The third year of the Louisville Slugger Hit Club takes place Saturday, July 29, through Monday, July 31, in Orange County, California, and once again features 10 of the top high school grads who are about to embark on their college softball careers.

Louisville Slugger and Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) have partnered to give these elite players from the class of 2017 three unique days of education, fun, bonding, and competition ranging from a trip to Disneyland and watching a Giants versus Dodgers MLB battle to hearing from legends such as Sue Enquist and former Hit Clubbers now playing in the Women's College World Series.

Past Hit Club participants have included such current college standouts as Shay Knighten (Oklahoma), Amanda Lorenz (Florida), Brooke Vines (Tennessee), Morganne Flores (Washington), Amanda Doyle (LSU), Jessica Harper (Arizona), Elissa Brown (Alabama), Nicole Mendes (Oklahoma), Nicole Bates (Washington), Mackenzie Boesel (South Carolina), Shannon Rhodes (Oregon), and Dejah Mulipola (Arizona).

This summer's selections have been evaluated by a panel of coaches, scouts, and evaluators who looked for hitting expertise, technique, and ability from all types of hitters, ranging from speedy slappers to long-ball mashers, and come from the pool of players chosen as PGF All-Americans -- many of whom are participating in the PGF All-American game on Friday, July 28, the day before the Hit Club begins.

For the next several weeks, FloSoftball will reveal two players each week who have made this year's prestigious event.

The past two weeks, we've introduced four of the 10 -- Lauren Burke, Shaye Bowden, Jocelyn Alo and Danielle Romanello -- and today go to New Jersey and Texas to meet the next pair....

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EditEditEditHIT CLUB PLAYER #5: JULIE RODRIGUEZ

 Position: Outfielder/pitcher/utility

 High School (City/ST): Old Tappan (New Jersey)

 Club Team: Jersey Intensity

 University: UCLA

 Key Stats & Honors: First-Team FloSoftball All-American (2017, 2016), PGF All-American, ranked No. 7 in the FloSoftball 2017 Hot 100, USA Today First-Team All-American; batted .644 with a .766 on-base percentage and a 1.247 slugging percentage this spring; also pitched her team to a state sectional championship with a 21-6 record, 1.15 ERA and 185 strikeouts; career batting average of .630 and .720 OBP; only struck out twice in her high school career.

 Scouting Report: Julie has been called by Jersey Intensity head coach Kevin O'Donnell as the "best hitter the program has ever had," and that's saying something as Intensity has produced hundreds of Division I players. The New Jersey standout is a five-tool player who can line up anywhere but catcher. She has a 64 mph overhand throw and has a cannon arm in the outfield, where she might be able to play the earliest for the Bruins. Because of her versatility in the field and her great stick, Julie should be able to play immediately and contribute -- even pitch if needed. She's not tall at around 5-foot-3 but is smooth at the plate and with the glove and has deceptive speed that allows her to turn many singles into doubles. She wowed at a Bruins camp by hitting a ball for a home run that clinched her offer and commit in the fall of her freshman year.

HIT CLUB PLAYER #6: TARYN ANTOINE

 Position: Infielder

 High School (City/ST): Alexandria (Louisiana)

 Club Team: Texas Glory

 University: LSU

 Key Stats & Honors:  First-Team FloSoftball All-American, PGF All-American, led her team to a 32-3-1 mark receiving First-Team All-CENLA honors; was the MVP of the Louisiana High School All-Star Game; 5A all-state, won a state championship and was ranked as the No. 41 player in the FloSoftball 2017 Hot 100; hit .494 as a senior with 26 steals and six home runs after batting .484 with 26 steals and seven triples as a junior.

 Scouting Report: Taryn is an excellent athlete who has great speed and is a prototype leadoff hitter, as she knows how to put the ball in play and get on base. She's also a lefty power hitter and showcases her speed/power combo by being a top 100-meter sprinter and also a nationally ranked powerlifter (132-pound weight class). The Louisiana standout, who committed to her home state Tigers in December 2014 (her freshman year), has the defensive tools to play the middle infield or centerfield, where her great burst of speed allows her track down balls most players can't catch. Her bat skills, swift hands, and great first-step quickness allows her to hit in the leadoff spot while her pop in the bat could see her bat anywhere from the Nos. 3 to 5 spots in the lineup as well.

Watch Julie and Taryn as they compete at PGF Nationals 18U Premier LIVE on FloSoftball July 25-28

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