Two and a half weeks til Christmas for those who are way behind (like me), but the good news is the softball info keeps flowing.  Today we profile a Big Ten bound sophomore and two players from Arizona who play on different teams but will go to the same SEC school.  But wait… there’s more: a Minnesota standout who got a little help from another club coach to find her future home and we finish with some Hall of Fame news from the NFCA Convention last week…

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RECRUIT PROFILE: ALLEY JOHNSON

Grad Year: 2016
Pos: catcher/outfielder
High School: Valencia (Calif.)
GPA/SAT or ACT (optional):
Club: So Cal Choppers Shipman/Ziese
College: Ohio State

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StudentSportsSoftball.com: Tell us how you and Ohio State first got connected?
Alley Johnson: The coaches from Ohio State first started watching me during a big showcase in Colorado.

SSS.com: When did you decide to commit and what led into the decision?
AJ: I knew once I got on the campus that it was my home. But I was always told, don’t just go to one so I went on another visit to a different school and knew right away that Ohio State was where I was meant to be.

SSS.com: How did you tell the coaches, in person, on the phone, on an unofficial visit?
AJ: What I really wanted to do was to commit to Ohio State in person on campus but I would have to make another trip and I knew that wasn’t possible so I called the head coach.

SSS.com: Why now, any particular reason?  Was there an “aha” moment when you knew it was the Buckeyes?
AJ: The moment I stepped on the softball field and met Coach in person, I knew I was meant to be a Buckeye.

SSS.com: Describe your emotions around telling them, were you more nervous or more excited?
AJ: Honestly it was probably 50-50 with being nervous and excited. I didn’t know how to tell the coach and I didn’t know how she would react so it was nerve-racking but I was still so excited.

SSS.com: You visited Ohio State already… tell us about your visit, what you did and how it made an impression on you?
AJ: I was on my visit for three days and we did everything you could think of. Volleyball game, football game, some softball games, visiting classes, meeting players, eating lunch. It was amazing.

SSS.com:  What do you think (or have others said) are your strengths as a softball player?
AJ: Others have told me that my hitting and my speed are my strongest points. And I would be proud to say those two things because I’ve worked hard for that and those are my favorite two things about the game.

SSS.com: What’s been your best experience in your softball career?
AJ: Without a doubt when I went to Colorado for a tournament. I showcased well out of that tournament and it got me to an amazing school so I’m very happy.

 

Quick Hitters

 

Fill in the blank… When the pressure’s on, I :_________________
… do my best. I love the pressure of the game.

Would you rather spend a day at the beach, at Disneyland, in the mall, or relaxing at home?
A day at the beach with family and friends is perfect to me.

What’s something unusual or different about you that few know?
I’m an open book, I don’t have any dark secrets. I do love exercising. It gives me a rush and makes me feel good.

Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions?
Most definitely! My mom knows I have to do the same exact thing before every pitch or I’m not confident. And other things before the game, like ribbons I wear and the people I warm up with. Everything’s got to be the same.

What’s your favorite trait in a person?
Favorite trait would be they have to be trustworthy and funny. Most definitely.

What’s the one food you refuse to eat?
I’m weird, I don’t like bacon. At all.

What’s the best Christmas/holiday gift you’ve ever given someone?
One time, my boyfriend surprised me and took me to a movie and spent all day with me and I loved it. Little things make me the happiest!

 

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TOP 2015 HOT 100 CANDIDATES:

We continue our look at players who will be considered for the final list of the top 100 juniors in the nation… our Hot 100 2015 list.

 

*** SS/3B Mallory Belknap (Arizona Hotshots)… committed to Georgia

Mallory is an excellent middle who plays shortstop in high school and for her Arizona Hotshots Gold team but may play second base at Georgia.  As a left-handed power slapper, she is a great contact hitter who rarely strikes out.

Her high school, Xavier College Prep, competes in the toughest section of the highest classification in Arizona and has done well the past two years. The junior infielder was the Offensive MVP as a freshman and sophomore for team, setting the school record for hits and runs as a freshman.

Mallory is really is a natural No. 2 hitter but has led off in high school and had 30 steals without being thrown out.  On a club team loaded with D1 players, she consistently leads the team in several offensive categories.  Since 10U, she has played annually in ASA and PGF Nationals so she’s used to the big stage.

She was one of just a few sophomores in the TCS All-American game in Colorado last summer and led off the game with a line-drive up the middle.  She also competed in the USA Track & Field cross-country nationals and was undefeated this year on the high school state championship badminton team.

 

*** OF/SS Alyssa DiCarlo (Firecrackers – Arizona)… committed to Georgia

Alyssa DiCarlo also is an extremely productive player with a high ceiling who will be joining Mallory at Georgia.

Alyssa historically has played outfield but developed a taste for shortstop in high school and has turned into an excellent infielder, now playing mostly shortstop on her AZ Firecrackers club team.

She is a strong kid with right-handed power who exploded as a sophomore in HS at Mountain Ridge with 18 doubles and 11 homeruns.  Mountain Ridge also competes in the state’s large school division and finished second last year, losing the championship game.

Alyssa is a great student with a 4.21 GPA, she too knows the pressure of playing in big games as she played in the 2012 ASA 14U National Championship with Team Arizona-Henry and led her Firecracker team to 16U PGF Nationals last year.

 

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RECRUITING NEWS

*** Maddison Damon, a 2015 pitcher for the Minnesota Sting, has committed to Purdue.

She’s a righty-handed pitcher who is from Kasson, Minn. and, according to her Head Coach with the Sting, Michelle Harrison, Maddie “packs a lot of power in a very small package.”

The junior is 5-foot-4 and hits between 62-64 mph according to her coach.

“Her small frame makes her speed very deceptive,” adds Coach Harrison. “Maddie is extremely explosive off the mound.  She works all quadrants of the plate well, with great cut break on a rise, curve and screw.  She also has a devastating change up.”

The pitcher was one of the key plays on the Minnesota Sting 16U Gold team that tied for third at last year’s PGF Nationals.  Maddie pitched a one-hitter against Georgia Impact to put the Sting in the third place game.

“Maddie is a blue collar player,” says the coach.  “She understands the potential disadvantages to her size and realizes that she has to work harder to compete with kids that are taller, longer and stronger than she.”

“She takes a holistic approach to her game, working to master her skill set on the mound while focusing much effort on strength and endurance training, as well as nutrition.  Maddie loves playing the game, and she consistently does everything she can to improve herself in it.”

The Sting coach believes that while Maddie saw success on the national stage last summer and garner interest from college coaches, she wasn’t as highly sought after until John Corn, Head Coach of the NC Lady Lightning Gold Team Miken, got involved.

“Maddie had an opportunity to work with Coach John and he saw in her the potential to compete at the top level collegiately despite her physical size,” Harrison explains.

“John reached out to several of his collegiate contacts on behalf of Maddie and really opened the door for her to be seen in a broader marketplace.  He called her ‘a hidden gem’ and I completely agree!”

Corn invited the pitcher to play with his squad in Spartanburg, S.C. this fall, where she generated interest from several schools in that region.

“Thanks to Coach Corn, who reached out to his contacts, Purdue watched Maddie at the Demarini Fall Elite Showcase in O’Fallon, Ill. this fall with our 18U MN Sting Gold team.  She made an impressive showing of her abilities and anchored our battery all weekend.”

The junior spent the majority of the second half of the fall weekends taking unofficial visits to several interested schools but one was the clear-cut leader.

“When Maddie got home from Purdue last weekend,” continues Coach Harrison, “she said she loved it and knew it was the right fit for her.”

 

*** Taylor Lyman, a 2015 third baseman for the Rhode Island Thunder-Wilson team, had committed to Quinnipiac but that’s not longer the case.

The junior power hitter from South Berwick, Maine is back on the market and would be a nice pick-up for someone looking for a long-ball hitter.

Check out this bomb she hit in the spring of 2013 (might want to have sound down if you’re adverse to profanity!).

Lyman had committed earlier this year to then Head Coach Germaine Fairchild but with a coaching change in August both sides agreed it wouldn’t be a good fit.

College coaches wanting to watch her can see her in the D9 Winter Showcase in Kissimmee, Fla. from Jan 17-19… she’ll reportedly be playing with Dave Lotti’s RI Thunder Gold team.

 

*** More verbals…

— P/1B Alyssa Rothwell (2016, Ball State)… plays for the Beverly Bandits
— C/IF Taylor Sieber (2014, Kilgore Junior College)… plays for Mizuno-Impulse Gold
— 1B/OF Chandlor Hoagland (2015, Incarnate Word)… plays for Mizuno-Impulse gold

 

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PLAYER SUBMISSION FORM

Players: fill out our Player Submission Form, whether committed or not, and you may see your info used on our site! 

 

Name: MARISSA MORENO

High school: Torrance High
City: Torrance
State: 
Calif.
Grad year: 2016
Club: Mizuno Diamond Girls 18U
Position(s):  P/3B
College: San Diego State
Why SDSU: “For me it was the coaching staff! From the minute I walked on the field and everything that followed, they made me feel like I was already a part of the team. Not to mention that they are all very accomplished former players themselves. San Diego State has a competitive softball program and I will be able to get a good education while remaining in Cali.”
How she was spotted: Marissa committed to San Diego State after the Aztecs discovered her playing in a showcase. Olympian and softball legend Stacey Nuveman-Deniz, an assistant coach at SDSU, saw her first, watched her pitch and immediately called Coach Kathy Van Wyk, to come and take a look.  Marissa has been pitching less than a year and, according to her mother, Irene, “they loved her power and her natural, raw ability.”

 

***

 

Name:  LESLIE SIMS

High school: Lauser High
City: Hope
State: 
Ind.
Grad year: 2016
Club: Indy Edge 16U
Position(s):  SS/OF
College: Indiana State
Stats:  as a freshman hit .630 with 72 stolen bases, an Indiana state high school record; for the Indy Edge hit .520 with 32 steals in only 21 games.
Why Indiana State: “Coach Bouman and his staff at Indiana State! And they have turned the program around in three years and it is only getting better!”

 

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EVENT NEWS: NFCA INDUCTS FOUR INTO HALL OF FAME; FOUR FOR 2014

Last Friday in San Antonio, four softball legends were inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame and a quartet was announced who will be enshrined in 2014.

California University of Pennsylvania head coach Rick Bertagnolli, Florida Atlantic University head coach Joan Joyce, Minnesota State University, Mankato head coach Lori Meyer and University of Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy joined one of softball’s most elite fraternities on Friday evening at the 2013 NFCA National Convention in San Antonio, Texas, with their respective inductions into the NFCA Hall of Fame

The highly respected quartet joins 58 prior members in the Hall, receiving the prestigious accolade for careers spent positively influencing not just the sport of softball, but also countless student-athletes. Together the group boasts an incredible 3,508 total victories, has combined for over 93 total years of service as head coaches and possesses three national championships while also combining to make 50 visits to their respective NCAA Tournaments.

 

Rick Bertagnolli – 2013 Inductee

In 20 seasons as the head coach of California University Pennsylvania softball, Rick Bertagnolli has helped turn the Vulcan program into a perennial national contender.

He has led Cal U to 705 victories and personally possesses 967 total wins gained during a 29-year coaching career that also included stops at Wabash Valley Junior College and South Carolina-Spartanburg. He currently ranks fourth among active coaches in Division II career winning percentage and is the winningest coach in all of Cal U sports history.

A two-time NFCA National Coach of the Year (1997, 1998), a four-time NFCA Regional Coach of the Year (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998) and a 12-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Coach of the Year, Bertagnolli has guided the Vulcans to a pair of national titles (1997, 1998) and 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, while his Cal U teams have appeared in the PSAC Championship Game 13 times and set a NCAA record with 88-consecutive conference wins from 1994-99.

Under his guidance numerous Vulcan players have also garnered national, regional and conference recognition. He has coached 31 NFCA All-Americans, 80 NFCA all-region honorees and over 100 all-conference players.

Lori Meyer – 2013 Inductee

For the past 29 years and a staggering 1,560 total games, Lori Meyer has worked diligently to turn Minnesota State-Mankato into one of the premier Division II programs in the nation.

A 967-game winner, she has been responsible for over 95% of the Mavericks’ all-time victories as well as for coaching 19 All-Americans, 77 all-conference (North Central Conference & Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) performers and 104 academic all-conference recipients. She and her staff were also honored as the 2011 NFCA Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year after her squad finished 54-16 with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship.

During her career Minnesota State has secured three NCC titles (1987, 1989, 2007) and two NSIC titles (2012, 2013), made 11 trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament (1987, 1989, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) and a pair of trips to the NCAA Championships (1987 and 2011).

 

Joan Joyce – 2013 Inductee

As the only head coach Florida Atlantic has ever known in its 19-season history, Joyce has directed the Owls program to over 750 total victories, a string of eight-consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Championships (1997-2004) — nine in all (2006) — and seven NCAA Tournament appearances (1999-2004, 2006). During FAU’s initial season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, the Owls were also crowned regular season and conference tournament champions.

The five-time A-Sun Coach of the Year and 2007 Sun Belt Coach of the Year has also lent her talents as the head coach of the FAU women’s golf squad since 1996.

A member of the National Amateur Softball Hall of Fame and a multi-sport athlete who played softball, basketball, volleyball and was also a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) for 19 years, Joyce has already been inducted into nine halls of fame.

Her enshrinements include the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hank O’Donnell Hall of Fame, the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame, the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame, the National Amateur Softball Hall of Fame, the Greater Waterbury Hall of Fame, and is one of only three Americans who have been inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. In 1976 she was also a runner-up for the Women’s Sports Magazine Athlete of the Year.

She managed a sparkling career pitching record of 753 wins and 42 losses. Included in those totals were 150 no-hit, no-run games and 50 perfect efforts. At the plate she posted a career batting average of .324 and counts striking out Ted Williams in 1961 as one of her most notable achievements.

 

Patrick Murphy – 2013 Inductee

For a school widely known for its high-profile coaches, Patrick Murphy has built a powerhouse program at Alabama that befits an athletic department known for major success over numerous sports.

An 817-game winner during a 16-year softball coaching career, he managed to lead his program to the top of the mountain by guiding his Crimson Tide to the 2012 NCAA Division I National Championship. The national title marked the first for any Southeastern Conference program and only the second all-time for a school East of the Mississippi River (Michigan – 2005). For his efforts he and his staff were named the 2012 NFCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year.

His teams have now made eight Women’s College World Series appearances, won four regular-season SEC crowns and four SEC Tournament titles, reached the NCAA Tournament for 15 consecutive seasons and totaled 10 campaigns with 50-plus wins.

From an individual standpoint, Murphy has tutored players who have reaped 78 total All-American honors, while having 85 players receive All-SEC accolades and 73 individuals garner NFCA All-Region honors. His teams have been just as successful in the classroom, with 14 Academic All-Americans and over 150 All-SEC Academic selections to his credit.

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Four Tabbed for 2014 NFCA Hall of Fame Induction

Following the banquet, NFCA First Vice President and chairperson of the Hall of Fame committee Kathryn Gleason stepped to the podium to name the four members of 2014 NFCA Hall of Fame class. Oklahoma City University head coach Phil McSpadden, SUNY Cortland head coach Julie Lenhart, University of Alabama-Huntsville head coach Les Stuedeman and in the Pioneer category NFCA Executive Director Lacy Lee Baker.

 

Phil McSpadden – 2014 Inductee

In 26 seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma City University, McSpadden has built the Stars’ program into a major NAIA powerhouse. He has guided his squad to eight national titles (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007) and 13 total championship games, the most in both categories in NAIA history, during 25 visits to the NAIA Championships.

A four-time NFCA NAIA National Coaching Staff of the Year and seven-time NFCA NAIA Southwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year honoree, McSpadden has accumulated a staggering record of 1,368-344, to sit at the top of the list of active winningest coaches in NAIA softball, and led his program to 16 Sooner Athletic Conference crowns. He has also coached over 40 All-Americans, more than 23 NAIA scholar-athletes and had four former OCU players help their respective countries win Olympic medals.

Most recently in 2013, the Oklahoma City University and NAIA Hall of Famer guided the Stars to 51 victories, the title in the inaugural NAIA Championship Opening Round Oklahoma City bracket and to the NAIA Championships for the 22nd consecutive season and NAIA-best 27th time overall.

Julie Lenhart – 2014 Inductee

Lenhart is the winningest coach in program history at Division III Cortland, going 637-240-2 (.726) in 19 seasons leading the Red Dragons.

Last year, Cortland was the national runner-up, compiling a 42-8-1 record and scoring the school’s best NCAA tournament finish. The Red Dragons overcame an 8-10 start to claim their third State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship in four years and notch their 12th straight 30-win campaign. The Red Dragons’ only two losses in five games at the World Series were to national champion Tufts.

Cortland has qualified for the past seven NCAA tournaments and went to three straight tournaments from 1997-99 and 2003-05 under Lenhart, advancing to the World Series in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Eight of Cortland’s 12 SUNYAC titles have been won during Lenhart’s tenure.

She is a four-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year, was the 1997 NFCA East Region Coach of the Year and her staff has been honored seven times as the NFCA Division III Northeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Before Cortland, Lenhart coached five seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where her teams went 120-77, earning her Wisconsin Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WWIAC) Coach of the Year honors in 1990 and 1992, while winning the league title in 1992.

With an overall record of 757-317-2 (.704) in 24 seasons, Lenhart has the distinction of being just the seventh coach in Division III history to reach the 700-win plateau and is sixth all-time in victories among Division III head coaches.

 

Les Stuedeman – 2014 Inductee

Stuedeman has compiled an 846-266-1 record over 18 seasons as the only coach in University of Alabama-Huntsville program history. She has guided the Division II Chargers to 11 straight NCAA tournament appearances and averaged 47 wins each season. Her teams have never had fewer than 24 wins, and she has never had a losing season.

Alabama-Huntsville went 43-17 last season and reached the NCAA South Super Regional, along the way earning Stuedeman her eighth career Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year award. Her staff, meanwhile, has been chosen as NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year six times.

Stuedeman’s teams have earned 16 NCAA berths and won four South Region titles (1999, 2001, 2009, 2011). Alabama-Huntsville was the Division II runner-up in 2009 and 2011.

Under Stuedeman, the Chargers have appeared in 11 Gulf South Conference championship games, winning a conference-record eight titles and three straight from 2006-08.

In September, Stuedeman was inducted into the Huntingdon College Athletic Hall of Fame, where she was a catcher from 1990-92, earning all-district honors all three seasons and garnering All-American status in 1992.

 

Lacy Lee Baker – 2014 Inductee

As only the second full-time Executive Director in the history of the NFCA, Baker has proven to be an invaluable contributor during a time of unprecedented growth and prosperity in the national softball coaches’ organization.

Named to her current position in 1994, she serves the Association as the primary liaison to the NFCA’s Board of Directors, Division I softball and the affiliate membership, through representing the Association’s views to other organizations and servicing the NFCA’s sponsors’ accounts, in organizing and planning the annual NFCA National Convention and serving as both the tournament director of numerous NFCA tournaments as well as publisher of the monthly member newspaper Fastpitch Delivery.

A native of Jackson, Miss., Baker possesses more than 30 years of experience in the sports industry, including seven years at the NCAA, where she served as assistant and associate director of championships, while administering all three NCAA softball championships. Prior to that, she worked for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee as project director and editor of Olympic Record, the official daily program of the 1984 Olympic Games.

 

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