YAHYA A STEAL-GOOD STORY FOR CHABOT
Chabot College sophomore Kailey Yahya is fast and relentless on the base paths. Factor in her ability to hit and excel in centerfield, and Yahya is a softball sensation
She entered the week leading the 3C2A in stolen bases with 34 in 18 games and is fifth in the state in batting average at .548.
Most notably, the Cal State Bakersfield transfer set a state record with six stolen bases in a game this season, besting the previous mark of five.
"She's a really good softball player," Chabot head coach Danny Calcagno said on Monday. "When she doesn't get on base for us, I'm shocked. She walks, gets a base hit, always puts the ball in play, and then when she gets on … steals second, steals third. She's the main reason why we haven't been shutout this year."
She is softball's version of a Top Fuel dragster, always ready for rapid acceleration.
"I'm very confident in how fast I am, my speed, and these catchers, like, I go out there and I think like I'm the best, and I just go for it," she says. "It's working so far."
Yahya, a graduate of Rancho Cotate High (Rohnert Park), is also the Gladiators' best pitcher, and "she's a great kid," Calcagno says.
She is looking to transfer to a NCAA Division I program next season.
In high school, she starred on varsity for four years and, as a senior, was 2024 Player of the Year for the North Bay League. She was also on the Principal's Honor roll with a 4.00 GPA. Her career batting average with the Cougars was .472.
She also played Travel Ball with Grapettes McNair and in 2020 went to the National Championship. She appeared in 29 games in 2025 with Division I CSU Bakersfield, starting nine times. She was 3 for 3 with a run scored against Long Beach State.
She feels comfortable in the Gladiators' program playing for a 'football guy' in Calcagno, who played and coached football at Chabot and heads the California High (San Ramon) football program. Her dad, Hashim, played football at College of Marin and Sonoma State, where Calcagno starred at quarterback a few years before Hashim played there.
"I really like him," she said of Calcagno, "because my dad was also a football coach and a Flag Football coach. I told Coach he reminds me of my dad because they're both football guys."
Her goal is to get the state record for steals in a season, which she believes is 51, meaning she needs 18 more to set the mark.
Chabot has had a tough season with just one win in 19 games entering the week, but Calcagno, in his first season heading the team, can see things improving. Yahya can too.
"We always come to practice smiling," she says. "Obviously, the games aren't turning out how we want to, but everyone's having a good time. We are getting blown out some games, but there's a lot of games (when) we're hanging in there."
She can see incremental success up and down the roster.
"Everybody has made a good play so far and everybody has executed at least once in some way … We need to keep the momentum up and keep our confidence in each other and ourselves, so that we can start winning some games."
Calcagno seems heartened by the team's progress.
"The last two or three games the girls have gotten so much better," he says. "We played Cabrillo who's like 18-5 and we lost 5-3. We had a couple opportunities, bases loaded one out, and we just didn't get a timely hit. We only had one error. It felt like we were a softball team."
The Glads have been hit by injuries and lost a player who quit the team, creating a piecemeal effect, but Calcagno loves what he's seeing overall. "They're having a blast; they're getting better. I couldn't be more happy with these girls," Calcagno says.
Yahya was often a pinch hitter for CSU Bakersfield, in a more vigorous environment with a heavier workload.
"It helped me push myself more and expect more from myself," she said.
Now, she expects to make a little more history on the base paths.