BROOMFIELD — The 2026 softball season is just over two weeks old, and if there’s one thing to know this early on, it’s that what’s here today might be gone by tomorrow.
If you didn’t know kids were turning everything into hot-dog-themed content over the summer — well, they were. And luckily, it’s over now.
But not all trends are short-lived fads. With Erie’s 4-2 win over 5A defending champion Broomfield on Tuesday afternoon, the Tigers, who are now 6-0, might be giving us a sneak peek of what’s to come.
BROOMFIELD: Erie’s Sophee Horovitz pitches against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
Erie ace Sophee Horovitz has been great. She improved to 5-0 after a performance against the Eagles (1-6) that saw her continually sidestep traffic on the bases. In doing so, she tamed an offense that got back perhaps its best player, Myah Becker, and that had featured a sizzling start from senior catcher Brynlee Taga, who hit three grand slams in two games across one day last week. Really.
“She’s just a fighter,” Erie coach Ryan Sanchez said of Horovitz, who pitched around five hits and four walks, allowing two or fewer runs for a fourth time in five starts. Her ERA this season is 1.81.
“We don’t ever count that kid out. She could have the bases loaded up out there and we still would have had faith that she could get out of it.”
If she continues to deliver and her offense continues to produce the way it has, talk of Erie’s state-leading 13th state softball title will come sooner than later.
There’s been no better middle of the order in the state than Erie juniors Braelan Heer and Keyanna Reeves. Both had three more hits in the win over the Eagles, and they each have an identical .706 batting average this season.
“We just feed off each other,” Reeves said of the junior sluggers.
Reeves drove in three runs against Becker, who made her season debut after missing the first two weeks of the season. Heer had the other RBI. And Horovitz stranded two more baserunners to close the seventh.
Longmont’s Alex McGregor batting for her club team. (Photo courtesy of Alex McGregor)
Elsewhere Tuesday, Longmont’s Alex McGregor wasn’t able to take sole possession of the state home run lead in a 9-7 loss to Monarch.
And if that sentence seems like an overreach, it is.
The senior has set lofty expectations for herself after starting the season by slugging 1.400, which ranks in the top 20 among players in the seven states that play softball in the fall. She came into the week after homering in three consecutive games.
“I’ve definitely worked on the mental side of my game a little bit more,” McGregor said. “I think that’s what I struggled with a lot last year.”
McGregor hit an impressive .412 as a junior, but it was nothing like what she’s doing now. She’s 17 for 30 at the plate with 12 extra-base hits and 18 RBIs, and she’s leading a program that has already tied its entire win total from 2025 with six — the Trojans are now 6-3.
“I think this group’s goal is to make it to regionals,” McGregor said. “Throughout my time at Longmont, we haven’t made it. We’ve been really close. But we have really strong returning players and really strong new players. Like our freshman class, they have all been really good.”
The Coyotes look like they’re in a similar position. Beating the Trojans, they improved to 6-2. They’ve gone 9-14 the past two seasons and haven’t finished with a winning record since before 2009.
Mayah Brubaker drove in three runs in their fifth straight win Tuesday.
But the most dominant start to the season — anywhere in the state — belongs to the small town of Lyons.
The Lions are 7-0, outscoring teams 108-4. They beat Douglas County 11-1 on Monday as senior Gretta Wynja didn’t allow an earned run for a 25th straight inning to start the season.
“We were so close last year,” Wynja said, referring to her team’s 4-3 3A quarterfinal loss to then three-time defending champion Eaton last fall. “I think we all know we can win the championship this year.”
The Lions returned eight of their 2025 starters, including Wynja, who is 6-0 in the circle and is hitting .810.
Wynja’s 1.238 slugging percentage is somehow not tops on the team, however. That belongs to junior Dahlia Oviatt, who is slugging 1.364 with eight extra-base hits and three home runs.
Taking all of this into account — the perfect records, the big bats — again, we’re very early into the season.
“We’ve worked really hard, so I’m not really surprised by this start,” Sanchez said. “But I don’t know if batting (what Reeves and Heer) are the entire season is realistic. But we’ll see, I guess.”
BROOMFIELD: Broomfield’s Myah Becker pitches against Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
BROOMFIELD: Broomfield’s Brynlee Taga swings against Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
BROOMFIELD: Erie’s Braelan Heer drives the ball against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
BROOMFIELD: Erie’s Sophee Horovitz pitches against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
BROOMFIELD: Erie’s Keyanna Reeves bats against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
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BROOMFIELD: Broomfield’s Myah Becker pitches against Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)