Post 45 coach Pugh steps down

ASHEBORO — When an athlete leaves a program, his contributions are measured with one simple question: Is the program in a better place now than when he first arrived?

The same question can be asked about coaches, and when talking about Randolph County Post 45 head coach Ronnie Pugh, the program is in a far better place now than when he arrived 21 years ago. And that is a very difficult accomplishment because the program was in a very good position when he arrived in 2005.

Still, Pugh, who announced that he will not be returning for the 2026 American Legion season, has helped lift the program into a new stratosphere. Two state championships, multiple league titles, a slew of playoff series victories, three Regional championships, three trips to the American Legion World Series, 571 victories and knowing that he and his coaching staffs had a big hand in helping guide 140 players to continue their careers by playing college baseball.

That’s leaving a program in a better place than when he started.

“The timing is right,” Pugh said on why he won’t be coaching Legion this season. “I think the program is in great shape. They will be really good this year. The timing is right. Not that it would ever be perfect. The program is in good hands.”

Longtime assistant coach Andrew Connor will take over the head coaching position, assisted by Ryan Hill. The duo may hire one more assistant coach prior to the start of the season.

Pugh, who has coached at multiple levels since 1988, finishes with a 571-246 record in American Legion baseball, an average of just over 27 wins a season.

“This is a tough decision, not that it hasn’t crossed my mind before,” Pugh said. “You finish up one and you start looking at the ones coming back and you don’t want to leave them.”

In Pugh’s tenure, some individual highlights include:

■ Neal Pritchard being drafted by the Cardinals.

■ Will Albertson being drafted by the Yankees and then the Giants.

■ The Atlanta Braves drafting Peyton Williams.

■ Hunter Ridge playing in the professional Frontier League.

■ Caleb Webster earning the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year Award with UNCG.

■ Albertson being named the 2015 Division II National Player of the Year while at Catawba.

■ Ben Bunting playing in the NCAA College World series while at UNC.

■ Trevor Marsh earning the American Legion National Player of the Year Award in 2019.

Randolph County Post 45 won 40 games three times in Pugh’s tenure. Post 45 played 57 games one summer when Legion baseball was nine innings long.

Pugh, who will turn 70 later this month, will continue to coach middle school baseball at Greensboro Day, where his sons went to school and where one of his grandsons currently plays.

Pugh was quick to thank the Kiwanis Club of Asheboro for the support they provided during his tenure.

“So fortunate to have what Kiwanis means to this program,” Pugh said. “If Kiwanis wouldn’t have been doing what they are doing, I’m not sure I would have ever done what I did for 21 years without their support.”

There were plenty of memories made along the way.

“Overall what we feel we accomplished over the whole period,” Pugh said of what he will treasure most of his time with the American Legion program. “The assistant coaches and the players. Some of the things aren’t even baseball related. Things that happened on the bus. I’ve had some really good assistant coaches.”

Pugh will most likely be seen at McCrary Park this summer. He’ll watch, he said, from the stands.

“Andrew and Ryan were gracious enough to give me a standing invitation,” Pugh said. “But I really don’t want to get in their way. I know they are going to do a great job.”