A lot of news to report today on the heels on the news last night that the No. 2 player in the 2015 class, Kelly Barnhill, decided she’s staying in the South…

 

*** We recently reported that Hannah Bailey, a 2017 pitcher/first baseman with the So Cal Breakers, had committed to Minnesota.

I watched her play at bit at the Surf City October Showcase last Saturday and was impressed with her play, although she got dinged on a throw.

As her father, Mike, explains: “She took a throw from the catcher down to second into the back of her head. She is doing fine, just a small bump. I have never seen anything like that. Hannah squats to avoid the throw and the catcher one hops it to the back of her head!”

I asked how the Gophers came into the picture and the athlete’s father answered:

“Hannah was discovered at the Colorado OnDeck camp by Minnesota who continued to watch her play throughout the Louisville Slugger Boulder Tournament. The coaches also continued to follow her during her play in the 18U PGF Platinum Tournament and invited her to come visit the campus.”

“Upon visiting the school, Hannah fell in love with the Big Ten athletic atmosphere at UM and the school spirit of the Golden Gophers. Also she was impressed with the team and especially the coaches who have turned the softball program around in four years to be the 2014 Big Ten champs and invited to the CWS super regionals. There is great excitement about where this program is heading.”

As for her softball history, Mike continued:

“Hannah was selected to play with Brant Beddow’s 18U SoCal Breakers Gold team as a Freshman and earned All League 1st team honors for her high school Rancho Buena Vista in Vista (Calif.). She was also honored as North San Diego County’s Pitcher of the Year at the end of her freshman year. Her pitches have been clocked in the mid-60s range and at RBV she had a 15-6 record with an ERA of 1.50 and 103 K’s and 37 walks.”

*** UCLA has picked up a commitment from 2016 outfielder Jacqui Prober who plays with the San Jose Sting.

According to the Sting website, here’s how the process went for the junior:

“Strong academics, a rich tradition, and the coaching staff making her feel like family from her first visit were some of the key reasons she had UCLA at the top of her list. And with her parents being alumni, they spoke highly of their collegiate experiences at UCLA, further supporting Jacqui’s dream.”
“In addition to UCLA, Jacqui also looked at Stanford, Washington and Missouri, with all of them looking at her along with Cal Poly and Northridge liking what they saw as well.”

“Jacqui plans to major in pre-med or pre-PT and her most memorable moments from the recruiting process were:
– A trip to Missouri in December for a camp, in the middle of a snowstorm
– Meeting with the UCLA coaching staff after the first game they had invited her to attend
– Getting the offer from UCLA to come play for them, allowing her to realize a childhood dream.”

*** At the Surf City October Showcase last weekend I saw two players who were pretty impressive on the Arizona Storm team… both who played the left side of the infield:

— 3B/OF Kiara Kennedy (2017, uncommitted)
A strong defender who can hit well, Kiara is athletic and moves well for her size (5-foot-7). She attends Desert Vista High School in Phoenix and as a freshman she was selected 2^nd Team All-Section at centerfield.

She has had unofficial visits to Cal, New Mexico State, and San Diego State with strong interest also from Texas Tech,  Purdue, New Mexico State, Cal, Seton Hall, Liberty, Central Florida, Illinois State, Mercer, San Jose State.

Kiara recently received camp invites from Florida, UNLV, and Kentucky and has plans to visit Texas Tech, Purdue, Seton Hall, UNLV and Liberty this season. I don’t think she’ll be left on the market for long!

— SS DeNae Chatman (2017, uncommitted)
I was impressed with DeNae at the West Coast National Elite Camp where she also showed impressive athleticism.

Saturday at the Surf City Showcase she made a great defensive play, climbing the ladder to steal a hit away from an Explosion batter.

DeNae has a 4.25 GPA and can play the infield and even pitch. Another one I think will go fast in the recruiting process.

*** Got a note from a Bownet Gold team follower who writes:

“Centerfielder Rayna Cohen, who is one of two 2017s on the team, has committed to UC Santa Barbara.”

“She joins 2015 P Veronika Gulvin as the second Bownet 18 Gold player to commit to the Gauchos.

“It looks like UCSB is filling out their 2017 recruiting class: Dani East and Sammy Fabian of Firecrackers Brashear – Black are also 2017s who have committed to UCSB.”

*** I got to watch the Jersey Intensity pair of teams at the Surf City event… here are the players on the 18U and 18U KOD (Kevin O’Donnell) team that weren’t previously on the Master Verbal List, but will be added this week:

— 3B Rebecca Drake (2015, Quinnipiac)
— SS/3B Lacey Sumerlin (2015, Georgia)
— 1B Gabi Bram (2015, Hofstra)
— 2B/OF Nikki Davis (2016, Bryant)
— 2B/P Cheyenne Meyer (2015, Marshall)
— 3B/SS Meghan Royle (2015, Maine)
— 1B/3B M.K. Bonamy (2015, Notre Dame)
— OF Sydney Dennis (2015, Quinnipiac)
— P/1B Victoria Galvan (2017, South Carolina)
— CF/2B Taylor Hoffman (2016, Liberty)

*** On the coaching front, Frank Arcuri, who has been coaching the Gold Coast Hurricanes 16U team, was hired earlier this month to be an assistant at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Coach Arcuri has done a good job with his young players including IF Taylor Bump (Michigan) and P Kama Woodall (North Carolina State), both of who are 2017’s.

I recently wrote him to ask if the new college gig meant he was done with coaching at the club level… here’s what he said:

“I am still able to coach with Gold Coast as my schedule allows .  I’ll be going to Rising Dtars and Xtreme Dimensions showcase with GC this fall.

*** The team that used to be Georgia Fire – Downs 16U has changed organizations and is now Team GA 18U Gold led by Coach Marty Elder.

He sent me a list of the Team GA 18U Gold commits which includes:

— C/ SS Kayleigh Briant (2015, Columbus State)
— P Madason Messer (2015, Georgia Military College)
— 1B/C Kiley Rediger (2015, Georgia Military College)
— OF Ansley Wilbanks (2015, Georgia Military College)
— P/1B Danielle Downs (2015, Georgia Military College)
— SS/IF Katy Stamey (2015, Georgia Military College)
— OF Casey Page (2015, Marist)
— 2B/UT Josi Elder (2015, Washington Univ.)
— P Kallen Leeseberg (2015, Marist)

*** And more players to add, this one a quartet from the Louisiana Patriots Gold
team (thanks to Darrell Landry for the info):

— P Shelby Wickersham (2018, LSU)
— OF Claire Weinberger (2016, LSU)
— P/UT Whitney Romero (2016, Texas Tyler)
— C/UT Kali Clement (2015, Springhill)

*** Finally, my favorite nickname of the fall so far has to be that of Angelica “Jelly” Ponce, a 2016 P/1B with the So Cal A’s – Datan team who has committed to Mercer.

I asked her mother, Lisa, about the nickname and also why Mercer… here are her insights:

“She was eight years old playing softball with her city rec ball team. We had two Angelica’s on the team and the coaches began to call her “Jelly” for short to avoid the confusion.”

OK, makes sense… one Angelica and another Jelly to avoid the confusion… personal note: when I was coaching soccer with my oldest daughter, Brittany, we had two with the that name so she ended up being “Beads”… as in “B. Eads” or “Beads.” Get it?

Enough of my personal war stories… back to Jelly and the question of how and why Mercer…

“Jelly was seen for the first time by Mercer Head Coach Stephanie DeFeo and pitching coach Kim Mazzapica on July 4, 2014,” Lisa continueds.

“The coaches were there to recruit her teammate, who plays third base, and in the process of watching the game, they spotted Jelly. She was pitching in the “Fireworks Showcase” in Aurora, Col.”

“They approached So Cal Athletics, Manager, Raaine Datan and he was told that they were impressed by her many off-speed pitches, her field presence and her grunting while she pitches. They invited Jelly to visit the school in Macon, Ga.”

“Jelly had been writing only to small, private and faith-based universities, which is exactly what Mercer is. She went to visit the campus on September 25, 2014 and was made an offer on September 26, 2014, which she graciously accepted on September 28.”

Jelly will be a four-year varsity starter and is a two-time All-League selection.

*** More verbals:

— 1B/UT Arianna Acedo (2017, Cal State Bakersfield)… plays for AZ Suncats
— P/1B Hannah Bailey (2017, Minnesota)… plays for So Cal Breakers
— CF Katelyn Corr (2015, Stony Brook)… plays for CT Chamers Gold
— SS Arianna Felix (Cal State Bakersfield)… plays for AZ Suncats
— C Darian Frost (2015, Missouri State)… plays for Originals Gold
— P Erin Greisbauer (2016, Missouri State)… plays for Originals Gold
— OF Hailey Hoklotubbe (2016, Rutgers)… plays for OC Batbusters – Lara
— 3B/SS Bethany Hursch (2016, Jacksonville)… plays for Clearwater Bombers
— P Madison James (2017, Ohio State)… plays for So Cal Athletics – Quarles
— SS Samantha Kennedy (2017, Cal State Fullerton)… plays for So Cal Athletics – Quarles
— UT Mariko Kondo (2015, Syracuse)… plays for Cal Nuggets
— P Nicole Nishizawa (2015, Harvard)… plays for Na Wahine
— C/IF Kiki Mason (2015, Missouri State)… plays for Originals Gold
— OF Carolyn O’Neal (2016, Jacksonville)… plays for Clearwater Bombers
— C/OF Talli Sharp (2015, Stetson)… plays for Team Mizuno – Morgan
— 3B Morgan Spieth (2016, Sacramento State)… plays for NW Bullets Gold
— P Taylor Stocks (2016, Jacksonville)… plays for Tri-State Thunder Gold
— IF Michelle Sullivan (2017, James Madison)… plays for Virginia Glory – Mertz
— IF Madison Sykes (2016, Kansas)… plays for Originals – Self
— P/3B Mia Trejo (2017, New Mexico State)… plays for AZ Impact Gold – Martinez
— OF/2B Jaydra VonBehren (2017, Georgia Tech)… plays for Georgia Impact