{"id":277344,"date":"2026-09-02T13:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T13:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/277344\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T13:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T13:58:15","slug":"are-these-softball-hot-starts-the-real-deal-erie-beats-broomfield-and-more-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/277344\/","title":{"rendered":"Are these softball hot starts the real deal? Erie beats Broomfield and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROOMFIELD \u2014 The 2026 softball season is just over two weeks old, and if there\u2019s one thing to know this early on, it\u2019s that what\u2019s here today might be gone by tomorrow.<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t know kids were turning everything into hot-dog-themed content over the summer \u2014 well, they were. And luckily, it\u2019s over now.<\/p>\n

But not all trends are short-lived fads. With Erie\u2019s 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\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

\"BROOMFIELD:BROOMFIELD: Erie\u2019s Sophee Horovitz pitches against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s just a fighter,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

If she continues to deliver and her offense continues to produce the way it has, talk of Erie\u2019s state-leading 13th state softball title will come sooner than later.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just feed off each other,\u201d Reeves said of the junior sluggers.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Longmont'sLongmont\u2019s Alex McGregor batting for her club team. (Photo courtesy of Alex McGregor)<\/p>\n

Elsewhere Tuesday, Longmont\u2019s Alex McGregor wasn\u2019t able to take sole possession of the state home run lead in a 9-7 loss to Monarch.<\/p>\n

And if that sentence seems like an overreach, it is.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve definitely worked on the mental side of my game a little bit more,\u201d McGregor said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what I struggled with a lot last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGregor hit an impressive .412 as a junior, but it was nothing like what she\u2019s doing now. She\u2019s 17 for 30 at the plate with 12 extra-base hits and 18 RBIs, and she\u2019s leading a program that has already tied its entire win total from 2025 with six \u2014 the Trojans are now 6-3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this group\u2019s goal is to make it to regionals,\u201d McGregor said. \u201cThroughout my time at Longmont, we haven\u2019t made it. We\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Coyotes look like they\u2019re in a similar position. Beating the Trojans, they improved to 6-2. They\u2019ve gone 9-14 the past two seasons and haven\u2019t finished with a winning record since before 2009.<\/p>\n

Mayah Brubaker drove in three runs in their fifth straight win Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But the most dominant start to the season \u2014 anywhere in the state \u2014 belongs to the small town of Lyons.<\/p>\n

The Lions are 7-0, outscoring teams 108-4. They beat Douglas County 11-1 on Monday as senior Gretta Wynja didn\u2019t allow an earned run for a 25th straight inning to start the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were so close last year,\u201d Wynja said, referring to her team\u2019s 4-3 3A quarterfinal loss to then three-time defending champion Eaton last fall. \u201cI think we all know we can win the championship this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lions returned eight of their 2025 starters, including Wynja, who is 6-0 in the circle and is hitting .810.<\/p>\n

Wynja\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Taking all of this into account \u2014 the perfect records, the big bats \u2014 again, we\u2019re very early into the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked really hard, so I\u2019m not really surprised by this start,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know if batting (what Reeves and Heer) are the entire season is realistic. But we\u2019ll see, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BROOMFIELD:<\/p>\n

BROOMFIELD: Broomfield\u2019s Myah Becker pitches against Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)\n<\/p>\n

\"BROOMFIELD:<\/p>\n

BROOMFIELD: Broomfield\u2019s Brynlee Taga swings against Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)\n<\/p>\n

\"BROOMFIELD:<\/p>\n

BROOMFIELD: Erie\u2019s Braelan Heer drives the ball against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)\n<\/p>\n

\"BROOMFIELD:<\/p>\n

BROOMFIELD: Erie\u2019s Sophee Horovitz pitches against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)\n<\/p>\n

\"BROOMFIELD:<\/p>\n

BROOMFIELD: Erie\u2019s Keyanna Reeves bats against Broomfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

BROOMFIELD: Broomfield\u2019s Myah Becker pitches against Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New\/BoCoPreps.com)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

View a list of Prep sports and high school teams we cover.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOMFIELD \u2014 The 2026 softball season is just over two weeks old, and if there\u2019s one thing to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[44482,136,138,137,6832,77931,8961],"class_list":["post-277344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-broomfield","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-longmont","tag-lyons","tag-softball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}