***NOTE: added several more verbals that came in this morning and last night–Brentt***

Got a new SEC verbal to report and this player is a carbon copy of a senior that just signed with the program in a very specific skill set she possesses!  We also look at some “under the radar” players whose stock is on the rise…

*** Lexi Rampetsreiter, a 2016 outfielder with the KC Zephyrs, has committed to Missouri according to her coach Rob Wade.

It’s not hard to see that the Tigers and Head Coach Ehren Earleywine are going after great track speed.

Last week, one of the five Mizzou signees was outfielder Regan Nash, a member of the 2015 Hot 100 and also a track star—she’s gone to state three times in the 100 meters and twice in the 200 meters.

Lexi is similarly very fast. She’s a two-time Missouri All-State track standout and runs the 4×400 with a best of 58.0 seconds and in the 4 x 800 has clocked a 2.19. Both of these are college level times now.

On the softball field she’s been measured at a 2.64 seconds home-to-first and was 27-for-27 this fall in 26 games played. She hit .443 with 31 runs scored and three home runs including a grand slam.

Lexi earned 1^st Team All-District honors too.

More recently, with the Zephyrs last week at the Texas American Freedom Fall Showcase she batted .611 and in 18 at-bats had 11 hits with five doubles and three triples. She also stole five bases and had a 1.222 slugging percentage.

What’s interesting is she has been all right-handed up to now, but you now the Missouri staff is eager to have her switch to the right side to utilize her speed.

Says Coach Wade of her working to convert to the lefty side: “Lexi is happily complying and doing very well when we work together in lessons. She is going to be a tremendous multi-faceted offensive threat and has shown power as a true left handed hitter.

Lexi has great range in the outfield with a great arm and patrols centerfield for us now. If she is on base, she will find a way home.”

*** The Texas Glory led by Kevin Shelton always has talent and in each of our Hot 100’s so far (2014’s, ‘15’s and ‘16’s) there have been several in each class.

So when Coach Shelton is high on a player, we listen.

One he’s bullish on who is new to his team is Marilyn Rizzato, a 2016 catcher/corner infielder.

Here’s what Kevin had to say about her:

“Marilyn joined our team this fall, she’s from North Forney High School in Forney, Texas.”

“Marilyn is 5-foot-11, athletic, moves well and hits for power to all fields. She has a rocket for an arm and is a diamond in the rough who has had essentially no exposure.”

“Last week she committed to Louisiana Tech.  Marilyn is making great progress and fits in very well with our team.  Along with most of our 2016 class, she is a bright spot that should be a solid performer for us for the next two summers.”

We’ll have a more in-depth look at her tomorrow (Tuesday) in a Player Profile…

*** Another under-the-radar prospect comes from Florida… her name is Lace Smith.

Lace pitches for Wagner’s Gold – Dunn after being with the Tampa Mustangs organization previously.

She went 25-2 last spring with a 0.79 ERA for the Bloomington Bulls out of Valrico, Fla. Lace struck out 293 batters and even hit .350 to led Bloomingdale to ists first state title since 1993.

Lace throws in the low 60’s and has what one coach calls “a killer riseball that acts like a screw as well. It rides in and up on batters and is just so difficult to lay off of. She also has a very good change and curve to mix things in, but the “scriseball” is the out pitch.”

The Florida senior is “supremely focused and goes into a zone with one goal in mind—to get outs.”

A couple weeks ago at the Diamond 9 Sun Classic she was dominate in several games including a complete two-hit 1-0 shutout over a very strong Carolina Elite team that has some big-time bats in the lineup.

A Maxpreps Underclassman 1st team All American last year, one coach said of Lace: “She could easily be with a Major D1 but fell in Love with Buffalo.  She’s a country girl and the weather and countryside was perfect for her. “

*** Very happy to hear that Peyton St. George, the 2017 pitcher from Atlee High in Mechanicsville, Va. had a strong East Coast National Elite Camp recently.

Last year as a freshman the 5-foot-9 ½ hurler went 8-4 in 16 appearances and had 96K’s in 82 innings pitched. She also pitched 17 straight shutout innings in playoff action.

She pitches for the Dixie Chicks and went 53-8 last year with 375 K’s and had a great 8-0 run to help the Chicks win 14U-A NSA Nationals. She mad the jump to the 18U level this fall and continued her impressive run down in Gwinnett, Ga. at the OnDeck produced East Coast National Elite Camp.

According to her father, John, one thing that came out of her two-day performance was interest from other club teams.

“(An Arizona team) wants her to play with them in Colorado next summer,” the pitcher’s father said last week, “and (a top Midwestern team) talked about taking her to PGF Nationals so I guess she was doing OK.”

Peyton has earned an invite to Banditfest in January and will also attend the Winter Sun Classic mid January.

Scouting wise, Peyton worked her riseball in the 59-61 mph range with nice up movement close to the plate at the East Coast Camp. Her change looked good in the Friday game and her out pitch—as always—was her curve which moves downward. In the drills her curve was in the 59-62 range consistently.

In the Friday game she faced about 10 batters in two innings and allowed one hit while striking out four.

I asked Derek Allister of OnDeck about how she looked and he said, “Peyton was very good.  I really liked her.  She was pitching in the low 60’s and has legit movement.  She has a great demeanor in the circle and will probably add velocity as she matures and gets college level coaching.”

*** Cool story out of Missouri last week… Savannah Fisher, a 2015 outfielder/shortstop with Mo Stealth 96 18U gold, had a devastating injury her sophomore year of high school when she tore both her MCL and ACL.

However, she was able to rehab and return so effectively, she is now 8^th in Missouri state history with 21 career home runs and 7^th in home runs averaged per game.

Savannah signed with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, the school she had committed to last January exactly one year after her injury.

Says her mother, Jennifer, “She has a lot of determination and overcame a lot. We are super excited that she’s going to the next level!”

*** Speaking of signing news, Kelly Welsh, a 2015 infielder/outfielder with the Beverly Bandits, signed her NLI to Wisconsin last Wednesday after having a great junior season where she was 1^st Team All-Conference and 3^rd Team all-State.

Kelly set school records with steals and through her junior year is the career leader in average and extra base hits.

As is often the case, she has a younger sister following in her footsteps: Megan Welsh is a 2018 catcher/third baseman/outfielder who is playing for the Indiana Magic Gold 14U team and is already 5-foot-10 and has a strong arm, able to throw for velocity and distance.

Looks like Megan could be the next D1 player in the Welsh family!

*** More verbals:

— P/UT Carli Cutler (2016, UConn)… plays for Explosion – Borzilleri
— C/UT Lexi Harrington (2017, Arizona)… plays for Sorcerer Gold
— 3B Kennedy Hira (2017, Utah State)… plays for So Cal A’s – Quarles
— OF Bailey Hoch (2015, USC Upstate)… plays for Jacksonville Storm – Marsh
— 1B/OF Brianna Lerma (2015, Utah State)… plays for OC Batbusters – Smith
— C Sara Lillie (2017, Oregon State)… plays for So Cal A’s – McNee/Myers
— P Kenzie Longanecker (2016, Appalachian State)… plays for Wanger’s Gold – Dunn
— MIF Sam Loos (2015, Marshall)… plays for Explosion – Morgan
— MIF/OF Olivia Markopoulos (2016, Boston College)… plays for Vienna Stars Gold
— P Lauren Mathis (2017, Florida)… plays for Windermere Wildfire 16U
— C/OF Riley McCarthy (2017, Florida Gulf Coast)… plays for Wagner’s 3n2 – Kipple
— C/3B Jenna Pealor (2015, Lipscomb)… plays for Georgia Force – Pealor
— P Randi Phillips (2017, Texas A&M)… plays for Texas Bombers Gold
— P/1B Sydney Supple (2019, Northwestern)… plays for Beverly Bandits
— P Emma Vesely (2017, UNLV)… plays for Firecrackers AZ
— 2B Kwynn Warner (2015, Nevada)… plays for OC Batbusters – Haning/Stith