So much to cover today including a last-minute signing switch that impacts the top four teams in the 2015 College Class Rankings! Also, all the latest verbals and comments from several recruits on why they committed… LET’S GET TO IT!


*** One of the surprises that came out of the early signing period was that pitcher Ashley Guillette of the Rhode Island Thunder did not sign with Florida.

The No. 33 rated player in the 2015 Hot 100 signed last week with Coastal Carolina.

I talked with sources close to the Thunder and the Univ. of Florida and both said it had to do more with fit of the university than making a change because of the late signing of the No. 1 ranked pitcher in the senior class, Kelly Barnhill from East Cobb Bullets-Schnute.

Her switch does make a significant impact in the college rankings, however. Florida loses 68 points and drops from No. 2 overall to No. 4 while Tennessee and UCLA move up to No’s 2 and 3, respectively.

Still, I don’t think Coach Tim Walton of Florida is losing sleep at nights as he did get the No’s 1 and 2 players in the class with outfielder Amanda Lorenz as well as Barnhill, plus the Gators are doing great in getting younger talent so the talent pipeline is full for years to come in Gainesville.

*** Speaking of Kelly Barnhill, I got a nice e-mail from her head coach at Pope High (Marietta, Ga.), Chris Turco, who writes about Kelly and her amazing fall season:

“Georgia plays high school softball in the fall, so Kelly just completed her senior season by leading the Pope Greyhounds to the AAAAAA State Championship.”

“During the season, Kelly broke the state of Georgia season strikeout record for pitchers by striking out 534 batters. She is the only player in state history to strike out more than 500 batters in a season as the previous record was 497.”

“Kelly went 29-5 on the season and posted a 0.59 ERA in 226 innings pitched. She tossed 18 shutouts and seven no hitters (two of those being perfect games). In one of her perfect games, Kelly struck out 21 of 21 batters! Kelly tossed her 7th no hitter of the year in the state championship game.”

“On the season, Kelly averaged 16.54 strikeouts per game while surrendering a .076 batting average against. She finished her prep career with 1,383 strikeouts which is 4th best in state history.”

“Kelly was part of the senior class is the winningest senior class ever in the history of the school, posting 116 wins over their four year careers (an average of 29 wins per season!).”

Yea… that’s a pretty good season and career!

*** Another player who signed with a school other than one we had in the Master Verbal List was 2015 outfielder Sydney Anderson who signed with Kent State after once being committed to Toledo.

Sydney plays for the Ohio Lasers Black Gold.

*** Abby Robertson, a 2017 middle infielder with the OC Batbusters-Briggs team, committed to Utah within the last two weeks and I reached out to Abby to ask about how she became a Ute commit… here’s what she had to say:

“Utah first saw me during a showcase at big league dreams in Chino (Calif.). about three to four months ago. I had previous knowledge about Utah through a family friend, Jackie Sweet, who was a student-athlete there.”

“Additionally, I have a best friend, Kelly Martinez (2016 C/2B with Firecrackers-Brashear) who has also committed to Utah.”

“After the showcase my coach let me know Utah was interested in me also. During the next few months and several showcases—which various Utah coaches attended—I began to make regular contact with the Utah coaches with the guidance of my travel ball coach Ken Briggs.”

“My parents and I had been doing research on Utah and a few other schools who had also attended my showcases; based on several factors Utah became my top choice.”

“I kept playing and working hard and one week before the Arizona Thanksgiving Shoot-out I received an invitation to an OnDeck camp. I learned that the head coach of Utah, Amy Hogue, would be attending the camp.”

“On Friday night after the camp while speaking with the Assistant Coach of Utah, Maggie (Livreri), she suggested I call Amy. I called Coach Amy and explained how the camp went. After a little small-talk I got the surprise of my life: Coach Amy told me that her staff all decided that they wanted me to be a shortstop for the Utes! I replied, “Are you making me an offer?” she said, “Yes!”

“I was so excited!”

“I look forward to attending Utah—I love the coaches and can’t wait to earn a starting spot for the Utes!”

“Some of my accomplishments include playing varsity softball as a freshman and maintaining a 3.5 GPA or above. I like being a role model to younger players and I’m proud to be a member on the Orange County Batbusters organization.”

*** One player I was impressed with this fall was Kiara Kennedy of Arizona Storm Mizuno Gold whom I saw play in a Surf City October tournament.

Kiara is a 2017 power-hitting infielder who can play many spots and has a strong arm, quick release and good feet when I saw her playing third base.

She wants to be an athletic trainer in the NFL and is a member of the Desert Vista High (Phoenix, Ariz.) Sports Medicine program.

Kiara is uncommitted and has taken unofficial visits to Cal and New Mexico State and will visit Seton Hall on Jan. 3 and Texas Tech on Jan. 10.

The sophomore is also hearing fro Purdue, Liberty, Mercer, Syracuse, UNLV, Central Florida, San Jose State, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, San Diego State and Utah Valley.

*** My favorite kind of e-mail is when a player writes to inform us of good news… in this case it’s Bailey Shae Brown who writes:

“I’m really excited to announce that I verballed to the University of Montevallo in Alabama on November 18. I’m a 2016 catcher from Van Alsyne, Texas, and I play for AXE Elite 18U.” — Thanks,
 Bailey

*** Sarah Maddox, a 2016 1B/OF with the Lil Rebels from Las Vegas, had committed to Texas Tech in January of this year, but that changed due to a coaching switch.

We did a story on Sarah on Oct. 1 called “Sarah Maddox: back on the market.”

Her mother, Kim, wrote this past week to tell us she’s now off the market again!

“Sarah has verbally committed to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa,” Kim wrote. “She chose the Bulldogs over strong interest from Iowa State.”

Sarah herself said, “I felt more comfortable being a Bulldog. The campus was small which I liked, because everyone seems to know each other and the students have a closer relationship with their professors.”

“Everyone on the campus acknowledged the fact that Drake’s a small school but the sense of pride won me over. I’m excited to be a Bulldog and am so grateful to coach Calvert for giving me this opportunity.”

*** P/1B Ashlee Swindle of the Birmingham Thunderbolts was rated No. 60 in our 2016 Hot 100 and her 2014 year with the Bolts showed why she’s so highly touted.

The Auburn commit, who played on the Bolts team coached by Jeff Horton, helped the team go 50-5 this summer and finish tied for 9^th in the PGF Nationals 16U Premier division.

Two signature wins were against the Corona Angels and the So Cal A’s at PGF.

Ashlee only lost twice all summer, in Colorado against Georgia Impact-Gibson and in PGF lost against Lady Magic-Havey which tied for 5th.

She also shined this fall pitching 28 innings and allowing only two runs, two walks with 38 K’s.

*** Thanks to Coach Rob Wade who writes: “KC Zephyrs -Wade 16A announces that 2016 P/1B Mandy Roberts of Lees Summit West High (Lees Summit, Mo.) has verbally committed to the University of Kansas.”

“Mandy is a North/South type pitcher who throws a rise, drop, fastball and change up. She is also a very accomplished hitter and can play first base. Mandy’s biggest attribute as a pitcher is spin!”

“We have had her RPS (revolutions per second) recorded on the Rev Fire at 29.6 on her rise ball and 25 on her drop ball with velocities in the low to mid 60’s. I have never had a pitcher with the amount of spin that Mandy can produce”

“Mandy has only been a Zephyr for a short time and she’s already shown her impact on the program with her strong performance at the recent Texas American Freedom showcase in Dallas were she recorded two wins including a victory over the tournament host American Freedom Gold.”

Mandy also worked out at the West Coast National Elite Camp run by OnDeck Softball in October.

*** Keely Edwards, a 2016 SS/OF with the Arkansas Angels, has committed to Arkansas.

She told Full Count Softball yesterday, “I fell in love with the college. I felt more comfortable and confident there than anywhere.”

Another Angels teammate, 2016 C/UT Ashten Graves, has verballed to Jackson State.

*** Speaking of Arkansas, Faith Otts, a 2016 2B/SS with the Arkansas Heat Gold, has committed to Southern Arkansas.

Faith also had offers from Williams Baptist College, Harding, Arkansas-Fayetteville, Arkansas-Monticello and Central Baptist College.

As to why Southern Arkansas, she said: “After all of looking at all of the schools individually, it really came down to where God wanted me. I had made it a matter of prayer and I feel SAU is where God led me. SAU has a great softball program that I really wanted to be a part of. Every time I was on the campus I just felt like this is where I needed to be. Coach Anderson is a great coach and I can’t wait to play for him.”

At Harmony Grove High (Haskell, Ark.) last season she hit .465 with an on-base percentage of .531 and in the field only had three errors in 251 total chances for a .988 fielding percentage.

*** Finally, our thoughts and condolences go out to Bill Conroy, the head of the Beverly Bandits program, on the passing of his mother, Dorothy Conroy.

In an e-mail he sent to his Beverly Bandits family, he poignantly wrote:

“My Mom was sick for many years, she battled cancer years ago and beat the odds, then she had advanced Alzheimer’s and was bed ridden for the past 4.5 years and weighing less than 60 pounds.”

“I felt somewhat relieved with her passing because her quality of life was indescribable, regardless of how well Hospice and the caregivers treated her.”

“I lost my Dad 4.5 years ago and had put together picture boards for the services, with a collection of pictures that ranged from current to past. Although I never showed it, I took that loss hard because I considered my Dad as a close personal friend.”

“Last night, my wife was looking at pictures from the boards that I put together years ago for my Dad’s services and I saw so many pictures of my Mom in better days, when healthy, and it was nice to look back and remember in better times.”

“She was sick for so many years that I looked at her as a responsibility and forgot about her as a person. She is in a better place and it took a little reminder to help remember that she will be missed.

*** More verbals:

— OF Janae Adams (2015, Alabama A&M)… plays for Lady Wolf Pack Gold
— P/SS Mason Basdikis (2018, Longwood)… plays for Vienna Stars – Adkins
— IF/P Hanah Bowen (2017, Arizona)… plays for OC Batbusters – Campbell
— P/1B Ariel Carlson (2019, Oregon)… plays for NW Nightmare
— MIF/OF Hunter Hand (2017, Marist)… plays for Team Pennsylvania Cyclones Gold
— MIF Madison Hopper (2016, Pacific)… plays for NW Bullets Gold
— UT Abby Irwin (2016, Belmont)… plays for Tennessee Elite
— UT Brett Jackson (2016, Austin Peay)… plays for Tennessee Elite
— P Allie Johnson (2016, UTEP)… plays for New Lenox Lightning Gold
— P Brooklin Lee (2016, Belmont)… plays for Tennessee Elite
— MIF Grace Lyons (2018, Oklahoma)… plays for Firecrackers AZ – Hinkle
— OF Shannon McGee (2016, Loyola)… plays for Beverly Bandits
— C Beckey Melton (2016, Memphis)… plays for Tennessee Elite
— C/3B Baylee Morton (2017, Appalachian State)… plays for Team NC
— P Hannah Murphy (2016, St. Louis)… plays for Missouri Fury
— OF Taylor Myers (2015, Pittsburgh)… plays for TNL
— C/1B Rachel Peel (2015, Furman)… plays for Carolina Flames Elite
— OF Grace Sanderson (2015, James Madison)… plays for Vienna Stars Gold
— 1B/3B Amanda Sartori (2016, Marist)… plays for Team Pennsylvania Cyclones Gold
— C/UT Alexa Sells (2017, Appalachian State)… plays for NC Lady Tigers Gold
— SS Abby Settlemyre (2018, North Carolina)… plays for Carolina Cardinals
— OF Talor Stricklin (2015, Southern Arkansas)… plays for Firecrackers HTX Gold – King
— P Haley Thogmartin (2015, Southeast Missouri State)… plays for St. Louis Esprit