We head to Texas today to profile a talent-loaded team that holds all the “Aces” (see what I did there?  Read on!).  There’s also a profile of a freshman on one of the top teams in the country who’s Ivy League looking and we profile a Mississippi Cat who has a lot of big-time programs following her.  First, though, we repeat the letter from a parent on the topic, “What if you can’t afford travel ball?” which got a huge response yesterday…

 

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TOPICAL ISSUE: “WHAT IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD TRAVEL BALL?” … DAY 2

In case you missed it, yesterday we posted the following and have already received some great responses… if you’d like add your thoughts, insights and opinions, please send to me (brentt@studentsports.com) and let me know if you’re OK having your name included or if you want to remain anonymous…

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A parent wrote in with a very good question/request and we want to open it up to our readers—be you a coach, parent, player or fan—to get your feedback.

Here’s the letter:

I would like to see ideas on how a student-athlete from a low income family can get noticed by college coaches. I read articles about kids getting recruited, but a lot of families can’t afford to travel from state to state to play in these exposure tournaments. From what I gather, the price that most families pay is half my salary. My daughter is a sophomore in high school and is getting letter after letter from admission offices for her academics, but she also loves softball and wants to play in college. We need some ideas on how to get her noticed and stay within our budget. I know my daughter is not alone. Any suggestions would be great.

 

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HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL UNDERWAY

*** While much of the country is getting pounded with winter storms, it’s fun to realize that the high school softball season has officially started!

One of the top teams in the Southeast, St. Thomas Aquinas from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., opened its season with a convincing win last night.

Maryland-bound pitcher Meghan King threw a perfect game with 15 strikeouts, and catcher Gwen Svekis, who has signed with Oregon, went 2-for-2 with a home run, a double and a walk and two RBI as the defending 7A state champion St. topped Western 3-0 at Aquinas.

King threw 78 pitches and only once had three balls in a count. Katie Behm went 1-for-2 and drove in the game’s first run. Victoria Stock also had a single for the Raiders and Thais Gonzalez and Sydney Barron also scored a run each.

Feel free to send along game reports or player updates of key athletes and teams and we may use here!

 

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CLUB PROFILE: ACES EXPRESS GOLD

There are coaches that just know how to win.

On the college level, Clint Myers won national championships in baseball before having the Midas touch in softball and ultimately winning two NCAA titles at ASU.

David McCorkle also came from a baseball background, coaching in Oklahoma before moving to Texas in 2000 and running the Clements High softball team in Sugar Land, Texas where he went 301-109 through 2012 and the program annually ranked in the top 10 and as high as No. 7 in the national rankings.

Last year, McCorkle moved to Pearland Dawson High and led a softball program that had never made the playoffs to a 24-12 record and an appearance in the regional quarterfinals.

The coach has had similar success on the club side.

In 2006, he took over the Texas Express, a “team about to fall apart,” as McCorkle remembers.

“The manager called me to help turn it around and we turned that team into a Gold Qualifier within a year,” he continues. “We qualified Gold in 2007, 2008 and in 2009 we merged with the Texas Aces and became the Aces Express.  We have qualified Gold six out of the seven years I have been coaching the Gold team.”

In 2011, McCorkle teamed up with Holly Fay to expand with more teams and create an Aces Express Organization growing from two to eight teams: a pair of 10U and 12U teams plus a 14U and 14U Futures team, a 16U squad and the Gold team.

Based in the Southwest Houston area, primarily Sugar Land and Pearland, Texas, all the players are from the Houston area and surrounding areas.

“All players must be able to practice and train with the team in order to play for the team,” he says of the program’s efforts to have players who are from the area.

That, says McCorkle, is one of the key purposes and missions of the Aces Express organization.

“We wanted to establish a team and program in the Southwest Houston area that could compete nationally,” the coach explains, “while giving our players the training and exposure they need to be prepared for the next level as well as get committed and signed to live out their dreams of playing college softball.

One of the reasons for the success of the Aces Express, McCorkle believes, is the camaraderie and unity of not only the players, but of the families and the coaches.

“We create a family atmosphere throughout the entire program,” he continues.  “All our coaches are best friends or become best friends.  We have about 10 coaches in the program that are not parents and six of those coaches coach professionally at the high school level.”

“We keep the number of teams in our organization at a minimum and will only have teams that will work within the system of the program, including being able to attend program-wide clinics that train position-specific from top to bottom.  We all work together year-round to give the teams and players the best training possible and the best chance to be successful.”

The Aces Express program also uses mental conditioning guru Brian Cain to work with the players off the field and professional coaches to help instruct the athletes between the lines.

The results have been noticeable: the Gold team has placed fifth, 13^th and 25^th at ASA Nationals as well as earning a top 20 finish at the Colorado Independence Day tournament.

McCorkle says there have been three key points that helped get the program noticed:

“I would say breaking onto the scene unexpectedly in 2007, then the top 20 finish in 2010 and then last summer when we placed fifth at Nationals which helped put us on the map.”

The 2014 Gold team will be one to watch as pitcher Sam Show is one of the best at her position in the country.  She was the Gatorade Texas Softball Player of the Year as a sophomore and was ranked as the No. 12 player in the 2015 Hot 100 by Student Sports Softball.

She’s one of seven players on the Gold team alone that have signed or committed to Texas A&M so in the future look for the SEC school to have a definite Aces Express image.

“Sam is one of the best pitchers and players in the country,” her club coach adds,” and that’s where it starts but not where it ends. We are very balanced at all positions and in the line-up with speed, finesse and power.”

McCorkle says one of the core components to the program’s philosophy is “Attitude and Effort (AE),” which matches the program’s initials (Aces Express).

“We do not accept anything but 100 percent of each player at all times from everyone.  Still, we all get along and all of our coaches are best friends and all the families hang out regularly, on and off the field. We regularly rent big houses to stay together on road trips, the kids and their families.”

“Let’s just say we play as hard as we work!”

 

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Here’s a player-by-player look at the Texas Aces Express listed in batting order with comments by Head Coach David McCorkle:

CF Kelbi Fortenberry (2016, Texas A&M)
“Kelbi is a multi-talented athlete who can hurt you with speed, finesse and power.  She is lightning quick, has great bat control and can hit the ball out of the yard.  She patrols centerfield and has the arm to throw runners out. She is the spark plug that ignites our offense and, in my opinion, she is one of the best leadoff hitters in the country.”

OF Sydney McKay (2015, uncommitted)
“Sydney plays her role to a ‘t’ in our offense.  She can move runners along, get herself on base with the short game and slapping and can hit the ball out of the yard.”

P/IF/OF Sam Show (2015, Texas A&M)
“Sam is one of the best players in America and one of the best athletes I have ever coached.  On the mound she can dominate and single-handily win a game for any team.  She throws 65-68 mph, but can also strike you out with off-speed pitches.  Sam has a five to six pitch arsenal and can win with any of those pitches if one or some are not working.  At the plate Sam is always a threat and also one of the best hitters in America.”

3B Rhonda Jarvis (2015, Baylor)
“Rhonda is one of the most intense and competitive kids I have ever coached.  She is an absolute gamer! She’s a small, compact girl who goes to the plate every time to destroy the ball  and the majority of the time she hits the ball on the screws.”

SS Kristen Cuyos (2014, Texas A&M)
“I have had several stud shortstops in my career, but Kristen is the smoothest and slickest fielding shortstop I have ever coached.  She has the range and athleticism to cover a lot of ground and the arm to get the ball across the diamond in a hurry.  At the plate, she is a threat to cause damage every at-bat.”

C Rylie Spell (2015, Tulsa)
“Rylie is a power hitter who will hit a lot of home runs.  With a 5-foot-4 frame she brings a lot of strength and power at the plate and from behind the plate.  When she squares up on a ball, it’s going to go a long way!”

1B/2B Erin Houthoofd (2014, Texas A&M)
“Erin is a fierce competitor and one of the best leaders I have ever had the pleasure to coach. She is always putting the team first and getting the best out of the kids around her.  She is a very strong girl, and a clutch hitter.  Erin just flat out makes a team better.”

P/DH Nikki Murray (2014, Texas-Tyler)
“Nikki is one of the toughest players, mentally and physically, I have ever coached.  She swings to kill the ball every time.  Nikki is a very coachable kid that will do exactly what you ask her to do for the team. On the mound she has excellent control and will give you chance to win.

2B/SS Baylee Klingler (2018, Texas A&M)
“The year ‘2018’ is not a misprint: Baylee is in the eighth grade and starts at second for our Gold team.  She is penciled to be Cuyos’ replacement for the future.  The kid is a freak of nature and is way beyond her years as just an eighth grader.  Baylee is big, strong, and a very athletic player who is one of the best athletes I have seen at this age.  She can do it all, and if she continues to get better, will be a lot fun to watch!”

OF Meredith Moreland (2016, Texas A&M)
“Meredith is an absolute speed demon. The kid can run and get to first in a hurry.  She is developing great bat control and finds a way to get on base, then around the bases in a hurry.  Meredith is also a great outfielder who can go get the ball.”

OF Morgan Herzog (2015, Texas A&M)
“Morgan is another kid that can beat you with speed.  She is very fast, strong and athletic and is just coming off Tommy John surgery.  Morgan missed last summer due to injury but has just been released and will be healthy this summer and we will be very glad to have her back.”

P Jordan Franks (2014, Sam Houston State)
“Jordan is an excellent finesse pitcher who will keep the ball down and rely on the defense to make plays. She has some nasty stuff that makes hitters look silly sometimes.  Jordan will keep us in the game and let the offense win.
She is also a great kid who is constantly working to get better.”

P/OF/1B  Trystan Melancon (2016, Houston)
“Trystan is a phenomenal athlete and has a chance to start for us all over the field as she’s a young kid with a very bright future on the mound, at the plate and wherever she is playing.  I quote her, and I wish all my players had this mentality: ‘I’m going to make Coach find a place for me in the lineup!’”

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HOT 100 2016 CANDIDATE: CAT BLOUNT

We profiled Cassidy “Cat” Blount in our Oct. 15, 2013 Daily Update and she continues to emerge as a player to watch in the sophomore class.

Cat is a 1B/OF lefty catcher from Mississippi who plays for the defending 4A State Champions, Newton Co. High from Decatur, Miss.  She hit .343 with 35 RBI (third highest in 4A) and as a freshman was an All-State pick.

Her club team is the Batbusters-Powell; she has also played some pick-up with the Germantown Red Devils-Kiney team out of Tennessee.

Last year Cat was offered by Belhaven and is currently being tracked by SEC programs like LSU, Ole Miss, Florida and Tennessee as well as schools across the nation including Oklahoma to Arizona.  One of her favorites is Central Florida where she will visit this summer.

Since our previous profile, she was invited to a private Batbuster camp with coaches from Florida State and went to the College Softball Camp in early January.

Cat’s strengths are her defense and speed behind the plate and ability to run the team while having above average knowledge of the game.

She also carries a 3.83 GPA.

 

 

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FRESHMAN SPOTLIGHT: KAILYN HANSEN

Grad Year: 2017
Pos: catcher/third base/utility
High School: La Mirada (Calif.)
GPA: 4.3
Club: So Cal Athletics-Quarles (14U)
College: uncommitted, likes Ivy League

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StudentSportsSoftball.com:  You play several positions, what position do you want to play at the next level?
Kailyn Hansen: I definitely would like to catch in college, I think that is what I do best. I have been playing a lot of third base lately on my travel and high school teams;  I like it there, too, but I love to catch. I can play anywhere though, I have been put at every position except pitcher and first. On my travel team we have three catchers and the other two are already verballed to Oregon and South Carolina. I get my time behind the plate but these two are amazing catchers! It’s fun to work with them and be on their team.

 

SSS.com: Where are you in the recruiting process?
KH: I am talking to several schools. I have talked to Princeton a couple times; my goal is to go to college at a top educational university. I am trying to get the attention of all the Ivy League schools plus Stanford and Northwestern.

 

SSS.com:  Do you know what you’d like to study?
KH: I want to study criminal science. I did want to go into sports medicine but I don’t think that would fit with playing softball in college since you have to volunteer a lot with other sports teams. I would like to become maybe a criminal profiler or something like that.

 

SSS.com: What would you say are some of your greatest accomplishments in the sport?
KH: One of my greatest softball accomplishments is making the team I am on now, So Cal Athletics Quarles. It is such an honor to be a part of this team. My teammates are the best players and people I have ever been around, they definitely push me to be the best I can be.

The feeling of being at the park with my team is amazing; every team we play knows all about us and every coach has to figure out how to pitch to us. I am sure they spend more time trying to prepare how to play against us than anyone else and I love that feeling. We always get every team’s best.

I have to say my other greatest softball accomplishment is making my high school varsity team as a freshman because I come from a school that is known for being really hard for freshman to make varsity. I had to mention high school, if my high school coach would read this and not see anything about high school, he would be mad (laughs).

 

SSS.com: What do you think you do well enough to play at the collegiate level?
KH:  My biggest strengths are I can play multiple positions, I have a strong arm, and I have pretty good speed with a home to first time of 2.85. But I think my biggest strength is my hustle. I am always getting compliments on how hard I play, which actually makes me feel better than someone telling me ‘Nice hit.’ I will work day and night to improve myself and it’s good to see people recognize that. I am always the loudest girl in the dugout or on the field, I love being involved in the game whether I am playing or not. I have been hitting really good lately.

 

SSS.com: Where are you looking to step up your game this year?
KH: One of the things I want to improve on is really being consistent. Other than that I need to keep working hard and try to get better at everything. I would like to get faster, too.

 

SSS.com:  Talk about your focus on academics…
KH:  Academics and getting a great education is very important to me.  I have a 4.3 GPA and the last B I got was in seventh grade,;I am not happy unless I have straight A’s. I take Honors classes and plan to take the SATs next year as a sophomore so I have something to tell them when I talk to Ivy League coaches.

 

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** Stephanie Best, a 2016 pitcher with the OC Batbusters-Smith 14U team, has committed to Cal Poly SLO.

According to her father, Tom, she verballed on Monday.

She certainly knows how to win: she played on Coach Mark Campbell’s Victory USA squad that won the 2009 ASA National Championship and last year was part of the Team Mizuno-Campbell team that won the PGF Nationals at the 14U level.

Nicknamed “Steffi,” she suffered a torn ACL in October of 2012 and has had a long hard road to return to elite form, but has made it back with an offer to a So Cal program.

We’ll have more on her story tomorrow!

 

*** Here’s more on Sydney Anderson, the 2015 centerfielder slapper/power hitter for the Ohio Stingrays who has committed to Toledo.

According to her father, Steve, Sydney was on Toledo’s radar for a little over a year.

“She first caught their eye because of her slapping and speed,” he says. “They watched her get to first base in about 2.62 seconds. She then stole second and one pitch later stole third. Our coach told me Toledo was watching Sydney then.”

“The (Toledo) coaches watched her in Indianapolis and came to other tournaments in Ohio as well to watch the team play.  In late October 2013 after the fall season ended, Toledo made Sydney an offer. She told them she needed time because she had other schools that were interested and other offers that needed investigating to see what was the best fit for Sydney.”

“Toledo was very accommodating and gave her until February 2014 to decide. We visited Toledo last weekend for our unofficial visit and Sydney verbally committed then (on Sunday).”

 

*** More verbals:

— C/1B Jordan Amerson (2015, UNC Charlotte)… plays for Birmingham Thunderbolts
— SS Maria Ascher (2014, Quinnipiac)… plays for Minnesota Sting
— UT Haleeh Barbarits (2014, Wingate)… plays for Ohio Nightmare
— P/INF Abby Barker (2015, Toledo)… plays for Ohio Nightmare
— SS Lauren Brown (2016, McNeese)… plays for Louisiana Patriots Gold
— OF Brittany Case (2015, USC Upstate)… plays for Louisiana Patriots Gold
— OF Haley Dominique (2016, Ball State)… plays for Beverly Bandits
— MIF Mackenzie Dunlop (2017, Northwestern)… plays for Beverly Bandits
— P Amanda Ferlisi (2016, Penn State)… plays for Jersey Intensity
— 2B/OF Allie Gardner (2016, Winthrop)… plays for Carolina Crush
— P Megan Lotarski (2015, Western Illinois)… plays for Lemont Rockers
— C Cassie Plageman (2014, Bowling Green)… plays for Ohio Nightmare
— MIF/OF Allison Walters (2015, Appalachian St.)… plays for Gainesville Gold
— OF/IF Lauren Woodward (2017, Penn State)… plays for Beverly Bandits

 

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Players, parents and coaches:  want to know the best way to get us info on your favorite player?  Fill out our Recruit Form link and complete.  It comes directly to me (Brentt) and you very likely could see the info used somewhere on our site!

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If you’d like to submit information, forward to brentt@studentsports.com.  Also, follow us on twitter at @SS_Softball.