First team all-state pitcher Peyton May of Norco (left), who also is the Riverside Press-Enterprise Player of the Year, delivers a pitch for her team. At right, first team all-state catcher Karmen Vazquez of Hanford West (going to LSU) celebrates at second base. Photos: holdenflicks / Instagram.com & Line Drive Media.
The 43rd annual edition of the Cal-Hi Sports all-state teams in softball concludes with these 30 players who are all named first team. We wound up with three catchers, seven pitchers and five outfielders with the rest as infield or multi-purpose. Go inside this free post for a look at all first team players. We also have a second team and third team (senior only/large schools only) in a separate post that is for Gold Club members only.
For the all-state second and third teams (Gold Club), CLICK HERE.
RELATED: All-State Underclass (Gold Club) | All-State Medium & Small Schools | Final 2025 All-State Nominations (SoCal) Gold Club | Final 2025 All-State Nominations (NorCal) Gold Club
For Gold Club post of our all-time all-state softball archives, CLICK HERE.
Note: We hope you enjoy this free post. State softball coaching record lists (just updated) plus two of our four all-state softball posts are for Gold Club members only. Our upcoming all-state frosh watch list (done after all-state baseball is finished) also will be Gold Club. To join our team today, CLICK HERE.
ALL PLAYERS LISTED BELOW AND THOSE LISTED ON EVERY ALL-STATE TEAM WITH THEIR FAMILIES WILL BE ABLE TO ORDER A SOUVENIR PATCH TO COMMEMORATE THEIR ALL-STATE SELECTION. IT COMES WITH A CERTIFICATE AND HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY OUR PARTNERS AT BILLYTEES.COM TO BE PLACED ON LETTERMEN JACKETS. THE SOFTBALL PATCH CAN NOW BE ORDERED. CLICK HERE.
Our all-state patch for the 2026 softball season is similar to the ones we’ve offered in previous years through our partners at BillyTees.com.
Congratulations to these players who’ve been named first team overall for the 42nd edition of the Cal-Hi Sports all-state softball honors program:
FIRST TEAM OVERALL CATCHERS
DeNae Lee (Monterey) Sr.
It’s the second straight year for the Dores getting a first team all-state player after Ella Myers last season. Lee led Monterey to the CIF Central Coast Section D2 title and was the Monterey County Herald Player of the Year. She ranked among the reported state leaders with 15 homers and also batted .528 and drove in 45 runs. DeNae, who will play next season at Utah, also had 31 career homers.
DeNae Lee ripped 15 homers as a catcher and Monterey and will play next at Utah. Photo: Instagram.com.
Karmen Vazquez (Hanford West, Hanford) Sr.
The top indicator of Karmen’s hitting prowess isn’t homers, batting average or RBI but how many times other teams didn’t give her anything to hit. She is believed to have set a state record in 2026 by taking 48 walks. Vazquez also had eight homers, 28 RBI and a .417 average for a team that won the CIF SoCal D3 championship. The future teammate at LSU of State Player of the Year Ayla Tuua also capped her career with .491 average with 27 homers, 123 RBI and 41 doubles.
Alyssa Torres (Valley View, Moreno Valley) Sr.
One year removed after she led the state in home runs with 22, Alyssa didn’t have as many as senior with 15 but she had a higher batting average (.527 compared to .506), had more hits (49 compared to 40) and still did plenty to become a first team all-state player. Torres also capped a career in which she came up just two home runs short of tying the all-time career state record of 64. She also had a .505 career batting average on 190 hits and had 176 RBI. Torres has signed with Arizona State.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL PITCHERS
Liliana Escobar (JSerra, SJ Capistrano) Sr.
A no-brainer first team all-state choice, Liliana already has gained Player of the Year honors by the L.A. Times and was Pitcher of the Year by the Orange County Register. She also was OC Pitcher of the Year as a junior. Her pitching was the key for JSerra’s run to the CIFSS D1 title, including two straight shutouts in the playoffs. For the season, she had an 18-5 record in the circle with 264 strikeouts in 153 innings. Escobar’s college choice also is to one of the biggies: Florida.
Mikayla Finn (Del Oro, Loomis) Sr.
Although she didn’t pitch for the Golden Eagles in their CIF NorCal 2 title game win over Alameda, Finn got the shutouts earlier in the week when Del Oro topped both Northgate of Walnut Creek and Willow Glen of San Jose. She had some rough spots at times, but for her entire career did enough to be first team all-state. This included her top outings last year as a junior when Del Oro won the CIF D1 NorCal title. Finn, who has signed with Cal, posted a career record of 24-5 with a 1.99 ERA. She also had 263 strikeouts in 197 1/3 innings.
Kyleigh Mace (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
It was a breakthrough season for Mace and Monarchs, first with a win in the regular season over their arch-rivals from St. Francis (Mountain View). She later pitched a complete-game shutout over Willow Glen in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division final. Mace, the Bay Area News Group Player of the Year and headed to BYU, went 21-2 with a 0.83 ERA for the season She also had 237 strikeouts in 151 2/3 innings.
Lilliana Escobar’s pitching pushed JSerra all the way to the CIFSS D1 championship and final No. 2 state ranking. Photo: jserra.softball / Instagram.com.
Peyton May (Norco) Sr.
With Norco’s 1-2 punch of May and junior Coral Williams, this year the consensus in Southern California was that May had the better season between the two although both of them are elite and should be stars in college. Peyton, who is headed to Oklahoma State, was the All-Inland Player of the Year by the Riverside Press-Enterprise. She racked up a 13-1 record for her senior season with a 0.35 ERA plus 151 strikeouts in 100 innings. May also allowed only 41 hits all season against her and in 15 1/3 innings against CIFSS D1 champion JSerra she didn’t give up an earned run.
Alison Ortega (La Mirada) Jr.
The CIFSS D1 runner-up places its ace pitcher on first team all-state and its two twin junior sisters Riley and Reese Hilliard both on second team. Ortega, who recently switched a verbal commitment from Harvard to Duke, was the pitcher of the year on the San Gabriel Valley Tribune All-Area Team. She had three straight no-hitters early in the season and in the playoffs had a shutout vs Palos Verdes and 11 strikeouts in a win vs Etiwanda. For the season, Alison went 20-2 with a 1.05 ERA and she had 161 strikeouts in 139 innings.
Chloe Solis (Clovis East, Clovis) Sr.
Some of Chloe’s late-season outings pushed her upward in our final all-state calculations, including a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a win vs Elk Grove in the CIF NorCal D1 playoffs and 13 strikeouts in a extra-inning loss to Whitney of Rocklin in the CIF NorCal D1 semifinals. Solis, who is heading to San Jose State, became her school’s career strikeout leader with nearly 600. Some of her MaxPreps’ stats were not reported, but she had a 0.71 ERA and had 244 strikeouts in 158 innings.
Coral Williams (Norco) Jr.
One year after Williams as a sophomore was the pitching star for Norco when it won the CIFSS D1 title and she was State Sophomore of the Year, she’s back as a first team all-state pitcher. Even though senior teammate Peyton May was the local player of the year, Coral once again looked like an elite performer in just about every start. She went 15-2 with 142 strikeouts and a 0.87 ERA. Williams has committed to UCLA.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL INFIELD
Dailynn Battee (Etiwanda) Soph.
The accolades keep coming for Battee and now it’s a placement on the all-state first team. She has already been the 2026 State Sophomore of the Year, which came after she was 2025 State Freshman of the Year. Leading the Eagles to a 24-4 season, Dailynn belted 15 homers with 38 RBI and had a .616 average on 45 hits. She also was similar to Hanford West’s Karmen Vasquez for getting walked. Battee started to really see the walks late in the season and ended with 31.
Niayli Calvo (Vanden, Fairfield) Jr.
She’s already been all-state first team once as a sophomore and now makes it again as a junior. Calvo is another of our all-state first teamers with a commitment to Florida. A top national recruit, she helped push Vanden to the CIF Sac-Joaqin Section D3 championship game with a .479 batting average. Niayli also had 38 RBI and seven home runs.
Aniyah Gordon from South of Bakersfield is one of three from the CIF Central Section who has cracked the first team all-state lineup. Photo: SportsRecruits.com.
Mia Camacho (Whittier Christian, La Habra) Jr.
Our Medium Schools State Player of the Year and already named first team juniors would be an automatic pick for the first team as well based on that honor plus she was the San Gabriel Valley Tribune All-Area Player of the Year. Camacho led the Heralds to the CIFSS D2 title by hitting home runs in four of the team’s playoff wins, including a game-tying two-run shot in the seventh in the championship game they later won, 5-3, vs. Mater Dei of Santa Ana. Committed to Rutgers, Mia had 17 homers to rank among the state leaders and she had 60 RBI. She also had a .532 batting average and scored 47 runs.
Aniyah Gordon (South, Bakersfield) Sr.
The story for us at the end of the season, since we keep the state softball records exclusively on our site, was Gordon’s chase for the single-season state RBI record. She was gunning for the record total of 89 set in 2015 by Tannon Snow of Chino Hills. A swing here and a swing there and it might have happened, bu Aniyah came up one RBI short with a final season total of 88. She had 13 in one game. Gordon also wrapped the season with a .676 batting average, 69 hits, 57 runs and 19 homers for a team that finished 24-4. She has signed with Norfolk University in Virgina.
Terrianna Kelley (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) Sr.
Switching from being on the all-state juniors team as an outfielder, Kelley had to switch to the infield this season due to a injury situation before the start of the season. The BYU recruit delivered and then some. She led Oaks Christian to a 26-4 season by knocking the ball around for a .567 average on 55 hits. Kelley also had 11 homers, scored 44 runs, knocked in 38 and only struck out twice all season. Terrianna already has been chosen Player of the Year by the L.A. Daily News.
Laine Macosky (Livermore) Sr.
The end of the season wasn’t what Laine and her teammates wanted, but before a pair of CIF North Coast Section D1 playoff losses (one in the third-place game) ended the season the Cowboys had risen to No. 1 in the Bay Area. Macosky, a four-year standout headed to Northwestern, was MVP of the East Bay Athletic League. The slick-fielding shortsop also had a .537 batting average on 44 hits and had 30 RBI.
Kate McCartney (Ponderosa, Shingle Springs) Soph.
Ranked among the top Class of 2028 recruits nationally when we first checked the lists just after the season started, Kate lived up to that acclaim. She ripped 20 homers for the Bruins, which is a total the led the state. McCartney also was key in Ponderosa’s 27-1 season record that included several big wins over top Sac-Joaquin Section squads from higher divisions. He also had 49 RBI and a .625 batting average.
Samantha Nichols (Central Catholic, Modesto) Jr.
This player seems to be on the rise every time we look at player rankings. Nichols is a Florida recruit who was her league MVP and has been named MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section Junior of the Year. She helped the Raiders to their first Sac-Joaquin Section title since 1995 with a .618 batting average, eight homers and 42 RBI. Nichols also has 26 stolen bases.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL OUTFIELD
Hayley Brock (Fullerton) Sr.
Two of the biggest weeks for Brock came against the tough competition her team faced at the Dave Kops TOC in Arizona and at the Michelle Carew Classic. In Arizona, Hayley had a big double in Fullerton’s 3-2 win over Norco and blasted a three-run homer in a 9-2 win over Orange Lutheran. At the Carew, she went 11 for 18 with four homers and 12 RBI in five games in her team’s second-place finish to Norco. For the season, the Utah Valley recruit and Orange County Player of the Year hit .512 with seven homers and 41 RBI.
Gabby Nevarez (Carlsbad) Sr.
Honors in the CIF San Diego Section voted on by a media panel do it with separate player and pitcher of the year categories. Gabby was named the player of the year, which helped her gain a first team all-state position. And looking at it closer, her section honor made sense with Mater Dei Catholic’s Arri Romero as the pitcher of the year. Nevarez was the top player for a Carlsbad team that did get a win over MD Catholic early in the season and later won the CIF SD Section D2 title. She smashed 15 homers, built up a .487 batting average, knocked in 26 runs, scored 36 runs and stole 13 bases. The University of Arizona signer also was consistent as she had at least two hits in more than half of the Lancers’ games.
St. Francis head coach Mike Oakland is shown with daughter Jaime after Lancers won the 2025 CCS Open Division title. Jaime is first team all-state after senior year. Mike has just stepped down as school’s softball head coach. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Jaime Oakland
(St. Francis, Mountain View) Sr.
Four years after older sister Jessica was first team all-state and Ms. Softball State Player of the Year, Jaime is named to the all-state first team. The daughter of head coach Mike Oakland had an impressive senior season. She was the Co-Player of the Year in the West Catholic Athletic League with a .594 batting average with 38 runs scored. She only struck out four times all season. Jaime will play next at Nebraska. Jess was a second-team All-American this past season at Minnesota but entered the portal and is going to be at Duke next season.
Taylor Sansaver (Tracy) Jr.
The Bulldogs had first team outfielder Emalee Cargill last year and this year they have Sansaver on first team with Cargill on second. Sansaver, a junior, just did too much to be in front of her teammate and we didn’t think the team could have two on first team or even three with pitcher/hitter Hayden Fell. Taylor has committed to Arizona and also was the league offensive player of the year. She racked up 60 hits with 44 RBI and had a .645 batting mark. Sanaver also had four homers and 45 runs scored.
Kale’a Tindall (Harvard-Westlake, Studio City) Sr.
A Team USA U18 national team member, the Stanford-bound Tindall has been a big name in the world of young softball players over the past year. Harvard-Westlake has been medium schools in some sports, but as a member of the Mission League in softball it is large. That’s why Tindall wasn’t on any of the other all-state teams, but is on first team. She was the Player of the Year in the Mission League and All-L.A. Daily News as well for the 2026 high school season. Final stats for her were not on MaxPreps, but the Daily News showed her with a .710 batting average on 44 hits with five homers and 20 steals.
FIRST TEAM OVERALL MULTI-PURPOSE (Hit & Pitch)
Alanna Clincy (Willow Glen, San Jose) Sr.
What a four-year career it was for Clincy as she and the Rams were in contention for the very top spot of the CIF Central Coast Section for each of her four seasons. This year, before she heads off to Cal for college, Clincy and the Rams got past perennial power St. Francis of Mountain View in the CCS Open semifinals before falling to Mitty in the final. Alanna had a 0.85 ERA this season with 241 strikeouts in 123 1/3 innings. She also batted .371 with two homers and 20 RBI. Many of her hits came in Willow Glen’s biggest wins. Clincy was th Bay Area News Group Player of the Year as a junior and certainly could have repeated.
Jocelynn Gonzalez (Clovis North, Fresno) Sr.
She did her best work for the Broncos the past two years in leading them to back-to-back CIF Central Section D1 championships. Gonzalez has been named as the Fresno Bee Player of the Year and can be considered a consensus pick among media we follow in the entire Central Section as the section player of the year. After going 13-0 as a pitcher with a 1.23 ERA as a junior, Jocelynn went 16-2 this season with a 1.13 ERA. She also had 187 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings. She wasn’t the leading hitter for Clovis North, but contributed (often in the biggest games) and finished the season with a .349 batting average and 29 RBI. Gonzalez will play next at the University of New Mexico.
Mia Valbuena from Marina of Huntington Beach has been a strikeout machine for her team since her freshman season. Photo: SportsRecruits.com.
Lily Hauser (Murrieta Mesa, Murrieta) Sr.
The leading players for the Rams, who were No. 1 in the state for good chunk of the season after they won the Dave Kops TOC in Arizona and kept winning when they came back home, were Hauser and junior teammate Tatum Wolff. Both were pitchers and both were top hitters. We went with Hauser on first team all-state with Wolff on second team. Lily, who is headed to Arizona, posted a 17-0 record inside the circle with a 0.25 ERA. With bat in hand, she was super-productive with a .542 batting average and 36 RBI.
Arri Romero
(Mater Dei Catholic, Chula Vista) Jr.
As a top recruit from the Class of 2027 who also has that combination of hitting and pitching that makes her so valuable, Romero adds this first team all-state honor to her resume that already shows her as the 2026 State Junior of the Year (Cal-Hi Sports) plus San Diego Section Pitcher of the Year. Helping the Crusaders win their second straight CIF SoCal D1 title, Arri went 27-3 as a pitcher with a 1.06 ERA. She added just 16 walks allowed compared to 176 strikeouts in 178 2/3 innings. As a batter, Romero was among the team leaders with five homers and 31 RBI plus she had a .377 batting average.
Rylee Silva (Lutheran, Orange) Soph.
This standout sophomore was Co-Pitcher of the Year in the Trinity League with JSerra’s Liliana Escobar. The All-Orange County first team player had a 15-4 record with a 1.50 ERA. Silva does more than just pitch. She also was one of OLu’s top hitters. She smacked five homers on the season, drove in 23 runs and had a .403 batting average.
Ayla Tuua (Destiny Christian, Sacramento) Sr.
Our 2026 Ms. Softball State Player of the Year is now in the middle of a busy summer with her travel ball travels (the family was in Canada last week) and getting ready to start the fall semester at LSU while helping the rest of the family move from Sacramento to Downey. Ayla led Destiny Christian to a historic 31-0 season and CIF NorCal D1 title as both a pitcher and hitter. She didn’t pitch every game, but went 12-0 with a 0.66 ERA and had 140 strikeouts in 74 2/3 innings. Tuua ranked among the state leaders in homers with 18 and RBI with 77. She also had a .651 season batting average.
Mia Valbuena (Marina, Huntington Beach) Sr.
Retiring Marina co-coaches Shelly Luth and Dan Hay had a great player to go out with Valbuena. Mia was the reported CIFSS leader in strikeouts with 270 and did that in 139 2/3 innings. She also had an 18-5 record with a 0.95 ERA. Valbuena, who has signed with Michigan, also showed should swing the bat. She had a .400 batting average with 23 RBI.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
