*** Really love it when a players goes to bat for a teammate and that’s exactly what 2017 infielder/outfielder Gabby Moreno of the Firecrackers HTX team did this week.

Gabby, who we profiled in April of last year after she committed to Texas A&M, wrote this week:

“I would like to nominate my dear friend Schae Nelson, of Montgomery, Texas, to be on the 2017 Watch List.  Here is some information about Schae and the many reasons I feel she should make the list.

Schae was the Valedictorian of the Class of 2017 her freshman year at Montgomery High School. She is easily the hardest working person I know and definitely one of the best catchers I have seen. 

We met two summers ago just as I moved to Texas at the Montgomery High School summer softball camp and we have been inseparable since. 

Schae is currently playing for the Firecrackers HTX (under Tony Rico) and has already smashed a couple of home runs in our short fall season.  As a catcher, she can be counted on to throw out anyone who sets foot on the bases. 

She is also a smart base runner and fast as lightning!

Not to mention, Schae has several colleges interested in her.  She has already taken visits to Stanford and Dartmouth as a freshman and is planning a visit to the Colorado School of Mines this winter.

Schae is setting her goals very high academically and athletically.  At the end of last year’s high school season as the starting varsity catcher, she was awarded the All-District Academic Award and 2^nd Team All-District Catcher in a very competitive district containing a great amount of D1 softball commits.

Her previous team, The Texas Peppers, qualified for both ASA Nationals and PGF Nationals every year when she was a part of the team. Sschae has been playing at a competitive level since she was very young. 

Her competitiveness and hard-working nature carries her fara and much is in store for the near future for her. 

I am very proud to call Schae my friend and teammate!”

Gabby Moreno

*** Taylor Gleason, a 2017 shortstop, outfielder with the Carolina Fire-Mendez team, has committed to Charleston Southern.

We hope to do more on her soon because, according to her father Shaun, the athlete has overcome a lot to get to play at the college level:

“Two years ago,” he explains, “Taylor was out of softball all together with a pars defect (back fracture) which has a high rate of kids not returning to sports.”

And, obviously, not only has she come back to play, Taylor is excelling and playing at a high level, enough to earn a college scholarship… a great story!

*** Got a note from a reader, which I haven’t substantiated but have no reason to doubt, saying the following:

“Lexi Sosa of Firecrackers – Thornberg has become the youngest person in UCLA history to verbal. She is a power pitcher (64 mph and power hitter) who just turned 13 years old four months ago.”

Will definitely check into this… if anyone has more info, e-mail me: brentt@fullcountsoftball.

*** T.J. Goelz, the Head Coach of the Tamp Mustangs – TJ, has reached out to nominate a player he thinks should get consideration for the 2016 Hot 100.

Here’s what he writes:

“In June of 2014, we invited Cassidy Davis, a 2016 P/OF, to play with our team at the Independence Day Tournament in Boulder, Colo. 

We mainly asked her to be there to be our third pitcher but we received much more.  Cassidy went 4-1 on the mound for us against top 16U teams from across the country but also batted .500 with four home runs and 15 RBI in 24 at-bats. 

We invited her to join us full-time for ASA Nationals and beyond. At ASA Nationals, she went 6-0 on the mound and gathered huge attention from college coaches from across the country. 

She also batted .417 for our team helping us to a runner-up finish and close loss in the National Championship game.  After the summer, she became one of the hottest 2016 pitching recruits as she was regularly throwing 63-65 MPH with five quality pitches before ultimately committing to Mercer University over the phone at Diamond Nine in Orlando in November. 

There, she pitched a 5-inning shutout against the 18 Gold USA Athletics from California who finished top 3 at PGF the previous summer in 18s.  Cassidy gave up only one earned run all fall and did not lose a game.  

She has blossomed into a two-way star as she finished the year batting .440 with 13 Home Runs, and 70 RBIS.  She is a 5-foot-9 student-athlete who also has a 32 ACT score to her credit.  

Cassidy is a bulldog competitor, great teammate (gelled almost instantly with her new team) and very coachable.  Please give her full consideration for the next update to the Hot 100 for 2016.”

*** More verbals:

— 3B Janae Barracato (2017, Seton Hall)… plays for Team Long Island Gold
— C Lyric Cabral (2018, South Alabama)… plays for Oklahoma Athletics – Cabral
— SS/IF Danielle Gibson (2017, Arizona State)… plays for So Cal Athletics – Quarles
— C Kindey Kneib (2016, Indiana)… plays for DeMarini Aces
— MIF/OF Mollie McNelis (2016, Jackson State)… plays for Texas Glory – Naudin
— P Sarah Piening (2016, Rollins College)… plays for Rock Gold – Waye
— OF Gabby Slade (2015, Rhode Island)… plays for Rock Gold – Piening
— 1B/3B Karli Wollington (2016, Troy)… plays for Wagners – Van Atta