The summer club season came to an end with the finals of the PGF Nationals a week ago, but there was a lot of great softball from all over the country and it’s time to honor some of the top performances I saw.

Obviously not every great tournament accomplishment can be recognized, but here are many who did impress over the last couple months. If you want to make a case of a great effort I missed, e-mail me: brentt@studentsports.com.

Listed alphabetically by position…

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PITCHERS

— P Taran Alvelo (Beverly Bandits, 2015, Washington)
Both in the circle and at the plate, Taran was a difference maker and led the Bandits-DeMarini team to the ASA/USA 18U GOLD final four thanks to an 8^th inning grand slam in a win. At PGF she went 4-0 with a 0.48 ERA and helped the Bandits finish in the top four (tied for 3^rd).

— P Kelly Barnhill (EC Bullets, 2015, uncommitted)
Another workhorse who carried her team on her shoulders, Barnhill was dominant in every tournament including the So Cal A’s Invitation, Boulder and at PGF where her 64 K’s led the tourney (she had one game where she struck out all 15 batters she faced).

— P Megan Faraimo (Corona Angels-Tyson 14U, 2018, uncommitted)
Wow, did she emerge as one of the top young pitchers in the country. Megan led the Angels all the way to the PGF 14U National Championship and one of her wins was over Brooke Vestal and the Texas Bombers. Megan led the 14U Nationals with 79 K’s in nine games while going 8-1.

— P Mo Garcia (Texas Glory, 2014, North Texas)
Mo had a great summer and, although she struggled a bit at the end in the PGF Nationals, she led the Glory to the Colorado Fireworks National Championship and was very impressive at the So Cal A’s Invitational.

— P Alexis Holloway (Beverly Bandits-JT 16U, 2016, Notre Dame)
I love how Alexis battles, she’s one of the fiercest competitors I saw all summer and was dominant for most of the PGF 16U Nationals. She doesn’t blow you away, she just pitches masterfully and yet finished with 65 K’s, third highest in all of the PGF Nationals, in eight games.

— P Makayla Martin (So Cal A’-s-McNee/Myers, 2015, Auburn)
A tall pitcher who has several pitches to work with, she led the A’s to the PGF 16U championship and all summer kept batters off balance. What impresses me about Makayla is how she stays calm under pressure and works out of jams.

— P Taylor McQuillin (OC Batbusters-Haning, 2015, Arizona)
Taylor would be my pitching MVP for the summer and, really, who could argue with her accomplishments? She dominated pretty much every tournament she was in and was almost untouchable at PGF Nationals as she led the Batbusters to the title by going 3-0 in 23 innings. She didn’t allow an earned run while striking out 25 and giving up only two walks.

— P Alexis Osorio (Corona Angels, 2014, Alabama)
I became a fan in the CIF playoffs when her Riverside (Calif.) King team lost to Pacifica, but Alexis went extra innings and was lights-out great. She pitched 24 innings for the Angels at PGF and struck out 29 while not allowing an earned run. Every time I saw her she dominated including the So Cal A’s invitational, the Champions Cup as well as Boulder and the Atlanta Legacy Showcase.

— P Brooke Vestal (Texas Bombers, 2018, Oklahoma)
Brooke dominated in Boulder and at PGF where he had 19 K’s in one game and has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the 2018 class. Her ceiling is very high and she is still developing physically.  The athleticism is already there–she’s also an outstanding volleyball player and could play college in that sport if she wasn’t so talented on the field.

 

CATCHERS

— C Morganne Flores (OC Batbusters-Haning, 2015, Washington)
The anchor of the National Champs at PGF 18U Premier, Morganne caught six of the seven wins and led the team in batting average at .500 (7-for-14). She also hit well against some of the top pitchers in the country including Barnhill, a home run and double for two RBI, and Alvelo, 2-for-3 with a home run.

— C/UT Paige Halstead (Explosion, 2015, UCLA)
It’s tempting to put Paige in the “Multi-Position” category because she can do so many things well, but her athleticism serves her well at catcher where she can make the throws, frame very well and beat you with a timely hit. She hit .333 at PGF Nationals.

— C Gwen Svekis (Gold Coast Hurricanes, 2014, Oregon)
Her defense and ability to call a game alone would get her to any major college, but add in her ability to hit for power and average and you have a premier catcher to build a team around. Looked outstanding at the So Cal A’s Invitational.

— C Carlee Wallace (So Cal A’s, 2014, Auburn)
Love her consistency and mechanics behind the plate, Carlee is also a threat at the plate to hit the extra base hit and has a great eye at the plate. At PGF she had six walks and only one strikeout in 24 at-bats.

 

INFIELDERS

— SS Kristen Cuyos (Aces Express Gold, 2015, Texas A&M)
She only played three bracket games at PGF but she went 5-for-9 (.556) with three home runs and seven RBI and looked great at the plate as well as in the field.

— SS/OF Jazymn Jackson (Corona Angels, 2014, Cal)
One of the top 5 best all-around threats in the country: she sets the table, can be a disruptor at the plate and on the basepaths and is solid defensively. She led the Angels at PGF Nationals in average (.500), hits (10) and runs (7).

— 3B Jenna Lilley (Beverly Bandits, 2014, Oregon)
There’s a reason Jenna is the No. 1 player in the 2014 class and it was shown by a dominating week in Huntington Beach where Jenna tied for the most hits (16) and RBI (13) at PGF while hitting .471 in 10 games. She also had five steals and made some stellar plays with the glove.

— SS Madison Montgomery (Texas Glory, 2015, Oklahoma State)
A key player all year long for the Glory, Madison is a sparkplug who is smooth offensively and defensively. She had a pair of doubles and an RBI in the championship win at the Colorado Fireworks and was impressive at the So Cal A’s Invitational in Los Alamitos earlier in the summer.

— 1B Saria Niu (So Cal A’s-McNee/Myers, 2016, uncommitted)
Impressive summer has colleges scrambling to get this power-hitter who led the all of the PGF Nationals with 16 RBI and tied for best at all levels with four homers as she helped her team win the 16U National Championship. By the end of the week, pitchers were throwing very carefully to her!

— 2B/SS Syd Romero (OC Batbusters-Haning, 2015, Oklahoma)
One of the top players in the 2015 class and she showed why all summer with big play after big play. She hit .478 at PGF Nationals with a team leading eight RBI in seven games.

— 2B Vanessa Shippy (Explosion, 2014, Oklahoma State)
Another OSU bound infielder, Vanessa is a great leader and always seems to make the play that’s needed when it’s needed. She’s one of the best leaders I’ve seen in the dugout and on the field and was a key reason the Explosion went deep in most tournaments they played in.

— 1B/C Libby Sugg (Tennessee Fury 97, 2015, BYU)
Libby was a difference-maker as she led the Fury with 23 RBI, four home runs and a .583 batting average enroute to the ASA/USA 16U GOLD National Championship. A power-hitter who can drop in the clutch hit too.

— 3B/SS Taylor VanZee (Firecrackers-Rico, 2014, Washington)
Every time I watched Taylor she was making a big play, be it in the field or a clutch hit at the plate. She hit .389 at PGF Nationals but was consistently good in every tournament this summer.

 

OUTFIELDERS

— OF Ciara Bryan (Georgia Impact-Pauley, 2016, Georgia)
Ciara led all of PGF 18U Nationals with a sizzling .688 average as she went 11-for-16 with five RBI and has all the Bulldog Nation buzzing with her all-around game.

— OF Amanda Lorenz (OC Batbusters-Haning, 2015, Florida)
Amanda, for my money, is the best hitter in the country and showed she deserved to be rated as the No. 1 player in the 2015 class. She had a least one hit in every game of PGF Nationals for the National Champions and finished with a .478 average and tied with Syd Romero with a team-leading 11 hits.

— OF Carly Thomas (Explosion, 2014, Illinois)
Carly is a great all-round athlete and had a strong summer capped off by going 11-for-22 with 6 RBI to lead Explosion to a Top 7 finish at PGF. She’s quiet but leads by example on a team loaded with talent.

— OF Brooke Vines (So Cal A’s, 2015, Tennessee)
A great leadoff threat, Brooke went 16-for-32 at the plate to hit .500 and won a PGF game for the Athletics with a walk-off hit.

 

MULTI-POSITION

— P/UT Rachel Garcia (Corona Angels, 2015, UCLA)
Rachel was a standout hitter as well as a pitcher and was the winner in the circle when the Angels won the TC/USA Nationals in Georgia and also a star offensively and pitching-wise in the team’s title win in Boulder. Rachel also helped take the Angels—along with fellow standout pitcher Alexis Osorio—to the finals of the PGF Nationals.

— P/UT Lele Ocasio (Wagners Gold-Dunn/Gold Coast Hurricanes, 2014, Florida)
Lele is a great pitcher who can take over a game, but she’s equally dangerous at the plate. She led the Wagners team to the ASA/USA 18U GOLD title where hit .543 for the week and also went 5-0 with 41 K’s in 40 innings.

— P/UT Paige Parker (Originals, 2014, Oklahoma)
One of the true workhorses of the summer, she was a threat in the circle and at the plate. At the Boulder Tournament she led the Originals all the way to the title game and at PGF the future Sooner star hit .400 with three HRs (tied for event best) and 13 RBI.  In the circle at PGF she had 61 K’s in 38 innings, both second most in the tournament.

— P/UT Alexis Reid (Birmingham Thunderbolts, 2015, Kansas)
Alexis really elevated her game this summer and was one of the pleasant surprises of the tournament season. She helped the Bolts tie for 5^th at PGF by pitching 23 innings with 17 K’s and a 1.77 ERA while leading the team with a .364 batting average.