JT Keith
Just like the way she lives her life, Artesia’s head softball coach is quietly building a Hall of Fame career.
Sandra Pulido is already No. 1 in career victories at Artesia, boasting a dominant 236-70 overall record and a blistering 95-16 mark in district play. Under her leadership, the Lady Bulldogs have advanced to the state championship game six times in her 11 years at the helm, capturing the blue trophy four times. That staggering run of success includes the 2020 season, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
With an 8-3 victory over Aztec to close out the tournament, Pulido officially cemented her place at No. 5 all-time in New Mexico high school softball history for state titles.
“A lot, it is a lot,” Pulido said after winning the championship. “Four titles in general is a lot. It is amazing to see what these girls did, coming together and fighting and playing for one another.”
In her 11 years leading the Lady ’Dogs, she has put Artesia softball back on top with state heavyweights like Silver, Gallup, and Aztec. Prior to her tenure, Artesia last played in the state championship game in 2008, when it lost 9-0 to Piedra Vista. The program last won a blue trophy in 2001 under head coach Clendon Kirkpatrick, who defeated Silver 1-0.
Pulido now sits directly behind New Mexico’s elite historical coaches. Tom Powers, former coach of Carlsbad, leads with 10 titles, followed by Duane Werth of Cobre with nine, Ann Salazar of Volcano Vista with six, and Apolonio “Moe” Cordova of Silver with five. Pulido’s four titles place her firmly in fifth.
During her tenure at Artesia, Pulido has been a model of quiet strength and dignity. She does not yell at umpires and never questions balls and strikes. Very rarely does she argue a call on the field, and she has never embarrassed a player in front of fans or in public. Stoic in her demeanor, she focuses entirely on teaching and helping her team improve.
Her teams may go through a lull during a long season, but in the end, they are always right there fighting for a state title.
This season, the team got off to a hot start, winning its first five games against Farmington, Piedra Vista, Belen, St. Pius X, and Deming, and also defeating heavyweights Silver and Cleveland in tournament play.
However, the team stumbled on its home turf, losing three games in a row and dropping its own softball tournament. Pulido did not panic.
“I saw some things in our team that I did not like,” Pulido said. “We were not very good at playing situational softball, and we were not in good shape physically to play the kind of softball I wanted to play. I wanted us to be ready come tournament time.”
Pulido used a 10-day break in the schedule to drill situational softball and push her team back into top physical conditioning.
The strategy paid off, sparking a fierce 18-game winning streak that carried the Lady ‘Dogs all the way to the state championship series against Aztec. But the road to the blue trophy required one final test of resilience.
Aztec snapped Artesia’s 18-game winning streak with a tough 6-3 victory in the first game of the championship series, forcing a winner-take-all finale.
“It was hard to have our winning streak snapped,” Pulido said. “It was not an easy loss to take. We had a lot of adjustments to make to our lineup and how we were going to approach the next game. We knew we were not out of it.”
With one game left to decide the championship, Pulido kept her team relaxed and adapted on the fly. With ace pitcher Kayden Apodaca struggling and standout Katrin Marquez sidelined by an injury, Pulido made a bold tactical shift, sending shortstop Danyela Munoz into the circle.
Backed by several spectacular defensive efforts in the field, Munoz pitched a gem, lifting Artesia to the definitive 8-3 victory and securing Pulido’s historic fourth state championship.
Don’t look now, but Pulido might have one of the deepest rosters of her tenure coming back next year with 11 players returning. However, she will have to replace the offensive production of “big bopper” Kayden Apodaca, the high energy of Jenna Whitmire, and the veteran leadership of seniors Miranda Perez, Leslie Molina, and Michelle Loya.
JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061, at jtkeith@elritomedia.com, or on X @JTKEITH1.