The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The Long Beach State softball program welcomed in the fifth head coach in program history with the hiring of Kendall Fearn, who will get her first crack at a head coaching job with the Beach.
Fearn comes to Long Beach from San Diego State, where she was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator with the Aztecs for the past three seasons. It was a successful stretch at SDSU, which included a Super Regional appearance in 2023, with the Aztecs ending up a win away from the Women’s College World Series.
A native of Carlsbad, Fearn was thrilled to get the chance to move up to the role of head coach while remaining in Southern California, and she said she’s had an admiration for the history of the Long Beach State program. So when the job came open following the retirement of head coach Kim Sowder after her 19 years at the helm, it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
“That’s one thing that’s really drawn me to Long Beach is the community,” said Fearn. “This is a place that has a lot of pride in what makes Long Beach great, and I want the team to reflect our community. I think that it’s a very hard-working, proud, gritty, and culturally diverse place, and I love it.”
As an athlete herself, Fearn was a four-year starter as an infielder at UNLV, playing for Long Beach State coaching legend Pete Manarino. After her playing days, she immediately transitioned into coaching–first with the Rebels, then at Georgia Southern and at Marshall.
Fearn spent five seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Indiana before returning home to Southern California to coach at San Diego State in 2023. At each stop, she’s worked with the offense and defense, but her specialty may lie on the recruiting trail, which will be a major point of emphasis in keeping LBSU among the top programs in the Big West.
“Being able to continue that success, it’s all about a high level of recruiting, which has been a huge part of my career,” Fearn explained. “I have a process, our staff is really gifted with recruiting, and then once you get great athletes in the program to go with the current ones that we have, it’s all about culture, player development and relationships. And when those things are taken care of, the wins take care of themselves.”
Fearn acknowledged the importance of the transfer portal in modern college athletics, and said a solid portion of Long Beach State’s roster will be filled out via the portal each season. She’s already made a splash in her first month on the job, bringing in a handful of Division I transfers already.
All five of those transfers are Southern California natives, including Long Beach Poly High grad Bella Alonso, who has pitched at conference rivals CSUN the past three seasons. She’ll join pitcher Jailynn Banda (St. John’s), infielder Jiselle Hernandez (Penn State), catcher Audree Mendoza (Penn State) and infielder Brooke Subia (Portland State) as incoming players for the Beach in 2026.
Long Beach State also offers some added familiarity for Fearn, who worked with LBSU Athletic Director Bobby Smitheran at San Diego State, along with Deputy AD Gladie Jaffe. Fearn is the latest high-profile coaching hire to join the Beach from SDSU, following the likes of men’s basketball head coach Chris Acker.
“They’re incredible leaders, they’re innovative, and driven to make Long Beach State successful,” Fearn said. “Bobby has family ties to Long Beach State, and there’s a lot of pride there. And I want to win for this admin. My experiences with them at San Diego State, when we went to Super Regionals, they were a huge piece of our support team, helping provide a great experience for not only our players, but our coaching staff.”
Fearn said her first call in filling out her coaching staff went to Tyler Heil, who accepted the position of assistant coach at the Beach. He was the head coach at Santa Barbara City College last season, and has Division 1 coaching experience at New Mexico and UCF.
Heil will help oversee the offense and defense for the Beach, and Fearn said she’s planning to build a roster that has a “robust combination of speed and power”, as she hopes to put an aggressive, fast-paced product on the field that puts pressure on the opposition.
Beyond softball, Fearn said she’s committed to creating a welcoming culture that focuses on more than just wins and losses, and provides a platform for her athletes to succeed not just on the diamond, but wherever life takes them.
“I’m a transformational coach that’s deeply invested in their process and in their journey, and I want to give them all the tools to be successful on the field, off the field, socially, academically, all those things,” Fearn explained. “The goal is championships, but at the end of the day, the goal is building strong, confident women to take on not only college softball, but also life after.”
