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Monse Matute earns scholarship to national powerhouse Bruins program after standout prep career and recognition as area female athlete of the year
Monse Matute, a 5-foot, 5-inch senior infielder from Citrus Valley High School’s softball team, is enjoying two significant milestones in her high school career.
The first came when she signed a letter of intent to play softball at perennial NCAA softball powerhouse UCLA. The second came this past week when she was presented the Ken Hubbs Foundation’s award as the area’s female athlete of the year.
Matute has been a key contributor to Citrus Valley’s program for the past three years. Her performance on and off the field along with her success with club softball drew the interest of UCLA’s recruiters as the Bruins (52-8) won the Big Ten championship and the NCAA Division I Super Regional to reach the Softball World Series for the 34th time.
The Bruins have won 12 NCAA Division I titles in 41 NCAA tournament appearances, 27 straight since 1999, and made the World Series 10 of the last 11 years.
She joins a UCLA recruiting class for the 2027 season that includes Ava Tapia of Upland High, a catcher, and Aubrey McLaughlin of Roosevelt High in Eastvale, an outfielder/first baseman. Both Matute and McLaughlin played for Athletics Mercado softball 18-under club.
“Everyone wants to play in the NCAA, especially for a team like that,” said Alexa Duran, assistant coach of the Blackhawks softball team. “When the opportunity came she jumped for it.”
Duran added: “It’s a no-brainer when UCLA contacts you. She’s the first recruit from our 2026 team to sign with an NCAA team. Everyone is excited for her. Her teammates are ecstatic for her, knowing she’s going to play at the next level.”
Matute was on hand at the Ken Hubbs Foundation awards event on May 18 along with male and female athletes from over 25 high schools in the Inland Empire who were presented with the Ken Hubbs School Award by the Foundation, which was formed in 1964 in memory of Ken, who was a four-sport athlete, A student and student body president and 1959 graduate of Colton High School.
Ken Hubbs went on to play Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1962. He died in a plane crash in 1964.
Athletes from four schools were the first honorees. By 2015, the foundation expanded its recognition of achievement to 25 schools. The late Keith Hubbs, one of four brothers of Ken (Gary and twins Kirk and Kraig were the other three), served as president of the foundation for 38 years prior to his death in 2018 at the age of 80.
Also honored for their achievements on and off the field were Taylor Johnson of Cajon (male athlete of the year) and Daryl Williams of Beaumont High (the Keith Hubbs Award for outstanding character).
In her three years as a starter for Citrus Valley, Matute played in 55 games, batted .459 with 68 hits, 47 runs scored, 16 doubles, 13 home runs, two triples and 48 runs batted in.
She struck out only 11 times in 148 at bats.
Her fielding percentage at second base was .922 with 12 errors in 154 chances and helped turn eight double plays to go with her 96 putouts.
The team posted only 10 games of stats for her senior season. In those 10 games, she batted .643 in 28 trips to the plate, producing 18 hits that included two doubles, one triple, five home runs and 19 RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.321 and an on-base percentage of .676. Her best overall stats came in 2025 when she batted .429 in 24 games with 25 runs scored, 30 hits, 24 RBI, nine doubles, four homers and a .729 slugging percentage.
Johnson, a middle linebacker on Cajon’s Citrus Belt League championship team in 2025, averaged 18.3 tackles and 6.5 sacks per game with two interceptions, two caused fumbles and 10 quarterback hurries.
He had 124 solo tackles, 77 assisted tackles and 136 total tackles and 17 tackles for loss.
Williams, a Ken Hubbs school award winner in 2025, played football and ran track for Beaumont High.
He was the CBL champion in the 200 meters and 400 meters the past two years and a top five finisher in the CIF Southern Section and Masters meet this year, producing personal bests of 21.12 in the 200 and 47.75 in the 400 meters.
He will compete in the CIF State Championships on Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif.
The Ken Hubbs Foundation’s School Award has been presented to both male and female athletes from each school since 2012.
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