Panther Softball: 2025 Season Preview

The Chaffey College softball team is back on the diamond today, looking to secure their fourth consecutive conference title. With a 21-18 overall record (10-2 in conference) last season, the Panthers aim for a strong start, relying on a blend of experienced veterans and talented newcomers. 

Head Coach Jerry Tivey has high expectations for his team this season. "At Chaffey, we expect conference championships and are hoping for a deep playoff run," Tivey states. He highlights the team's culture as one of their greatest strengths. "Our biggest strength is the bond that our girls have for each other. Our team motto is 'I've Got Your Back!' and we want each athlete, starting or not, to feel that atmosphere so that they can simply relax and rely on their work ethic to produce quality results." he adds, "We have a variety of skills (pitching, defense, hitting, speed) to get the necessary results, but as a coaching staff, we have to put individuals in situations where they (and by extension, the team) can be successful." 

Tivey mentions that he considers last season as a success. “Winning the conference is always our goal, and we're proud of the way we fought back from challenges we faced all season. We are especially proud of all our sophomores who have moved on to higher education and are now competing at the four-year level.”

Although the team finished strong, winning 10 of their last 13 games, the Panthers had a difficult time finding their rhytm and sputtered out of the gates with a record of 4-10. “It's up to me to get us into a rhythm sooner. We also need to be in better overall shape and put pressure on opposing defense with our aggressive base running. Lastly, we need to have quality at-bats and just overall be intelligent in all aspects of the game.’

The team bid farewell to several key members who graduated and moved on to pursue higher education and athletic goals. Catcher Kalissa Pimental is now pursuing a nursing degree while serving in the Marines. Shortstop Viki Esparza, a two-time all-conference selection, and first baseman Hailey Marquez, a two-time conference MVP and All-State honoree, are both continuing their softball careers at La Sierra University. Center fielder Katie Avellaneda, also a two-time all-conference player, is now enrolled at Cal State San Bernardino. 

Returning Players 

Outfielders: Megan Aranda (all-conference); Delaney Barber - Megan has a great bat and is one of our hardest working athletes who has also improved academically, being named to the academic high honor roll this semester; Delaney is a 4.0 student who gives us speed on the bases and great defense in any outfield position.

Pitchers: Amanda Sera (all-conference); Tori Morton - Amanda and Tori both give us a lefty and righty with lots of big-game experience; they will likely cover the bulk of the innings in the circle.

Third base: Vivian Medinilla (all-conference) - Viv is an excellent cleanup hitter and a fiery competitor who sets the tone for the infield; academic high honors

Second base: Sam Vasquez - best range of any second baseman I’ve coached; incredible defensive player and an instigator on the bases

First-Year Players 

Catcher: Allison Waite - Allie joins us from Glendora High School; she has really demonstrated great leadership and has made consistent improvement in her offensive production

Shortstop: Tristen Wren - Tristen (Etiwanda High School), started nearly every game last year at Division 1 Rider University; she is a reliable, hard-working athlete who sets the tone offensively and strives to improve every single day

Outfielders: Riley Montion, Danielle Singley - Riley (Upland High School) adds another lefty to our lineup and will help replace some of the speed that graduated; she has made considerable improvements with her bat and confidence throughout the fall; Danie (West Covina High School) is a 4.0 GPA, dual-sport athlete (she is women’s basketball’s leading scorer) who has shown excellent footwork and defensive range in the OF as well as being versatile at virtually every infield position

Pitchers: Hannah Gomez (Upland High School), Annie Aguiar (Kaiser High School), Jaedyn Lawson (Brawley High School) - all three of them have demonstrated a willingness to learn and to improve; although there has been some inconsistency during the fall, they’ve made progress and we will rely on them to fill in some innings as well as get some starts throughout the season; in addition, they all play multiple positions which gives us depth throughout the defense 

The season starts on Friday, January 24 against Cerritos College. First pitch is scheduled at 1:00 p.m.