Julia Horton (left) from Oaks Christian of Westlake Village was the L.A. Daily News Freshman of the Year with a 1.56 ERA plus .364 batting mark. At right is standout Kylie Byrd of Fresno Clovis West, who also plays for Corona Angels Tyson. Photos: OaksChrstnLions / X.com & X.com.
Right along with baseball, we also have our look at top freshman softball players around the state from the 2026 season who have great promise to be an all-state player very soon. There certainly are more freshmen in softball to check through for big varsity success than baseball, but worth the effort to get a glimpse at the future.
This is a post for our Gold Club members only on CalHiSports.com. To join our Gold Club to get this feature, all new state rankings in five sports, state record updates and all of the all-state team announcements, CLICK HERE. You can sign up now for $4.99 for one month to see this list as well as all of our Gold Club coverage from the 2026 baseball season.
FOR MORE ON STATE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR MADELYN BENZLER OF ELK GROVE AND OUR OTHER STATE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR,
CLICK HERE.
RELATED: All-State First Team Overall | All-State Medium & Small Schools | All-State Underclass (Juniors & Sophomores) | Final 2026 All-State Nominations (SoCal) Gold Club | Final 2026 All-State Nominations (NorCal) Gold Club
Notes: As mentioned in the other posts about all-state sophomores and all-state juniors, this is not a Class of 2029 recruiting list. These are all players listed below who “did something” in varsity games during the high school season. Other players will emerge down the road as they get more high school varsity playing time, especially at the stronger CIF Southern Section programs as well as the top programs in Northern California.
(All players listed in alphabetical order)
