Local notebook: Stockdale's Lebo commits to CSUB softball, Vines reaches AAA
Aug. 16—Even without a head coach, Cal State Bakersfield's softball program hasn't stopped picking up new talent.
The Roadrunners bolstered their local representation by adding Stockdale first baseman Kayelin Lebo to their 2023 recruiting class last Wednesday.
"I have been going to softball camps at CSUB since I was little and I knew that I always wanted to play there," Lebo said in an interview. "I really believe in the program, and I've always wanted to represent them."
A two-time BVarsity All-Area honorable mention, Lebo batted .315 for the Mustangs with 17 RBIs as a junior in 2022. She will join a local contingent of Roadrunners that last season included Baylee Garrett (Centennial), Jordan Head (Frontier) and Samantha Martinez (Wasco).
Of course, the team will look different by the time Lebo joins. For one, the school declined to renew Crissy Buck-Ziegler's contract after the Roadrunners went 8-37 last year. During the recruiting process, Lebo worked with both Buck-Ziegler and assistant Chris Hipa, who is still listed on staff. The new head coach that comes in will already have a year under their belt when Lebo debuts in the spring of 2024.
"I'm going to go out to games and watch how the coaching style is," Lebo said. "It's not a big factor to me. It's more about the girls and if they're accepting."
And she said the team made a great impression on her when she visited campus.
"There were two girls from the softball team that were talking to me to the whole time," she said. "I believe it was Shaylene (Fuimaono) and Savanna (Montoya) and they were super encouraging, super open."
Lebo's commitment holds special meaning for her family as she'll become the first to attend a four-year college straight out of high school. She's excited about joining CSUB's teaching program.
The Roadrunners should have few holes to fill on the roster, as they were incredibly young last year and graduated just three players. Outfielders Carla Duarte (Kingsburg High/Holy Names) and Jay Reeves (Fontana-Summit High) have recently signed for this coming season. Reeves was previously slated to attend Division II Maryville.
Home of the Braves, continued: Almost immediately after earning Southern League Pitcher of the Month honors for his performance at AA Mississippi, Atlanta Braves prospect and CSUB baseball alumnus Darius Vines was called up to AAA Gwinnett on Aug. 9. He joined the Stripers for his first start Sunday and allowed three runs in six innings, receiving a no-decision as Gwinnett rallied late to beat Nashville 5-3. Vines now sits one jump from the major leagues, and September call-ups await, although Vines is not yet on the 40-man roster, and those call-ups are not the bonanza they once were — MLB teams can only expand from 26 to 28 players.
Art of hitting: The brother of recent Kansas City Royals draftee Austin Charles — and a fellow 20th-round pick himself 12 years earlier — Art Charles is still going strong in the Mexican League. The 31-year-old Leones de Yucatan power hitter is slugging a whopping .625 with 18 home runs in his fourth season with the club. One of those home runs, clubbed way over the right-field fence last Wednesday against the Pericos de Puebla, became purportedly the longest home run hit in the world since the implementation of the Trackman data system, at 536 feet. Trackman is more than a decade old, although the Mexican League only added it in April. The Mexican baseball site BeisbolPuro called Charles' home run "¡UNA BARBARIDAD!" ("an atrocity!").
Boys of summer: The Bakersfield Train Robbers concluded their season of just over two months on Aug. 5, losing a pair of first-round playoff matchups with the Tucson Saguaros 13-4 and then 6-4, and concluding the season with a 31-18 record. The Train Robbers had one of the league's top hitters in Seth Strong, a Pecos League veteran and Ohio native who batted .451. Sam Lynn Ballpark will next play host to a winter competition called The Western League from September to November.
A Patriot, again: After four successful years as a setter at UNLV, culminating in a National Invitational Volleyball Championship win last season, Liberty alumna Lauryn Burt is headed to Dallas Baptist as a graduate transfer. This is the second epilogue of sorts to her volleyball career, as after the Rebels lost in the Mountain West Conference tournament last season, Burt thought her UNLV tenure was over before coach Dawn Sullivan secured the NIVC invite. She entered the transfer portal in January and found a new home in Dallas, where the Patriots — perhaps best known for their Division I baseball team — play in the Division II Lone Star Conference. DBU went 14-8 last season and Burt will likely partner with returning setter Aryn Walton.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
