Today we feature two young players who committed last week and didn’t take long to accept after offered!  One committed within 48 hours and the other took about 48 seconds!  We also cover a 2017 player who just keeps getting better and better and look at the 2014-15 roster for one of the top club teams in the country…

*** UCLA has picked up a verbal from 2018 catcher Colleen Sullivan who plays for the OC Batbusters – Campbell team, and committed Saturday to the Pac-12 school.

Colleen started in travel ball playing for Marcy Steele, in the SoCal Breakers organization.  Marcy, whose daughter currently plays for ASU (Haley Steele), took Colleen under her wing and spent a great deal of time with her teaching her the game.

Marcy’s 10U SoCal Breakers team finished in 9th place in 12U PGF in 2012, and 3rd place in 12U PGF in 2013.  Marcy then transitioned much of the team to the OC Batbuster organization and Coach Mark Campbell, who led his Team Mizuno – Campbell to a 14U PGF National title in the summer of 2013.

This year’s OCBB-Campbell team tied for 3^rd with a 5-2 record at the PGF 14U Nationals. Although Colleen and the Batbusters – Campbell team lost two tough semi-final games to the eventual winners, Corona Angels Tyson, many on the team will be returning this year to compete for the 14U PGF championship in 2015.

Colleen has played catcher since rec ball and was praised by Derek Allister of OnDeck Softball who said, “Colleen is a fabulous receiver who has all the intangibles you want: leadership, vocal qualities and her offensive game, which is getting better each time I see her.” 

In 2013, Colleen hit .471 in 12U PGF and this year she hit .545 including a walk-off home run against the AZ Suncats in the quarterfinals.

According to her father, Mike, the freshman catcher caught the eyes of Bruin coaches somewhat by accident.

“I believe Colleen was first noticed by UCLA at 2013 PGF when she hit particularly well against a highly regarded pitcher that UCLA had come to watch,” he begins.

“Their interest increased significantly upon receiving a recommendation from OCBB’s Mike Stith who told the coaches that they should consider her as part of their 2018 recruiting class.”

“Since last year, Colleen has had regular contact with the UCLA coaching staff, including a couple of unofficial visits.  The coaches also watched her when she attended the OnDeck West Coast National Elite camp.”

The freshman catcher and her family went to Westwood on Saturday and when offered in person accepted immediately.

“We met with the coaches at UCLA on Saturday and Coach (Kelly) Inouye-Perez told Colleen that she wanted her to be a Bruin and asked Colleen if would accept their offer.  Colleen did not hesitate.  She said, “Yes, I want to be a Bruin!” which was followed by hugs and high fives all around, as well as a few tears.”

The athlete’s father said UCLA’s recruiting was not just about the athlete on the field.

“In short, the UCLA coaches really went out of their way to not just watch her play, but to get to know her as a person and who she is as a competitor.  While other great schools expressed interest, and she took other unofficial visits, when UCLA offered her on Saturday, it was an easy decision because she had already developed a great relationship with the coaching staff.”

“Obviously, Colleen feels very honored to have the opportunity to play for UCLA, which has such an incredible championship history. “

*** Another young player who pulled the trigger within the last week was Hailey Martinez, a 2017 pitcher with the Minnesota Sting team who committed to Wichita State.

Hailey has played varsity the last two years (8^th and 9^th grades) and has really taken off in her development the last six months.

This summer for the Sting she was 20-3 and for the fall she has gone 15-4 with a perfect game and a no-hitter utilizing her array of pitches including a rise, curve, drop, screwball and off-speed pitch.

Wichita State, she says, first saw her in July at the Boulder Independence Day Tournament in Longmont, Col. when “I was pitching for our 16U Gold team on my team’s off day from the Colorado Sparkler tournament.”

The Shockers recruited her for the next three months and invited Hailey to the school on Nov. 3 for an unofficial where she received an official offer.

After thinking about if for 48 hours, the sophomore pitcher called last Wednesday to accept.

“I first called Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner and immediately after Pitching Coach Samantha Sheeley to let them both know I wanted to accept their offer to play softball at Wichita State University,” Hailey explains.

“The dedication to the team, their love of the game and the work ethic the entire coaching staff displayed helped me to make my decision to go to WSU.  The size of the campus and convenience of location to athletic facilities, dorms, which are brand new (a bonus!) and anything else a student athlete may need while away from home, also really helped me decide WSU would be a good fit for me.”

“Also, I can’t leave out that they have a great indoor facility, which every softball player from Minnesota knows is a must-have!”

“After meeting with the Athletic Director, an academic advisor, a Chemistry department professor and a pre-med student, I was happy to confirm that WSU would fit my needs academically as I’ll be majoring in chemistry pre-medicine.”

“Lastly, I really liked the ‘feel’ of WSU and could picture myself as a player and student there.  It was also nice to see how the coaches, advisors, teachers, students and players show their pride in the academics and athletics at WSU.”

*** How good is 2017 pitcher Kelsey Oh of the Jersey Intensity? The Boston College commit just keeps getting better and better and showed that last weekend at a tournament in Georgia.

Kelsey went up against a strong East Cobb Bullets – Schnute team which is led by the top pitcher in the 2015 Class, Kelly Barnhill who has committed to Florida and is ranked No. 2 in the Hot 100. Kelly had her usual strong game, putting up double digit K’s.

Kelsey, though, threw a no-hitter and had 12 strikeouts in the 2-1 win prompting her coach, Kevin O’Donnell of Jersey Intensity, to say, “Kelsey is in an elite class.”

We’re working on the Hot 100 list for 2017’s and, yea, she will pretty much make it!

*** Bill Conroy, the head of the Beverly Bandits out of Chicago wrote this morning:

“I wanted to congratulate both Taylor Johnson, catcher/corner, and Haley Hestekin, pitcher, both 2017 graduates on verbally committing to attend school and play softball on athletic scholarships at the University of Wisconsin!”

“Four  times in the Bandits history, we have had 2 players verbally commit to schools in the same week but this is the first time in program history that 2 players verballed on the same day to the same school!!!”

“More ironically, neither girl knows the other and will get their first opportunity to play together in California 10 days from now!!!”

*** Speaking of elite talent, yesterday in Irvine, Calif. the National Champion OC Batbusters – Haning/Stith team played two games against the Venezuelan National Team and in the first game the score ended 0-0 as Taylor McQuillin pitched and looked as sharp as ever.

In the second game, Florida commit Natalie Lugo took the circle and the 2017 pitcher, new to the Batbusters had her moments using her screwball to strike out some players who are as old as 34 on the team.

She also gave up a couple of bombs, but overall showed why she is so highly touted. It was also a chance for several of the new, young players to get some experience.

The Venezuelan team will also be playing Explosion this week.

Here’s the roster of the 2014-15 Batbuster team which has several key returners coming back including eight seniors who made the 2015 Hot 100 list including four outfielders! – OF Amanda Lorenz (#1), P Taylor McQuillin (#3), SS Syd Romero (#4), C Morganne Flores (#8), OF Alyssa Palomino (#11), OF Natalie Peters (#39), OF Fale Aviu (#63) and 3B Tannon Snow (#87, but should have been much higher after a standout summer!).

Jersey #	First	Last	Pos	Grad	Commitment
78	Jocelyn	Alo	C, 1B	2017	Cal Berkeley
44	Falepolima	Aviu	OF	2015	Oklahoma
88	Stephanie	Best	P	2016	Cal Poly SLO
23	Jaymee	Campbell	1B	2016	uncommitted
47	Morganne	Flores	C,3B	2015	Washington
42	Mariah	Lopez	P	2016	Oklahoma
18	Amanda	Lorenz	CF	2015	Florida
10	Natalie	Lugo	P	2017	Florida
99	Jordan	Mathews	SS,2B	2017	Florida
19	Taylor	McQuillin	P	2015	Arizona
34	Dejah	Mulipola	C	2016	Arizona
3	Zia	Norris	OF	2017	Arizona
32	Alyssa	Palomino	OF	2015	Arizona
55	Natalie	Peters	OF	2015	Michigan
74	Sophia	Reynoso	SS,2B	2015	Florida
4	Sydney	Romero	SS,2B	2015	Oklahoma
9	Tannon	Snow	3B,SS	2015	Washington
2	Taylon	Snow	SS,OF	2017	Washington
24	Ashlee	Snyder	3B,1B	2016	Tennessee
22	Kwynn	Warner	2B,OF	2015	uncommitted
30	Kaley	Winegarner	P	2015	uncommitted

*** More verbals:

— P Brittany Bendel (2016, Colgate)… plays for Sarasota Heat
— 2B/OF Kristen Bialek (2016, Murray State)… plays for Wasco Diamonds
— C Morgan Cummins (2018, LSU)… plays for Sarasota Heat
— 1B Noel Daley (2015, Bryant)… plays for CT Charmers Gold
— OF Sydney Dennis (2015, Quinnipiac)… plays for New Jersey Intensity
— P/1B  Samaria Diaz (2016, New Mexico State)… plays for Corona Angels
— OF Brea Dickey (2015, Georgia)… plays for Georgia Ice -Crocker
— SS/P Kaitlin Doud (2015, Butler)… plays for Indiana Prospects
— 3B Victoria Garivey (2017, Lamar)… plays for Houston Power – McBride
— P Allison Green (2016, UNC Charlotte)… plays for Explosion – Morgan
— OF Kourtney Linn (2016, USC Upstate)… plays for Sarasota Heat
— P Madison Marsh (2016, Delaware)… plays for Running Rebels – Regpala
— 1B Morgan Parsons (2017, Hawaii)… plays for Explosion – Borzilleri