LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. – The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) announced their 2026 softball awards Wednesday with the University of Redlands' coaching staff, led by head coach Jose Ortega and assistants Kaitlyn Hooper-Bell, Andrew Aguilera, and Cassandra Mittman, earning SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
This is the fourth honor for Ortega and his staff. They were also recipients last season in 2025 and prior to that in 2021 and 2022.
They won the award thanks to a 20-1 SCIAC record. Their one loss is the fewest in SCIAC play since 2011 when they went 11-1, but the last full season record that was equal or better was 2005 when the Bulldogs finished perfect at 18-0. Overall, including only full seasons, there have been only three seasons with two or fewer losses with the third coming in 1988 (10-2).
Seven Bulldogs were selected to the All-SCIAC teams (five on the first team and two on the second) including the SCIAC Athlete of the Year (AOTY) Katlyn Gandara and SCIAC Newcomer of the Year (NOTY) Caitlynn Griffith.
During SCIAC play Redlands was led by seven All-SCIAC hitters (Gandara, Natalie Lowthers, Avery Provenzano, Adyson Kim, Brooklyn Bard, Jenay Scott, and Leila Gomez who were top in the conference in batting average (.382), on-base percentage (.450), and slugging percentage (.534). They scored the most runs (164) thanks to the most doubles (44) and triples (12). Their 53 stolen bases were also top of the conference.
The pitching staff, led by the AOTY Gandara and NOTY Griffith, helped the Bulldogs lead the conference in earned run average (2.01), shutouts (5), and fewest walks allowed (18).
The defense was second in fielding percentage (.962), tied for first in double plays (10), and allowed the fewest stolen bases (13).
Ortega, and staff, lead the Bulldogs into the SCIAC Tournament set for this weekend, May 8-10 at the Field of the Dreams on the campus of the University of Redlands. Since they won the SCIAC regular season title, the Bulldogs received the No. 1 seed and hosting rights. The double elimination tournament begins Friday, May 8 and continues through Sunday., May 10 on Mother's Day.
