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Three-way tie in 2025 sets stage for competitive 2026 softball season
After the three-way tie between Citrus Valley, Yucaipa and Beaumont for the Citrus Belt League regular season title in 2025, the same three schools will be trying to do that or better in 2026.
League play begins on Thursday, April 2, with CVHS at Redlands East Valley, while Yucaipa faces Cajon and Beaumont takes on Redlands.
Here’s a preview of each of the six CBL teams:
The Blackhawks finished 17-11 overall and 7-3 in the CBL in 2025 but lost to Royal High in the first round of CIF Southern Section Division 3 play, 17-11. CVHS relied on its power-hitting offense, which hit .403 for the season and averaged 8.3 runs per game.
Four seniors who were big producers graduated in 2025. Madison Marquez batted .486 with four homers and 21 RBI and is a freshman at NCAA Division 1 Cal State Bakersfield. Kamryn Caldwell hit .385 with four homers, 25 RBI and 28 runs scored. She signed with Division 1 Utah Tech of St. George, Utah.
Naveah Tarin (.388, five homers, 21 RBI) and Chloe Hearrell (.457, 27 RBI, nine doubles, 19 runs scored) both made all-CBL second team.
The team returns three offensive stars led by senior Leah Leivas, an all-CBL first team pick who batted .530 with 53 hits, 27 runs scored and 12 RBI in 2025. Also back is Monserat Matute, a senior who hit .429 with 25 runs scored, 24 RBI, four homers and nine doubles. Matute was second-team all-CBL. Jestine Citau returns for her senior season after batting .352 with two homers, nine doubles, three triples and 27 RBI. She was second-team all-CBL.
The Blackhawks’ pitching staff depended on two freshmen in 2025, but they gained valuable experience. Sophomores Cali Leverette and Oliva Acuna are joined by Isabella Diaz, who is also an infielder. Leverette pitched 104 innings with a 5.28 earned run average, while Acuna had a 6.35 ERA in 15 appearances.
Head coach Lenny Duran is back for his second season. The team had a 6-6 record entering the week.
The Lady Terriers have a new coach in Mike Leyvas and are 5-7 in their first 12 games this season in an effort to improve the team’s fortunes in 2026.
Redlands definitely wants to improve on its disappointing 9-44 record over the last five CBL seasons, including back-to-back 0-10 league schedules in 2025 and 2024. The team’s last CBL win was 6-5 over Citrus Valley on April 27, 2023.
The Terriers open league play at Beaumont on April 2, followed by a home game with Redlands East Valley on April 7 and another home game against Citrus Valley on April 9.
The top players who graduated from the 2025 team that was 4-19 overall were Shay Figueroa, who earned first-team all-CBL with her .375 batting average, .919 fielding percentage, 21 hits and five doubles. Also moving on was Sofia Akimbo, who batted .351 with 20 hits and 15 runs scored.
The leading returner is Mallory Conway, who pitched 111 innings in 21 of the team’s 23 games, producing 50 strikeouts and finishing with a 6.90 earned run average. Conway batted .289 and drove in 13 runs to earn first-team all-CBL honors.
Also back is Avery Andrade, who batted .306 with 13 runs scored, 10 RBI and five doubles. Katelyn Markus batted .314 in 2025.
The team hit just .243 in 2025, averaging only 2.95 runs per game while giving up more than six runs a game.
The Lady Wildcats are off to an 11-6 start under new head coach Daniel Solomon and assistant Stephanie Ruelas, looking to turn around a program with six straight losing records in CBL play.
REV will miss the contributions of all-CBL Grace Twente, who batted .430 with 26 runs scored, 37 hits and 14 RBI in her senior season in 2025.
The ‘Cats open CBL play hosting Citrus Valley on April 2, followed by a game at Redlands on April 7 and a home game with Cajon on April 9.
Back to help provide the offense for REV is senior Jadah Nordby (.315 BA, 23 hits, 11 RBI and four doubles in 2025), who made all-CBL first team. Olivia Moore, now a sophomore, batted .348 with five doubles and 13 RBI as a freshman. A. Naef, a junior, hit .302 with five doubles to earn all-CBL second team in 2025.
The pitching staff returns intact with senior Piper Silvestri, an all-CBL second team choice last season, and sophomore L. Navarro. Silvestri posted a 4.04 earned run average in 15 appearances with three complete games and 21 strikeouts. Navarro had a 4.12 ERA and a 5-11 record in 27 appearances, eight complete games and 76 strikeouts.
Thus far in 2026, Silvestri has improved her earned run average to 3.17 with 44 strikeouts. Navarro has a 2.08 ERA with 46 strikeouts.
In the first 17 games this season, Nordby is hitting .510 with six homers, 22 RBI and a 1.061 OPS to go with a .923 slugging percentage. Moore is batting .413 with 19 hits, including four doubles. Gabby Torres is batting .365 with 14 runs scored. Lakaii Christensen is hitting .409 with three triples, two homers, 13 runs scored and 13 RBI.
Head coach Alyssa Liu has the Lady Thunderbirds off to a 10-6-1 start heading into their final non-league game of 2026 this week.
Yucaipa is coming off a 16-11 season, 7-3 in the CBL, before losing in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, 2-1 to Redondo Union.
The T-Birds open 2026 CBL play at home against Cajon, followed by a road game at Citrus Valley on April 7 and another road game on April 9 at Beaumont.
The team will be without two big offensive players who graduated in 2025, led by all-CBL first-team member Makenna Pettey, who batted .512 with nine homers, 43 runs scored, 44 hits, 29 RBI and a .997 slugging percentage. The other is Janelle Erickson, who batted .384 with five homers, 19 runs scored, 28 RBI, 28 hits, eight doubles and a .775 slugging percentage. Last year’s team had a combined batting average of .330.
Back to help Yucaipa compete for a CBL title are two solid pitchers and two strong run producers.
Emily Mendoza, the 2025 CBL pitcher of the year, is back for her senior season after posting a 10-3 record in the circle with a 2.54 earned run average in 20 appearances covering 74 innings with 77 strikeouts. Also back is junior Brooklyn Dent, who was 7-7 with a 2.73 ERA in 21 appearances covering 89 innings.
Leading the returning position players is Peyton Seevers, who was one of the top hitters in the CBL as a freshman in 2025. Seevers batted .476 with 39 hits, 24 runs scored, six doubles and 19 RBI. Also back is Sophia Bicondova, who batted .329 with seven doubles, two triples, two homers and 18 RBI as a freshman. Another returnee, Reece Van Arsdale, drove in 12 runs while hitting .284. Layla Waysz hit .303 in 2025.
So far in 2026, Seevers is hitting .536 with 21 runs scored, 10 RBI, eight doubles, three triples and eight steals. Van Arsdale is hitting .442 with four homers, 20 RBI and an .885 slugging percentage. Dent has a 2.64 ERA in the circle. Sophomore Presley Walker is batting .413 with 19 hits and 17 runs scored.
When Beaumont High athletics moved from the Mountain Pass League to the CBL in 2020-21, the Cougars made an immediate impact that has sustained them through their first five seasons.
The Cougars have won two CBL titles outright at 10-0 (2021 and 2023) and tied for first place in 2022, 2024 and 2025. Their CBL record for the first five seasons is 44-6. The team’s overall record in that same span is 88-35 entering 2026.
Beaumont won 10 of its first 16 non-league games to open the current season and will begin CBL play on April 2, hosting Redlands High, then traveling to Cajon on April 7 and hosting Yucaipa on April 9.
Among the players graduating in 2025 from last year’s team that went 12-11 overall and 7-3 in the CBL was Keali Huss-Cochran, who is now at NCAA Division 1 University of Minnesota. She earned all-CBL honors all four years of high school. Her career stats at BHS were impressive — a .375 batting average in 74 games over the last three seasons; 13 homers, 25 doubles, 45 runs scored and 56 RBI. She struck out only 37 times in 224 at-bats.
Paul Mays is the head coach of the Cougars. His top returners are Maddie Roark, Alexis Taylor, Kiera Houston and Layla Martignoni. No 2025 statistics were available for the returning players, and no stats were available for the current team at the end of pre-league play.
The Cowgirls are coming off a fourth-place finish in the CBL in 2025 with a 12-13 record (6-4 CBL) and lost eight of their first 12 games to start this season.
Four seasons ago, Cajon was the CIF Southern Section Division 5 champion, beating El Toro 2-1 in eight innings in the 2022 championship game. Its season ended in the first round of the CIF state tournament South Regional, a 4-1 loss to Temescal Canyon.
Pitcher Jada Villegas, a sophomore at the time, was named the Division 5 player of the year, and teammate Mercedes Alba was named to the all-CIFSS Division 5 first team. Head coach Lee Haines was the Division 5 coach of the year for leading the Cowgirls to a 24-7 record (7-3 in the CBL).
Cajon opens CBL play on April 2 at Yucaipa High. The Cowgirls host Beaumont on April 7 and play at Redlands East Valley on April 9.
Lost to graduation in 2025 was Citrus Belt League player of the year Ci’Ella Pickett, who batted .585 with a .667 on-base percentage, three homers, 11 steals, 29 runs scored and nine doubles. Pickett began her prep career at REV.
Two other graduates are Nadine Juarez and Neveah Smith. Juarez batted .388 with 19 RBI, six doubles, two triples, a homer and 24 runs scored. Smith was 2-2 in the circle with a 5.98 earned run average in 64 innings pitched. She struck out 31.
The most productive of the returning players is junior Rylee Torres, who earned all-CBL first team honors as a sophomore after batting .515 with 35 hits, five homers, five triples, seven doubles and 22 RBI.
Also back is senior Belle Ravelo, who hit .429 with seven doubles, two triples and 27 RBI while scoring 18 runs. Senior Madison Gallardo batted .424 in 2025 with 11 runs scored and 16 RBI. Joelize Holley hit .356 with 12 RBI.
This spring in non-league action, Holley is batting .500 with 10 RBI, while Gallardo is hitting .444 with two homers and seven RBI. Torres is hitting .344 with six steals. Freshman Ilene Garcia is hitting .333 with three homers and 14 RBI.
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