Another freshman who’s a serious candidate for the Hot 100 list we’ll launch this month is a Georgia standout who can play any position but pitcher and has one of the best nicknames ever!  And wait til you read about what she does for her workouts and what she does in Hawaii for “fun!”

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Name: TAYLOR “TACO” GREENE
High School: Cambridge
City: Milton
State: 
Ga.
Grad year: 2018
Club: East Cobb Bullets – Schnute (was with Atlanta Vipers – Vallery for five years)
Position(s): C/SS/3B/2B/OF
GPA: 3.0 first semester of high school

Origin of the Nickname “Taco:” She told us in November: “I got the nickname ‘Taco’ because when I was around the age of seven my mom told me if I got a hit in a game she would buy me a taco. My next five at bats I hit them to the fence so I could get a taco! Then everyone just started joining in and started calling me that and the name stuck.”

High School Stats: Taco hit .420 with four home runs and started every game as the catcher. She was 7-for-8 on throwing out runners with eight pickoffs and the team came four outs away from winning state championship in Georgia State 5A.  Taco plays with 2017 pitcher Keara Napoli (Georgia commit) and they have played together in travel ball and school ball since they were on an 8U all-star team except for travel ball this fall.  Taco hit a home run in the championship game to give them the lead in the 3^rd inning.
Club Stats: Due to high school ball in Georgia being in the fall, her team – East Cobb Bullets – only played one tournament: the Champions Showcase in Cumming, Ga. In it, Taco hit .650 for the weekend including a single off of Kelsey Oh to drive in the sole run in a 2-1 loss to NJ Intensity on the ESPN3 game.  She is the only 2018 on the team comprised mostly of 2015s and ‘16s.

Honors & Accomplishments: She made All-region and Region Defensive Player of the Year for Region 7-5A.; chosen as the Cambridge High School Athlete of the Week.; competed in ASA nationals since 10U every year and consistent top 20 finishes; went to PGF last year and her Viper team came in 17^th.  In November, Taco was one of the standouts at the East Coast National Elite Camp which we covered in maybe my best headline ever: Taco is supreme at East Coast Camp.

Measurables: Has been measured at camps with a 1.6-1.7 pop time.

College: uncommitted
Recruiting Situation: She’s being recruited by North Carolina, Purdue, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Georgia and Ole Miss. Taco has visited UNC, Prude, Louisville, USC-Upstate and Oklahoma with visits planned to Arizona State, Georgia Tech and Georgia.

Other Sports Accomplishments: Competed in Crossfit Open in 2014 and preparing for Crossfit Open in 2015.  Training in Olympic Weightlighting.
More on Crossfit: Taco’s mother owns a Crossfit gym in Atlanta and the softball player gets trained by two-time Crossfit Games athlete, Travis Mayer. Says her father, Perry: “During the year she works out at the gym except during the high school season due to all of the practices and games during the week. During her training we have her work on the technical lifts like clean and jerks, snatching, deadlifting, and squatting under the supervision of some of our coaches. One is Travis Mayer and the other has been a top regional competitor, Matt Baird. We work on the clean and jerks and snatching because that works on her explosion.”

“Because she has been so busy with school and recruiting she is just doing the classes at this time. She has been seriously doing it for the past year. Last year she did the workouts for the Crossfit Open and did really well. This year there is a teen division so she will get to see how she really stacks up. We have signed her up for a few local comps but her softball schedule has gotten in the way.”

“Her strengths are that she is very strong and explosive and she is also very competitive. She squats well and has very good endurance during the workouts.”         

Interesting Fact: Goes to Maui every Christmas with her family.  There she does surfing and spearfishing along with trapeze work… yes, the trapeze! “We go to Hawaii every year for two weeks during Christmas,” explains Taco’s father, Perry. “The last couple of years we have gone to Maui.  They have a trapeze place in Lahaina where Taylor and her brother have been taking lessons.  Taylor has actually gotten good enough that they asked her to come work there when she graduates.  We all laughed but they were serious.  In the video she is being caught which is very hard to do.  She has also learned a few other tricks.  Its one of her favorite things to do there.

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