COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced their 2026 softball preseason coaches' poll and their 2026 Preseason All-RMAC Team Thursday afternoon and BHSU landed at seventh in the poll with 64 points. It is the highest ranking BHSU has received in a preseason coaches' poll in their RMAC history. Along with that, two sophomore Yellow Jackets were named to Preseason All-RMAC Team in catcher Desi Hernandez and infielder Carly Reyes Mims.
 
ASHLYN ENGLEHORN | 3^RD SEASON (BHSU) 5^TH SEASON (OVERALL) | 62-108 (.365) OVERALL | 39-47 (.453) RMAC
Reigning RMAC Coach of the Year Ashlyn Englehorn is entering her third season at BHSU and has turned the program into a contender in the conference already. She took BHSU to their first ever RMAC tournament last season after leading BHSU to a 27-27 (25-19 RMAC) record, which finished sixth in the conference. She coached five All-RMAC players, one RMAC Pitcher of the Year, and one All-Region player in her time here so far. She currently has the best winning percentage of any coach in BHSU's history and is only nine games away from becoming the second winningest coach in the team's history.
Last year, the Yellow Jackets set 20 separate team records. They were single-season doubles (102), single-season triples (12), single-season walks (177), single-season wins (27), single-season road wins (20), single season RMAC wins (25), single-season hits (468), single-season RBIs (272), single-season runs (290), single-season total bases (699), single-season at-bats (1487), single-season games played (52), single-season pitcher strikeouts (295), single-season sacrifice flies (20), single-season sacrifice bunts (43), single-season hit by pitches (39), single-season batting average (.315), single-season on-base percentage (.397), and single-season slugging percentage (.470).
 
DESI HERNANDEZ | SOPHOMORE | CATCHER | 5-3 | R/R | AMARILLO, TEXAS | WEST PLAINS H.S.
Hernandez is coming off an excellent freshman season where she was named All-RMAC honorable mention. Hernandez finished with a .353 batting average, .471 slugging percentage, .431 on-base percentage, 18 walks, 60 hits, 44 RBIs, and 11 doubles. On the fielding side, she was one of the best catchers in the RMAC ranking third in caught stealings and 33^rd in the country with 11. She had a career-high four hits twice going 4-4 in both games against New Mexico Highlands and Colorado School of Mines. She scored four runs in a game against Adams early in the season and had a career-high five RBIs against CSU Pueblo.
She got her name into the record book a lot last season. She sits second all-time in single-season RBIs (44), third all-time in single-season at bats (170), third in single-season hits (60), fourth in single-season multi-hit games (16), fifth in single-season doubles (11), fifth in single-season multi-RBI games (11), eighth in single-season runs scored (32), and ninth in single-season walks drawn (18). She also is tied for the record for most runs scored in a game (4) and most RBIs in a game (5).
 
CARLY REYES MIMS | SOPHOMORE | INFIELDER | 5-2 | R/R | MERIDIAN, IDAHO | CENTENNIAL H.S.
Reyes Mims is also coming off a major freshman season and was also named All-RMAC Honorable Mention last season. She hit .298 with a .489 slugging percentage, which was third on the team last year. She had 39 hits, 25 runs scored, 21 RBIs, and 11 doubles. She started 45 games last year out of the 45 she played in and had a .936 fielding percentage. She finished third in the RMAC in sacrifice bunts per game (.24) with 11 sacrifice bunts. She had a career-high three hits in a game twice with the most recent being against Fort Lewis, where she also had a career-high three runs scored. Her career-high for RBIs in a game is three which she had in the last series of the season versus Mesa. She is in the record book once for being tied for fifth in single-season doubles (11).
 
OTHER TOP RETURNERS
The Yellow Jackets have four key hitters returning in seniors Audrey Fouras and Lily Simmons, redshirt junior Alyssa Wong, and sophomore Carli Maley. Alyssa Wong was a preseason player to watch last year and followed it up by hitting .354 with 21 RBIs, 25 runs scored, 29 walks, and a team-high .511 on-base percentage. She was named to All-RMAC Gold Glove Team for her performance in right field, where she had a perfect fielding percentage and 63 putouts. Her 29 walks was second all-time in a single-season in team history. Maley hit .308 in her freshman season and had 36 hits and 16 RBIs. She finished seventh all-time in single-season hit streaks when she had a 15 game on-base streak last year. Audrey Fouras finished with a .256 batting average and 11 doubles, which put her fifth all-time in single season doubles. She also had 19 walks and 18 RBIs on 30 hits with a .453 slugging percentage. Simmons is the current BHSU walk leader. She broke the record for career walks early in the season and now sits at 66 total walks drawn, which is 15 more than the next highest free base getter. She also broke the single-season record for walks drawn with 31 last year. She finished with 33 total runs scored last year which puts her in fifth for single-season runs scored and the sixth for career runs scored.
 
INCOMING TRANSFERS
The Yellow Jackets junior class is loaded with transfers. All four transfers in Caylee Mann, Kaitlyn Geschwill, Delaney Milanowski, and Sophia Honse are expected to play huge roles this season.
Caylee Mann, a catcher/infielder from Butler CC, was a two-year starter for the Grizzlies and was a big part in BCC's NJCAA World Series run last season. In her second year, she hit .290 in 28 games with seven extra-base hits, three home runs, and 19 RBIs. She had two five-RBI games last year for the Grizzlies. 
Kaitlyn Geschwill, a pitcher from Central Lakes College, is 2-time MCAC North Division Player of the Year, All-MCAC, First Team All-MCAC North Division, and All-Region 13 selection guided the Raiders to a 58-27 record overall and an undefeated 36-0 mark in league play in the 2024 and 2025 season. After finishing as the regional runners-up in 2024, CLC won the regional title and advanced to the NJCAA National Tournament in 2025. She appeared in a total of 48 games in the circle, pitching 243.0 innings and 32 complete games. She struck out a total of 309 batters, averaging 8.90 per seven innings as she allowed just a 2.05 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.
Delaney Milanowski, a catcher/infielder from DMACC, was a part of two trips for the Bears to the NJCAA Division II World Series, helping the team to a 103-18 record and a 50-6 mark in the ICCAC. She played in 83 games during her career, batting .330 as she recorded 67 hits, 18 doubles, 15 homeruns, 64 RBIs, and 41 runs scored.
Sophia Honse, a pitcher from Western Illinois, made 17 pitching appearances in 2023 and 2025 and redshirted in 2024. In 2023, she had a career high of innings pitched at 3.1 versus Wichita State, while also striking out two. She had a very good relief outing versus South Dakota in 2023 where she pitched two innings, only allowing one hit and striking out two without giving up a run. She had a career with 30.2 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts for her time as a Leatherneck.
 
NOTEWORTHY FRESHMAN
The Yellow Jackets brought in a five-person freshman class this offseason and Sammie Kaufman-Warner is expected to be a key contributor for BHSU this season. Kaufman-Warner was a 4-year letterwinner and starter for Perry High School and head coach Nathan Harder. She closed out her prep career in 2025 by being named both Honorable Mention AIA 6A Premier All-Region and Honorable Mention All-CUSD for the second time in her career, previously earning the accolades in 2023, as she hit .514 with a .622 on-base percentage and five extra base knocks in a shortened senior year.
 
EARLY SEASON SCHEDULE
The Yellow Jackets will begin their season just like last year. They will head to Minot to play in the Bubble Invite. While there, they will play three double-headers versus UMary, Minot State, and MSU Billings on January 30-February 1^st. They will then head to Oklahoma, where they will face five very good schools in Cameron, #25 Oklahoma Christian, Eastern New Mexico, Oklahoma Baptist, and #11 Central Oklahoma in the OC/UCO Festival on February 6-8. After that, they will have a week off before coming home to start RMAC play versus Adams State on February 21 and 22.

 2026 PRESEASON SOFTBALL COACHES' POLL

Pl.	Team (1st-2nd-3rd)	Points
1.	Colorado Christian (7-4-0)	117
2.	Colorado Mesa (3-5-2)	109
3.	MSU Denver (2-2-5)	102
4.	UCCS (0-0-5)	87
5.	CSU Pueblo	75
6.	Colorado School of Mines	68
7.	Black Hills State	64
8.	Regis (0-1-0)	57
9.	New Mexico Highlands	35
10.	Fort Lewis	32
11.	Chadron State	30
12.	Adams State	16

Notes: Coaches were not permitted to vote for their team. 14 points for a 1st place vote, 13 for a 2nd, etc. 196 points maximum in women's basketball

2026 PRESEASON ALL-RMAC

Pos.	Player	School	Yr.	Hometown
P	Jessalyn Gallegos (FoTY, 2)	Colorado Mesa	R-So.	Anaheim, Calif.
P	Natalie Romero (2)	MSU Denver	Jr.	Anaheim, Calif.
C	Desi Hernandez (H)	Black Hills State	So.	Amarillo, Texas
1B	Tayler McCombs (H)	UCCS	So.	Gilbert, Ariz.
2B	Peyton Marvel (H)	Colorado Christian	So.	Lakewood, Colo.
3B	Carly Reyes Mims (H)	Black Hills State	So.	Meridian, Idaho
SS	Madelyn Huerta (2,G)	CSU Pueblo	Sr.	Azusa, Calif.
OF	Makayla Westmoreland (1)	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	Murrieta, Calif.
OF	Caitlyn Cole (1)	South Dakota Mines	Sr.	Meced, Calif.
OF	Kendall Aragon (2)	Colorado School of Mines	Sr.	Thornton, Colo.
DP	Gianna Pancost (2)	UCCS	Jr.	Tuscon, Ariz.
UTL	Jennavieve Goldsworth (H)	UCCS	Jr.	Roseville, Calif.
UTL	Elyse McMullin (PoTY, 1)	Colorado Christian	Jr.	Issaquah, Wash.

Symbols in parentheses are 2024-25 All-RMAC Recognitions: FoTY was the Freshman of the Year; 1 -was a First Team All-RMAC selection; 2 - was a Second Team All-RMAC selection; H - was an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection.