father Bart was right next to his daughter in the dugout being a “calming influence.”

It was a doubly rewarding season for the high school head coach—who’s won three out of the last four Jersey state softball titles–because she got to see Madison break practically all of her own hitting records from when Kim herself was a star softball player at Red Bank Catholic High, which is just under eight miles away from St. John Vianney High.

Just last week, Madison was named as a Line Drive 1^st Team High School All-American after also being tabbed as the New Jersey Gatorade State Player of the Year for the second time.

Her title-winning senior season included  29 wins in the circle with a 0.30 ERA, 312 strikeouts in 164.1 innings, a batting average of .626, a state-best 17 home runs and 72 RBIs—meaning she averaged 2.12 runs driven in per game.

And, what has to make this proud mom’s heart even happier is that Madison, also a four-time All-State honoree, will be staying close to home to attend Monmouth University, a beautiful private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

That means the athlete will be attending mom’s alma mater less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean and less than a 20-minute drive from where the McDougall family currently lives.

Even though Madison had college softball interest from as far away as Florida, she chose to stay close to her tight-knit family of six and to play in the D1 Coastal Athletic Association which also features schools such as Hofstra, Stony Brook, Towson, Elon and Campbell among others.

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Softball Pitching Lessons from Her Baseball-Playing Dad

Kim grew up in Middletown, New Jersey—which is just five miles away from Holmdel where St. John Vienney High is located (see a pattern here?)

Her father was a P.E. teacher and also played baseball at a high level.

When his daughter was just five years old, Bart Lombardi started giving his daughter pitching lessons and was a key reason for Kim growing up to be star player in high school.

Today, he and Kim’s mom Lorraine Lombardi live in Florida, but, showing the proud father’s dedication he has always provided to his coaching daughter, he flies up annually at the beginning and end of the prep softball team’s season to just be a “calming presence and support,” as his appreciative daughter puts it.

At Red Bank High, the future softball coach was quite the athlete and not just in softball. Kim won three letters in field hockey with four letters in softball, where it quickly became apparent she had the skills to take her game beyond high school.

The teenage Lombardi evolved into a dominating pitcher who went 83-14 for Red Bank High and set school records with 83 wins, a career .531 batting average and most hits (149) and twice led the Fighting Irish to N.J. state titles (1998, 2000).

As a senior, Kim was named All-New Jersey and also shined on the club side too playing for Team NJ and legendary coach Jim Barsalona. She had the athletic tools to not only pitch but also to play the infield and outfield positions at a high level as well.

“Kim was the kid that any coach would like to have on their team,” Barsalona says. “She was a five-tool player who was aggressive with a never-give-up attitude and was always the team leader.”

“And off the field,” he adds, “Kim was everyone’s best friend.”

It was obvious the athlete had college softball abilities, but the major question was: “Where would she take her game next?”

The answer was well described by a famous line in a movie:

As Dorthy memorably said in the Wizard of Oz: “There’s no place like home…”

… and so Monmouth University it was.

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College and Coaching (with No Time In-Between!)

The legendary high school coach admits that coming out of college she was nervous and wanted to have the support of her family, so playing at Monmouth was the perfect fit.

“It was the fact I could look in the stands and see my parents that was important to me,” Coach Lombardi-McDougall says now looking back.

“I lived on campus and could go home whenever I wanted. I was growing up by myself while having my family when I needed them. It was the perfect situation for me.”

She had a solid career, with the Hawks, starting as a freshman and, by her sophomore season in 2002, appearing in all her team’s 41 games. She pitched in 21 games with a 7-10 record and a team-best 3.48 ERA.

Kim also played first base when not pitching and led Monmouth with 139 putouts that year.

Her junior year saw similar successes, but as a senior she made a life-impacting decision: she concluded her softball playing career  because of a reason that has paid off for her big-time.

“I didn’t play at Monmouth my senior year,” she explains, “because I didn’t want to redshirt; I really wanted to get into coaching.”

Kim took a coaching position at Holmdel High—which is in the same city where she coaches now–and was there until a position opened up shortly afterwards at St. John Vianney High.

“I applied and got two interviews,” she recalls. “I was excited and confident with the interviewing process and how I did. Five minutes after I left, I got the call telling me the job was mine.”

Still, there was some nervousness on the young coach’s part because she was just 22 years old and had to “show I wasn’t going to be their friend.”

She continues:

“To me, there are three things I’m looking for: coachability, hard work and respect. You give me those things, and you’ll do well with me.”

“I don’t do lazy, but I feel I’m super fair. I believe one thing I’ve been able to do well is read a room and get the best out of each kid.”

The coach also reveals that her secret to success isn’t that much of a secret—it’s getting the player to work hard and maximize her potential.

“I try to get best out of every kid,” Kim explains, “and make sure each is held accountable and treated according to her needs. Some need an arm put around them while some want me to be hard on them.”

“It’s all about learning how to keep the player healthy and we a lot of what we do is keep them healthy. For example, we’ll have 5:30 am practices before school on hot days to help the players stay fresh and that works for me too because it gives me time to scout games.”

“The players, I’ve learned, don’t need three-hour practices; they just need to do what it takes to maximize their abilities.”

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Two Decades-Plus of Tremendous Results

Whatever Coach Lombardi-McDougall is doing, she should patent it or write a book on how to replicate the formula to her successes.

There results speak for themselves: seven state championships won in 2010, ’11, ’13, ’19, ’23, ’24 and ’26.

Seven in 22 years of coaching (aside from the 2020 COVID-cancelled season) and the Lancers also came close to two others when the team lost in the 2012 state championship game and last year was defeated in the sectional playoffs.

Still, three championships in the last four years and an undefeated 30-0 record this spring shows how impressive the New Jersey native’s career has been.

Her coaching record overall is 513-54-1—a spectacular .903 winning percentage—and on May 4, 2026, the Lancers team came together for a milestone win for their coach: win No. 500.

It wasn’t an easy win, either, as the team had to fight and come back to win it 7-5 over a battling Marlboro High team that would finish with an impressive 20-8 record .

“I was nervous,” Coach Kim admits, “but it was how I felt the game would go. Their coach (Nick Scalzo) had the team very well prepared, and we didn’t play our best at first.”

“I wanted to scream and yell, but I held it in!” she laughs when recalling how badly her team played early on, including committing five errors… in one inning.

“I felt Madison was a little off and our team overall just wasn’t on, but they pitched to Madison and she ultimately came up big with five RBIs to help us get the comeback win.”

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What Does the Future Hold?

So with the 500-win milestone out of the way along with seven state titles, a perfect 2026 season, the No. 14 national ranking, an All-American daughter going off to college and, as of today, being named the National High School Softball Coach of the Year, it would seem to be the perfect time to retire and no put on the Lancers’ Gold, White and Black colors, right?

Hardly.

“My goal is to be there another 10 years or so,” Coach Kim says. “I’m 44 years old and I have a lot of softball ahead of me!”

Peyton, her youngest daughter, will be a sophomore this year at St. John Vianney and the right-fielder batted over .400 this spring so much more is expected there.

And then there’s the travel ball side.

Coach Lombardi-McDougall is kept busy following her youngest daughter as Peyton competes for the NJ Cheetahs 14U team and Madison is currently playing this summer for the Unity 18U – Torres squad, but that doesn’t mean Coach Kim is ready to just watch her kids play.

The softball coach is starting her own club team in the Unity organization at the 16U age division and, just today, was at tryouts watching players hoping to make her team.

Still, there may be a game-plan down the road, but it’s hard to tell if Coach Kim was serious or joking when she laid out one possible future scenario.

“Truthfully, if Madison wants to go into coaching, I’d let her take over and I would be her assistant!” the mom of four says.

Then she immediately explains what could go wrong with that plan.

“However, I’m such a crazy coach that I can’t get anybody to help me; I have to do it myself or I don’t feel comfortable!”

As if that isn’t enough, the New Jersey-based mom also tracks her two sons who are both standouts in baseball, like their dad.

Tyler McDougall is a senior varsity football and baseball player; on the diamond, he’s a lefty who recently went 9-for-9 in a tournament, and Chase McDougall is in the eighth grade and shows great promise as well.

For the next decade, at least, it looks like Coach Lombardi-McDougall will get to do what she loves most—be a full-time coach and mom—but if the day comes where she hands off the baton to Madison to take over the Lancers legacy, how does she think her daughter will do?

“Madison is way more laid back than me,” Coach Kim says when comparing their personalities and styles.

“When I played, I was a nervous wreck, and I’d take an Imodium before every game. I don’t even know how I would focus on school the day of a game, but Madison is the opposite. She’ll be like, ‘Mom, relax, we got this.’”

“Our dynamic is awesome,” the legendary coach adds. “We connect so well together, she’s like having another coach out there on the field.”

She gives an example.

“Like in our state championships, there’d be times when I’d call pitches and she’d look at me as to ask: ‘Mom, can I call my own pitch here?’ And, more often than not, I’d let her and it’d work.”

“I can’t say enough about her as a good teammate and great competitor who wants to win. She doesn’t have excuses; she just wants to get better.’

“She will be a great coach someday and, maybe like my dad with me, I’ll be able to be in the dugout to help her.”

It’s a pattern that’s worked before… a talented home-grown pitcher going to Monmouth and then building a Hall of Fame-caliber coaching career post-college.

Her former club coach, Jim Barsalona, also praises his former player who he’s watched over the last two-plus years succeed on and off the softball field.

“I can’t say enough good things about her, and she deserves all of her accomplishments,” he says. “By the way, Kim’s also a great wife and mother as well.”

There seems to be just one stipulation that seems to be needed, however, when looking at Madison or possibly even Peyton being the next great coach in the family: it must be within the geographical confines of Central Jersey.

For that is where the Lombardi and McDougall name has had great success for three generations already… with more surely to come.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media

Line Drive 2026 National High School Softball Coach – Runners-Up

• Kelly Reynolds (South Warren, Bowling Green, Ky.)
  • Led the No. 1 ranked team in the country to a 45-0 record including the Kentucky state title with wins over top teams in Alabama, Florida and Tennessee out of state.
• Shane Alexaner (Orange Beach, Ala.)
  • Coached the Lake Makos to a sixth straight Alabama state championship and 46-1 record.