For this “Throwback Thursday,” we’re going to go back almost eight years to the day when I ran an article about USA Softball announcing the 34 players who would be invited to try out for the Junior Women’s National Team.

The selection camp was held September 15-18, 2006 in Chula Vista, Calif. and was overseen by Univ. of Arizona head coach Mike Candrea, who was also the head of the Women’s National Team.

Coach Candrea was also assisted by — and these folks and their positions were as they were in 2006— “Jay Miller (head coach at Mississippi State), Cheri Kempf (Owner of Club K), Mark Lumley (assistant coach at Baylor University) and Brian Kolze (head coach at Pacific University).”

I remember going down to Chula Vista to watch some of the workouts as these were the best young players in club ball at the time (or at least the ones we thought were the best!) and I remember how beautiful the facilities were and how well organized the drills were.

Three players who intrigued me at the time were the three “babies” of the group, the 2008 grads: Ashley Hansen, Cat Hosfield and Kimi Pohlman; of course, all three would go on to have great success at Stanford, Tennessee and Washington, respectively.

It’s a fun list for me to go over and remember back to that time and to now think about some of their accomplishments since that week of tryouts.

One example—two players on this invite list were recently named as Stanford assistant coaches: Megan Langenfeld, who went to set records at UCLA, and Dorian Shaw, the future star power hitter at Michigan.

And I have to mention Katie Schroeder, who, like Langenfeld would go to UCLA and win a national title and earn All-American honors. Today, Katie is one of the four leads at The Packaged Deal, the very up-and-coming female-driven fastpitch clinic and instructional company.

One of the best things about the march of time is seeing young people go on to grow, succeed and excel on and off the playing field!

— Brentt Eads

 

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Here is the list provided by USA Softball as I ran it on August 24, 2006 with the club and college info published as it was on that date:

The invitees for the Junior Women’s National Team selection camp are:

Sarah Akamine 3B/P (Escondido, Calif.) 2006; Worth Firecrackers—Arizona
K’Lee Arredondo SS (Tempe, Ariz.) 2006; Worth Firecrackers—Arizona
Whitney Baker P (Battle Ground, Wash.) 2006; Absolute Blast Gold—UCLA
Gabriele Bridges 1B/3B/OF (Lafitte, La.) 2007; LA Voodoo— uncommitted
Ashley Brignac P/SS (River Ridge, La.) 2007; LA Voodoo—uncommitted
Stephanie Brombacher P/1B (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) 2007; Gold Coast Hurricanes—uncommitted
Neena Bryant OF (Placentia, Calif.) 2006; Corona Angels—Oregon
Stacie Chambers DH/C (Glendale, Ariz.); OC Batbusters—Arizona
GiOnna DiSalvatore SS /2B (Palm Harbor, Fla.); Team FLA 18U Gold—UCLA
Krista Donnenwirth SS (Mission Viejo, Calif.); California Cruisers—Arizona State
Megan Elliott P/OF (Prince Fredrick, MD); Shamrocks—Arizona State
Brittany Ensminger C/3B (Mesa, Ariz.) 2007; Arizona Hotshots— uncommitted
Kenzie Fowler P (Tucson, Ariz.) 2009; Desert Thunder 16U— uncommitted
Desi Giordano 3B/1B (W. Caldwell, N.J.) 2007 ; Jersey Inferno— uncommitted
Alissa Haber OF/1B (Newark, Calif.) 2006; Strikezone—Stanford
Ashley Hansen C/3B (Chandler, Ariz.) 2008; Worth Firecrackers—uncommitted
Monica Harrison SS (Garden Grove, Calif.) 2007; OC Batbusters—UCLA
Cathleen Hosfield P (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 2008; Tennessee Nighthawks—uncommitted
Tiffany Huff C (Saugus, Calif.) 2006; OC Batbusters—Tennessee
Victoria Kemp 2B (Saugus, Calif.) 2007; Raiders Gold—Arizona
Donna Kerr P (San Diego, Calif.) 2007; OC Batbusters—UCLA
Megan Langenfield P/1B (Bakersfield, Calif.) 2006; Worth Firecrackers—UCLA
Brittany Lastrapes OF (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) 2007; OC Batbusters—Arizona
Bianca Mejia SS (Sylmar, Calif.) 2006; Valley Breeze—Michigan State
Rosey Neill C/3B (Laguna Hills, Calif.) 2006; So Cal Athletics—Stanford
Kimi Pohlman OF (Sammamish, Wash.) 2008; Washington Ladyhawks—uncommitted
Roya St. Clair C/3B/1B (Livonia, Mich.) 2006; Finesse—Michigan
Lauren Schutzler OF/2B (Monterey, Calif.) 2007; Worth Firecrackers—Arizona
Katie Schroeder OF (Yorba Linda, Calif.) 2007; OC Batbusters—uncommitted
Dorian Shaw 1B/3B (Burke, Va.); Shamrocks—Michigan
Lindsey Sisk P (Murrieta, Calif.) 2007; California Cruisers—Arizona
Maggie Viefhaus 3B/2B/SS (Pacific, Mo.) 2006; St. Louis Chaos—Michigan
Megan Wiggins SS (Snellville, Ga.) 2007; Georgia Titans—uncommitted