It’s Friday and we jump into the weekend by profiling a 16U team out of Arizona that has players to watch over the next few years including one that already is committed to a Big Ten school and another who’s drawing national interest.  We profile a Wisconsin girl who’ll be staying close to home and have a video intro to a freshman you’ll be hearing a lot about over the next few years.  Finally, we preview the Diamond9 Sun Classic next week which will be one of the top events this fall…

 

*****

CLUB PROFILE: ARIZONA HOTSHOTS 16U

Keith Householder has been with the Arizona Hotshots organization for nearly 13 years and has worked his way up the ladder, coaching at the 10U level, then 12U, 14U, 16U and with an 18U Gold team for three years that was pretty competitive, knocking the eventual PGF champion So Cal A’s out of a tournament in Colorado.

Today, Householder, who is as an assistant coach at Scottsdale Community College, helps with the Gold squad, but is now the lead over the 16U team that has some players who are drawing national interest.

What makes the Hotshots organization somewhat unique is that it’s a non-profit corporation that has a board comprised of the actual coaches.

“The board meets every couple of months to go over business like recruiting and what tournaments to be in,” explains Householder.  “There’s not one person who oversees it—it’s not like the guy who runs the Gold team makes all the decisions.  We have rules and allow coaches to move up with teams.”

The Hotshots don’t have one figure head like in the past where Blaize Gatti was viewed as the face of the organization (note: Gatti has created his own Hotshots program separate from the Hotshots program Householder helps run).

Coming from a baseball background—his dad and brother both played in the minor leagues—the coach got into softball in the late 1980’s when his stepdaughter, who eventually ended up playing golf at a Div. II school, began playing softball.

Paying his dues, so to speak, as he coached from the 12U level and up, Householder has been able to draw talent at each stop along the way including a 16U team that finished third at ASA Nationals.

“That team had great pitchers in Lauren Haeger (now a junior at Florida) and Kelsey Stevens (a sophomore at Oklahoma). This team has a good mix of power and speed and gets along really well.  I think we can do a lot of good things this year.

***

Here’s a player-by-player look at the Arizona Hotshots 16U team with comments by Head Coach Keith Householder:

— OF/1B Bri Ambrose (2016, uncommitted)
“Bri has really good speed and second in home runs and probably has the top bat speed on the team.”

— C/SS Shaye Bowden (2017, uncommitted)
“Shaye is an athletic catcher with a strong arm and hits for power.  She’s perhaps the top player in her age group and has schools like ASU, Auburn, Oklahoma looking at her.”

— SS/2B/OF Ashlee Davis (2016, uncommitted)
“Ashlee is a tall, lanky girl and had seven or eight home runs for another team over the summer.  She’s athletic and can play short, third and pretty much anywhere when needed.”

— P/1B Alexis Devers (2016, uncommitted)
“Alexis is about 5-11, 6-0 and throws in the low 60’s and has really not been hit hard at all.  She has a drop ball, change and screwball.”

— P/1B/OF Caitlyn Dickman (2016, uncommitted)
“Caitlyn is very good at scooping balls out of the dirt and is also our third pitcher–an off speed pitcher who gets a lot of ground balls off the bat–but I think first base is her future.  Very smart, she wants to go to an Ivy League school.”

— C/SS/OF Aubrie Durham (2017, uncommitted)
“Aubrie bats left-handed and has home-run power.  Her and Shaye are similar in athletic ability.”

— OF Tajiah Ellison (2017, uncommitted)
“Taijiah is our leadoff and centerfielder, has 18 steals and hasn’t been thrown out yet. Arizona, ASU, Southern Mississippi and Wisconsin are looking at her.  She’s a lefty who can slap bunt and hit.”

— OF/2B Annamarie Hartman (2017, uncommitted)
“Annamarie is our leading hitter.  She’s about 5-foot-2 and is very fast. She’s hitting .533 and she’s done very well moving from second to the outfield.”

— 3B/OF Brittany Holland (2016, uncommitted)
“Brittany is a tall third/first baseman and she just came back to softball after playing club volleyball.  I like her size and she’s starting to come around, she has great potential.”

— P/1B Brooke Hughes (2016, uncommitted)
“Brooke is going to be a good one.  She throws between 60-62 and is more of a riseball, dropball, change-up pitcher. She also has power at the plate and she can be great with fine-tuning.”

— SS/OF Jaycee Lindley (2016, uncommitted)
“Jaycee plays second and is one of our fast kids.  She’s 2.8 to first and that can be improved on.  Very fast hands on the turn, she’s had six or seven double plays turned.”

— 2B/3B Vanessa Marquez (2016, uncommitted)
“Vanessa is pure power, she can hit the ball a country ball.  In her first three at bats this fall, she hit two home runs and one off the fence.  She can hit bombs. In college, she can be a good second baseman or corner infielder.”

— P/UT Ilena Santos (2017, uncommitted)
“Ilena is a Tucson girl we just picked up, she’s come a long way in the month we’ve had her.  She’s long limbed and hits the ball with power.”

— SS/2B/3B Madison Uden (2016, Michigan)
“Madison is an all-around great player, hits for average, power and has good speed.  She plays volleyball, basketball and softball for her high school team.  She hit .600 as a freshman in high school and is also a hard worker.”

— C/UT Haley Vallejos (2017, uncommitted)
“Not the power hitter like Shaye is but is every bit as athletic and good.  Plays well behind the plate and can play anywhere.”

*****

 

RECRUITING PROFILE: STEPHANIE LOMBARDO

Stephanie Lombardo is a Wisconsin standout who this week made it official—she’ll be staying in the Badger State to play for, well, the Badgers. Stephanie committed to the Univ. of Wisconsin and we wanted to learn more about her background and recruiting experience and think you’ll find it fun too, so here you go!

Grad Year: 2015
Pos(s): 1B/IF/OF/P
Club Team: Illinois Chill
High School:  New Berlin Eisenhower (Wisc.)
Honors: 2013—3^rd Team All-State (IF); 1^st Team All-District; 1^st Team All-Conference; 1^st Team All-Suburban
Key Stats: hit .562 with 75 total basses, 1.027 slugging percentage, 38 RBI and eight HRs.
GPA/ACT or SAT: 4.038 GPA/27 ACT
College: Wisconsin
Quoteable: “Stephanie fits the classic mold of a tall left-handed power hitter. At 6-foot-2, she has tremendous leverage when she hits the ball and we have seen her hit some shots in the 250 to 270 foot range.  Steff worked very hard on her game this past year and was able to elevate her recruiting profile to that of a Big Ten player. She has been going to Badger camps for years and the coaching staff really took notice of how much she had raised the level of her game recently. For Steff, getting to play softball at Wisconsin is a dream come true. Like most of our kids, Steff standouts in the classroom as well. We are excited she will get to pursue a degree at a nationally ranked university like Wisconsin.  She is the first of many kids who have come to us recently from the state of Wisconsin to make a D1 commitment. I anticipate there will be many more that will follow in her footsteps the next couple of years.”—Gerry Quinn, Head Coach of the Illinois Chill

 

***

StudentSportsSoftball.com: Tell us about your recruiting experience and how you came to commit to the Badgers?
Stephanie Lombardo: I committed to Wisconsin on Wednesday night, October 23. I originally said that I would wait until the fall tournaments were over so I could focus on playing, but I couldn’t stop thinking about wanting to play softball at the Univ. of Wisconsin. I told them by emailing them basically what I just told you.

SSS.com: How did Wisconsin first find you?  When did they extend the official offer?
SL: I first went to a Wisconsin camp in eighth grade while I was still playing Class B local softball and had no idea how recruiting worked at all. The first offer was Sunday night over the phone, but then right away on Monday they came back with another one. There was no doubt in my mind that they were the school for me.

SSS.com: What did Wisconsin say they liked about you enough to offer?
SL: The fact that they had known me and watched me grow for a couple years really let them see how much I had improved, going from playing Class B to playing 18U Gold, the highest level in the country. I hit well at the Class B level and the fact that I kept on hitting well as the competition got tougher helped spark interest. My swing had also improved tremendously over the years with the help of my hitting coach.

SSS.com: How close are you to the UW campus?
SL: I live about 1 hour 35 minutes from the softball diamond on campus.

SSS.com: You have a 4.0 GPA… what do you attribute your success in the classroom?
SL: I have always had a good work ethic, thanks to my parents, so finishing homework was always very important to me. I was also very competitive with my two older brothers so that helped me work for good grades.

SSS.com: Any idea what you’ll study or what you want to do when you grow up?
SL: Lately I have been interested in Biomechanical engineering or Kinesiology because the show Sports Science on ESPN is my favorite show.

SSS.com: Tell us how you ended up playing for the Chill organization?
SL: I went to the 16U tryouts last August actually as a pitcher. The coaches said that they don’t need any more pitchers, but they would take me as a power hitter and a first baseman. I am very, very happy with my decision to play for the Chill and focus on my hitting.

SSS.com: What’s been your best experience in softball so far?
SL: Last summer, with the 16U team we had a national qualifier in Peoria, Ill. and we got first place to get the chance to compete in Huntington Beach, Calif. for PGF Nationals. That tournament I hit around .650 with two home runs. In our toughest game I had a first inning homerun and then a game-winning double and with two outs in the last inning. Our defense was very good that game and everyone was focused on winning.

Quick Hitters:

What’s your favorite topping on a pizza? sausage
What’s your favorite movie of all time? Iron Man
If you could have one superpower, what would you want it to be? read minds
Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather? cold… I’m from Wisconsin!
What would you rather do with a good friend:  movie, concert, hang out at the mall, chill watching TV, other? play outside and run around
If you weren’t playing softball, what would you be doing? that’s unimaginable
Fill in the blank: the thing my friends like about me most… is my sense of humor
One word answer, how would you describe yourself as an athlete? intimidating

 

*****

 

VIDEO PROFILE: KYRA LOCKHART

Last weekend at the Surf City Fall Showcase in Huntington Beach, Calif., we had a chance to see one of the top freshman in the country, infielder Kyra Lockhart of the Jersey Intensity.

If you’ve been around long enough to remember Dorian Shaw, who played for the Shamrocks, you’ll know what Kyra can do.  She’s a power hitter extreme and has a favorite school right now and could pull the trigger by the end of the year.

You’ll be hearing a lot about her over the next few years so get to know her now starting with this clip:

*****

EVENT PREVIEW:  DIAMOND9 SUN CLASSIC FALL SHOWCASE

Halloween weekend will see many of the top club teams in the country at the 14U, 16U and 18U level competing at the Sun Classic Fall Showcase in Orlando, Fla. at the Wide World of Sports Complex.

Excited to say that I’ll be there and hopefully my head won’t explode trying to catch so many great teams and games all at once.

Here’s the roster of teams who’ve been accepted.

You can say that there are teams from literally every corner of the country, certainly at the 18U level.

California is well represented with powerhouses like the So Cal A’s, Explosion, Grapettes and the OC Batbusters to name a few

You have the Washington Ladyhawks (wow, that’s a heck of a flight!) in the Northwest and up in the Northeast have the Rhode Island Thunder and the CT Charmers among others going down into Virginia (Vienna Stats, Shamrocks, Legends) and New Jersey (Cheetahs, Flames, Intensity, Outlaws, etc.) where Diamond9 is based.

You have the Midwest and middle of the country well represented by the Beverly Bandits and Illinois Chill.

The Carolinas have Carolina elite and Lady Lightning Team Miken and the Southeast is strong with teams like the Birmingham Bolts (Ala.), EC Bullets-Schnute and Atlanta Vipers (Ga.) and of course homestate teams like the Stingrays, Tampa Mustangs and Team FLA.

There are some notable teams missing as they’ll be at Ronald McDonald including many good Texas teams, the Gold Coast Hurricanes and others.

But overall, the Sun Classic is packed with talent and will be fun to watch.

Another event of interest next week is the National Skills Clinic tied into the Sun Classic.  It will run from 9 am to 4 pm on Halloween Day (Thursday, Oct. 31) and will feature skills training, infield, offense and defensive instruction and live games at the end of the event.

Here’s a link to the National Skills Clinic page…

 

*****

 

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