How was your weekend?  Had a good time looking at top talent at the Surf City Fall Showcase where we confirmed one of the Hot 100 seniors has decommitted from an SEC school.  Picked up some more verbals there too.  Also today we profile a Georgia team that finished tied for 5^th at PGF and profile an East Coast Hot 100 senior who’s a big hockey fan!

 

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TEAM PROFILE: EC BULLETS GOLD

Greg Schnute grew up in Indiana, went to college in Florida and has lived in Alabama, but for the last 18 years he’s been a fixture in the Georgia softball scene.

His background was in baseball and his senior year at Florida State in 1970, he was part of the Seminole program that made it to the NCAA championships game before losing in the 15^th inning to perennial power the Univ. of Southern California.

In time, Schnute would get a Master’s and raise four children—not surprisingly, all of them found there way into athletics and even competed in college: Oldest daughter, Kim, ran track at Auburn; his son, Brock, went to the Air Force Academy and played football and baseball (and now flies C17 planes); second oldest daughter, Kelly, played softball at Florida State and youngest daughter, Brandi, played at North Carolina-Greensboro.

When the Schnute family was living in Birmingham, a neighbor asked if he’d help coach a young softball team and that got him hooked.

Soon after, after moving to Georgia, the coach was helping out the East Cobb baseball organization and made it know that when the time would come that softball would be adopted as a sport, he’d love to coach a team.

“When I first got here,” he recalls, “there were 385 schools playing slowpitch and now they’re all playing fastpitch.”

In 1996-97, East Cobb introduced the first organized league in Georgia, carrying teams from 12U up to the 18U level.

Helping grow softball in the Peach State was the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, which led to a new softball complex being built in Columbus where the state finals are held today.

Coach Schnute feels he’s playing in a hotbed of talent.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that here in the Atlanta area we have one of the top recruiting areas in the country.  That really helps us because when we go on a national stage we’re not intimidated, we’re not fearful and we’re ready to play.”

This past summer, the EC Bullets showed that they’re not just confident, they’re talented too.  At the PGF 18U National Championship, the Bullets finished tied for fifth and were competitive to the end with other storied programs like the OC Batbusters, Team Mizuno-Stith, the So Cal A’s, Texas Glory and the Beverly Bandits.

“Our philosophy in scheduling is to play the best because that’s the only way we can become our best.  We also play against 23U teams who are competitive and want to show the youngsters how to really play.”

“We’re not interested in playing teams we can beat regularly 8-0, we want to play tams that challenge us and beat us so we can get better and turn around and beat them back.”

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Here’s a player-by-player look at the EC Bullets Gold team with comments by Coach Greg Schute:

— P/1B Kelly Barnhill (2015, uncommitted)
“Kelly is probably the most recruited pitcher in the country right now, she’s been all over everyone’s radar. It’s down to Stanford and Florida with some others on the backburner.  Kelly’s No. 1 in her class of 455 and is really bright. I’ve been in this since ’81 and she throws harder than anyone I’ve seen.  She throws consistently 66-68 mph and occasionally we’ll get her on the gun at 70-71 mph. Also, her ball never goes straight.”

— MIF Malea Bell (2014, College of Charleston)
“Malea is a terrific middle infielder, she has a lot of power for her size.  She’s a very good hitter and a good defensive player.  Malea loves to play and she’s a leader on our team.”

— 1B Meredith Bissette (2014, South Florida)
“Meredith is from Raleigh, N.C. and is a really positive kid and can hit the ball a mile.  She plays first, third and pitches”

— IF Taylor Dupree (2015, College of Charleston)
“Taylor’s a lefty hitter who plays middle infield really well. She has a great attitude and always has a smile on her face.  Taylor runs really well and will do great things at Charleston.”

— 3B/1B Hannah Farrell (2015, uncommitted)
“Hannah is an undiscovered kid, she’s from a small town by Jacksonville, Fla.  She’s tall at 6-foot and can play third or first. She can hit the ball a mile and we got really lucky in getting her. She can flat out swing the bat.”

— P/1B Heather Felt (2015, Georgia Southern)
“Heather is a big kid, she’s 5-foot-11, and swings a really good bat.  She just committed a week ago to Georgia Southern, I think she’ll really step up this year and some schools will wonder why they missed out on her.”

— P/OF/1B Kate Giddens  (2014, Illinois)
“Kate’s a great kid, she’s always leading the kids and has something going.  She swings hard and never gets cheated.  If she has an 0-and-2 count, she’ll swing just as hard and she’ll probably hit 8-10 home runs during the summer for us.”

— C/3B/2B Autumn Parrish  (2014, Armstrong Atlantic State)
“Autumn is a catcher who’s very strong and hits a lot of home runs.  I think the big schools underestimated her and she’ll show a lot this summer.  Her best is yet to come.”

— C/OF Becca Prairie  (2016, uncommitted)
“Becca will be highly recruited and this next summer will be huge for her.  She’s strong and defensively she’s really, really good.  In Chicago last year, she was awesome at catching and I’d put her out there with anybody. She will be recruited by the big schools.”

— P Mandy Roberts  (2016, uncommitted)
“Mandy is from Kansas City and has been offered by Missouri.  We saw her last summer and we think she has a huge upside.  She’s smart and throws about 62-63 mph and is very crafty.  Her ball really moves too.”

— SS Tori Robinson (2015, Auburn)
“Torry just committed Auburn, it just happened Saturday.  She called me all excited as she had just made it official to Coach (Clint) Myers and his staff. I’ll play her short and second and third. Defensively, she’ll dive for everything as Tori doesn’t play quietly.  She swings the bat very well and Auburn likes her size, she’s 5-foot-7, and she’s always smiling because she loves playing.”

— SS/3B Kelly Sinclair (2015, College of Charleston)
“Kelly’s older sister, Jessica, played at Georgia Tech and graduated a year and a half ago.  They come from a really good family.  Kelly’s a smart hitter who always puts the ball in play and understands the game really well.  She’s one of the smartest kids I’ve had in knowing how to position herself and how to react.”

— OF Kylee Southers (2014, Kent State)
“Kylee runs really well and has great speed.  She knows how to play the outfield and is one of the best outfielders I’ve ever had.  Kylee has one of the best arms you’ll see and she gets a great jump on the ball.”

— 1B/3B/OF Morgan Walters (2014, Missouri)
“Morgan is the high potential, big-time player.  She can flat-out swing a bat and is one of the most aggressive baserunners you’ll see.  coming out of the box, she’s thinking if it’ll be a double.  Morgan’s a great leader with the way she plays the game.  She’s really strong and has seven home runs in her last several games at the high school level.”

 

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HOT 100 SENIOR DECOMMITS

It’s fairly unusual when a senior decommits but that’s what happened late last week as 2014 OF/IF Ashleigh Hughes of the So Cal Choppers and the coaching staff at Alabama decided mutually she wouldn’t be signing with the SEC school.

Hughes is from Antelope, Calif. and is an outstanding hitter with power and great speed in the outfield, but with a strong arm that could see her play shortstop if needed.

I spoke with Ashleigh at the Surf City Fall Showcase this weekend and she was visually down, but to her credit she was upfront in addressing the situation.

“The coaches at Alabama have been great and I don’t want to say anything bad about them,” she explained.  “I just went on my trip two weekends ago and I didn’t feel it was the place for me.”

So now what happens?

We’re hearing that several Pac-12 schools have already reached out to gauge interest in the speedster, who comes from a track background.  Don’t be surprised if Arizona (her hitting coach is Mike Candrea’s son), Oregon and UCLA all jockey to get her to sign.

The question will be who has money at this point, but that will get resolved.

“I’m just trying to be positive and look at it as a blessing in disguise,” Hughes said minutes before a Chopper game.

Note to coaches:  if you’re trying to recruit Ashleigh, you may want to check into your school’s criminology or criminal justice departments (or whatever is equivalent).  She says she’d like to study criminal justice so she can someday end up working for the FBI.

*** Ironically, while Hughes was decommitting from an “A” school (as in Alabama), her Choppers teammate, Jessica Harper, was committing to an “A” program… as in Arizona.

Harper is 2016 MIF who tripped to the Tucson school over the weekend and committed.  She has a 4.0 GPA.

 

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RECRUITING PROFILE: Alyssa Vanderveer

Alyssa Vanderveer is one of the top power hitters in the country at any level. Her Jersey Intensity-KOD squad was at the Team NJ showcase this past weekend, but Alyssa was kind of enough to answer some questions… enjoy!

Grad Year: 2014
Pos: C/1B
High School: Hillsborough (N.J.)
Club Team: Jersey Intensity
College: Penn State
Honors: Rated as the No. 72 player in the StudentSportsSoftball.com Hot 100 (2014’s); 2013: 1st Team All-Conference, All-County, All-Area, All-State (Group 4), Somerset County Player of the Year, and 2nd Team All-State (All Groups)
Stats: last two years (including travel and high school ball) in has hit 67 home runs with 27 as a member of NJ Intensity KOD in 2013 along with 97 RBI’s; combined high school numbers: batting average of .464 with 15 Home Runs, 29 extra base hits, 64 RBI and an .850 slugging percentage.

 

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StudentSportssoftball.com: What’s been the highlight of your softball career so far?
Alyssa Vanderveer: The highlight of my softball career so far was being a part of the NJ Intensity team that came in 9th place at PGF Nationals last year.  I believe that’s the highest finish that any Northeast team has ever achieved.  We had a great group of girls that I’ll remember playing with forever.

SSS.com: You’re a great power hitter… when you hit it right, do you know it’s a home run?  Is it feel or sound?
AV: It depends, I don’t always know but every now and then I get one just right.  When I do, I’m pretty sure it’s gone.  So, I guess it’s more of a feel thing for me.  When I hit, I don’t really hear anything except my Dad yelling “get out, get out!”

SSS.com: Tell us about committing to Penn State…
AV: I committed to Penn State in November of my junior year.  I knew the second that I stepped on campus that I wanted to be a part of Nittany Nation. Everything just felt right.  The facilities are unbelievable, the educational opportunities are terrific, and I could easily imagine myself playing and having a great experience in Happy Valley.

SSS.com: Part of being on a top club team like Jersey Intensity is you travel around a ton… What’s some fun things you’ve done on team trips?
AV: Every year when we go to Colorado we go whitewater rafting as a team.  That’s probably the most fun I’ve had off the field with the Intensity.  When we travel, we’re focused on winning and playing our best.  That said, Coach Kevin (O’Donnell) always finds ways of making the trips fun and special.

SSS.com: Do you have any superstitions tied into softball?
AV: I’m not particularly superstitious. I like to prepare for each game the same way but that’s more about just getting focused and being ready to help my team the most.  I guess the only superstition I can think of is that I like to wear an orange headband unless were in breast cancer awareness month and then in that case I wear pink!

SSS.com: Regarding being recruiting, what’s the No. 1 piece of advice you’d give a younger girl coming up?
AV: My recruiting advice is to work hard, both on and off the field.  Doing well in school opens more opportunities.  Practicing often and hard gives you a better chance of success at game time.  I would also recommend playing for a top travel team like the Intensity where expectations are very high and the competition we play is the best in the country.

 

Quick Hitters:

If you could have dinner with one person living today, who would it be? I am a HUGE hockey fan and an even bigger Miracle (the movie) fan so I would love to have dinner with Mike Eruzione!

Fill in the blank… I’m happiest when I’m… in the cages hitting and working with my Dad!

You are given a $100 bill, what do you buy with it? Well, like I said, I love hockey and am a big New York Rangers fan.  I would buy the best ticket I could to opening night at Madison Square Garden in a few weeks.

What’s the one chore you hate most doing? Cleaning my room!

What’s your favorite holiday, Christmas, Halloween, Valentines’ Day or some other one?  Christmas, of course.

In the spirit of Halloween, what’s the most scared you’ve ever been? When I was in a haunted corn maze and a guy started chasing me with a chain saw!

 

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** Thanks to Head Coach Neil Swanchak of the CT Charmers Gold who sent us updates regarding three of his seniors who are committed… comments are from Coach Swanchak:

— CF Katie Petroski (2014, Penn)
“Katie combines speed, power and super range and arm in the outfield.”

— LF Erica Leonard (2014, Maine)
“Erica also has speed and power and anything hit to her, as well as to Katie, is tracked down.  Both outfielders are also very good hitters.”

— 3B Hannah Ford (2014, Sacred Heart)
“Hannah’s an excellent hitter with a great glove at third.”

 

*** More verbals:

— 1B/P Kayla Cotton (2015, Georgia)… plays for Peaches Gold
— UT Laney Joyner (2016, Georgia)… plays for Impact Pauly
— P/1B Tayler Misfeldt (2014, UC Riverside)… plays for California Grapettes
— 3B/2B Hailee Alaniz (2014, Incarnate Word)… plays for Firecrackers STX
— SS/C/3B Haydi Bugarin (2015, Incarnate Word)… plays for Firecrackers STX

 

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TOP UNCOMMITTED 2014’s

Had a great idea from a top club coach to start a list of top uncommitted seniors (thanks to Chuck Van Dagens who pointed out that 14’s haven’t signed yet so technically all players are unsigned!).

If you’d like to send a player we’ll be adding to our soon-to-be-launched list, please send your info to us at brentt@studentsports.com.

We’ll take stats, honors, accomplishments, recruiting info, photos and promote as appropriate.  We hope to launch the list next Monday or Tuesday!

 

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