A lot going on today as we profile a new 16U team in SoCal, find out how a Georgia Elite girl got recruited the SEC, look at the Oklahoma high school playoffs (small schools), have an AWESOME “Throwback Thursday” feature and profile a young player from Kentucky who’s a top unsigned 2014…

 

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TEAM PROFILE: EXPLOSION 16U

The Explosion team started by Mike Gerritse in 1998 was a solo squad that went up the age ladder and just kept getting better and better.

In 2002 and ’03, the young team finished ninth both years at the 14U ASA Nationals.

In 2004, it won the 16U ASA Nationals and since 2005, when it became a fulltime 18U team, the program has had three top 10 finished at Nationals (ASA and Premier) and has finished in the top five in Boulder three of the last four years.

The program has produced some notable college players, too, including Megan Bush (Florida), Mandy Urfer (Arizona State), Marisa Bast (Northwestern) and Jody Valdivia (Notre Dame).

But for all this time there was only one Explosion team… until now.

For the first time, Explosion will have a 16U team and brought over an experienced coach at that level, Greg Borzilleri, who came over from Teamsmith in La Verne, Calif. where he coach for four years, three with the 16U team.

“When I heard the Explosion was doing this, I knew it was an exciting opportunity for me to start a brand new 16U team this year,” he says.

He says there were two main reasons for making the switch.

“My ultimate goal someday is to coach in college,” he states.  “That’s my retirement plan.  To get there, I felt it came to a point where it was time for me to move on as a coach and continue to grow.”

The second reason was based on a person, the man who holds the keys to the Explosion machine, Bret Denio, who has been at the helm as a head coach for two years after being the manager dating back to 2007.

“Bret is well-respected nationally because he helps the girls get to the college level through the recruiting process,” Borzilleri continues.  “I looked forward to working with Bret in this because he does it for the right reasons.  It’s not for making money and trying to make a living, that isn’t what we’re here for.  We’re here to grow mature young athletes and help them reach their dreams as student-athletes. I’m doing this for two reasons, to help the team compete for a national championship and to help the kids reach their dreams by going to college.  That’s what gets me my juice.”

The coach has assembled the new team from several teams, including five players that were on his Teamsmith program last year and three others from that program—one 18 who moved down and two 14’s who moved up— as well as a pair from the So Cal A’s and one each from the Batbusters and USA Athletics programs.

He doesn’t have a daughter on the team as his oldest is a student at Northwest Arkansas and his youngest, an eight-year-old, acts more like an assistant coach.

“She’s a real spitfire, for sure,” he laughs.  “she’s like the coach’s daughter in Remember the Titans.  At Zoom Into June three years ago, she walked up to me holding Karen Weekly’s hand and said, ‘That’s my daddy, you want to talk to him.’”

“What made it doubly funny is she also told Coach Weekly that they were her second favorite school behind UCLA!” 

***

Here’s a player-by-player look at the Explosion 16U team with comments from Coach Greg Borzilleri:

— 3B/C Teresa Aguilar (2015, uncommitted)
“Teresa is a leader.  She can really hit the ball and, above all else, she is going to make some school happy as she’s like having a coach on the field and a coach among the players.  She has a great sense of humor too.  Teresa’s strong defensively and has a great bat as well.”

— 3B/1B Gabby Alvarez (2016, uncommitted)
“Gabby is a kid who has a ton of upside potential.  She’s big at 5-foot-9, 5-foot-10 and very athletic. She hits a ton out of the ball and has the potential to play anywhere when the mental game meets up with the physical game.”

— P/1B Isabella Berouty (2016, uncommitted)
“Izzy was brought on as one of our pitchers, she is a great movement kid with a dirty off-speed drop and screwball.  She’s going to make you look silly at 57, 58 mph and is one of my favorite pick-ups this off season.  She was with Batbusters-McNee in the 14’s last year.”

— OF Katelyn Biley (2015, uncommitted)
“Katelyn came in from the So Cal A’s-Sota team.  She ran a 2.7 flat home to first and is a true slapper who knows exactly what she’s doing when she’s up there.  She’s a 4.4 GPA kid and one of our leadoff hitters.  She’s one of those kids who’s making you feel like you’re doing nothing with your life.  She’ll be a great college player.”

— OF Brooke Cantillo (2017, uncommitted)
“Brooke is a triple threat slapper.  She can absolutely hit as a leadoff player.  She ran a 2.8 home to first time too.  Brooke can put it down or hit over your head the next at bat.  Her older sister is a college coach and she’s just a great softball kid.”

— 2B/UT Kylee Card (2015, uncommitted)
“Kylee has had a shoulder injury and we can’t wait for her to get back into our line-up.  She played with me on the 16’s two years ago.  She’s a middle infielder/utility player who can really hit the ball and is super defensively. Kylee can hit .350 with a slugging percentage over .700.”

— P/1B Nicole Crawford (2015, uncommitted)
“Nicole is a 6-foot-1 right-handed pitcher who throws a very good down ball.  She’s topping out about 60 mph and is very good at keeping the ball down and getting ground balls.  She’s coming back from an injury and is now just getting back into form.  She can absolutely throw that ball and is another great kid you love to fight for and fight along with.”

— OF Alex DeJong (2016, uncommitted)
“Alex is one of my new players, she’s from the Cal Cruisers.  She’s a lefty power-hitting outfielder with a good arm and good read on the ball.  I’m excited to see how her year goes, she’s somewhat quiet, comes from a good family and can really rake the ball.”

— SS/2B Haley Finn (2016, uncommitted)
“Haley is one of our blue-chippers, a 5-foot-9 shortstop who can make all the plays and has a hose.  She hits the snot out of the ball and is one of the top players in the 16U division. She’s had offers from the ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Pac-12 schools looking at her.  She has the potential to be an All-American in college.”

— SS/UT Bella Gargicevich-Almeida (2018, uncommitted)
“Bella is the only eighth grader I’ve ever taken.  She has a huge upside and I project her to be my shortstop for two years after this year.  The family has five daughters, four playing softball and one plays soccer and Bella has a chance to be as good as any of them.  She’s a hitter who’s tall at 5-foot-9 and can really hit the ball.”

— 2B/OF Lulu Gargicevich-Almeida (2016, uncommitted)
“Lulu is as tough as nails. She’s a middle infielder who can hit from both sides where she slaps and hits away. On defense, she has great hands and good footwork.  She’s also that player who, when she gets hit by a pitch or taken out at second, you’ll never see her show an ounce of pain. She’s as stone cold as it gets and in the pressure moments she is as cool as a cucumber..”

— 3B/C Megan Holmes (2015, uncommitted)
“Megan can absolutely mash the ball.  She just turned 15 and is very young for her class.  She came down from Teamsmith 18U and has hit six home runs in the three weekends we’ve been playing.  She’s one of the most overlooked players in the 2015 class and will be done in the next month and a half. Wherever she goes, she has the potential to challenge the home run record. Megan’s one of the top home run hitters in the 16U division.”

— OF Amanda Jacobson (2017, uncommitted)
“Amanda is a great kid, she works really hard and no one wanted to be on this team more.  It consumed her to make this particular team.  Her dad, Brian, is one of our coaches.  She’s an outfielder and has the desire and work ethic you want. I’m excited to see her progress between this year and next year.”

— P/OF Alex Melendez (2015, Dixie State)
“Alex was my No. 1 pitcher two years ago and is a dominant pitcher.  She throws in the low 60’s, has a good rise and change-up and can go east and west as well.  She has the potential to go as far as she wants in the game.  She also can swing the bat very well.”

— C/3B/1B Jordan Olivarez (2016, uncommitted)
“Jordan was picked up from the So Cal A’s, a very good defensive catcher and has the right amount of craftiness to separate her from other kids her age. She has the extra fire that some don’t have and wants to be the best on the field.  Defensively, she’s very sound and at the plate she has power to leave the yard.  She has the potential to catch anywhere in the country.”

— OF Allison Stark  (2016, uncommitted)
“Alison is 5-foot-8 and is an outfielder who’s going to be as clutch as it gets.  She’ll bat .400 and have a .750 slugging percentage.  She might not be the flashiest, but she’s that steady, do-everything-well type of kid.”

— 2B/SS/OF Zoe Stavrou (2015, uncommitted)
“Zoe can absolutely hit the ball too, but her defense is very solid in addition.  For her size she moves tremendously well and is as solid as it gets defensively.  She’ll drive the ball out of the ballpark.  Zoe’s a terrific kid who can play anywhere in the infield as well as the outfield.”

 

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** One of our favorite club coaches in the Southeast is Australia Hoover of the Georgia Elite who told us yesterday of one of his players, 2016 catcher Breanna Gutierrez, committing recently to Auburn.

We asked Coach Hoover to give us the backstory on how Breanna got looked at by Auburn… here’s what he told us:

“Coach (Clint) Myers saw the Georgia Elite team play at the Atlanta Legacy tournament which took place in July.  There is where he began to take notice of some of our girls and began tracking Breanna and a couple of others.”

“In September, Breanna attended Auburn’s prospect camp where she really had a chance to work very closely with the coaching staff, including Assistant Coach Scott Woodard, who had continued to follow Bre.”

“The coaching staff at Auburn was impressed with Bre’s athleticism and really want her to come in as a catcher that can make an immediate impact.  She took an unofficial visit to the school last weekend and she verbally committed at the school on Sunday.”

“For me, I believe one of Bre’s greatest attributes is that whatever she needs to do to improve her game,  she does it with a smile.  Her demeanor and work ethic is second to none.”

 

*** Coach Hoover added a P.S. in the e-mail: “I just got word that Kamryn Toney, my 2016 pitcher, just verballed to University of Central Florida!

 

*** More verbals to report:

— C/3B Dani Elder (2017, Texas A&M)… plays for Impact Gold – Texas
— P Micaela Vierra (2014, Santa Clara)… plays for Riptide Gold
— P Maddy Neales (2014, Santa Clara)… plays for Riptide Gold
— 3B/SS McKayla Taylor (2014, Pittsburgh)… plays for Riptide Gold

 

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HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL: CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK IN OKLAHOMA

This is a big week in the Sooner State as the Oklahoma H.S. Fastpitch State Tournament (Small Schools Class 3A-B) takes place starting today and running through Saturday (Oct. 10-12).

It’s a single elimination formation that will take place at Firelakes Ballpark in Shawnee, Okla.

Below are the schedules for the four classes, but first we list players to watch this week (thanks to Jeff Filali for supplying this info!)…

Players to Watch ­­– All Classes

(Alphabetical Order with School, Position, Year, College Commitment and Club Team)

Caleigh Clifton – Wayne (SS, jr; Oklahoma) plays for OK Exclusive.
Laurie Derrico – Sterling (SS, jr; uncommitted) one of the top 2015 MIF in-state. plays for OK Force.
Hayleigh Galvan – Tahlequah Sequoyah (C, soph; uncommitted) being recruited by SEC & Big 12 schools; Plays for Tulsa Elite.
Erin Harris – Dale (RHP, fresh; uncommitted) throws very hard & has a lot of Div I interest. Plays for OK Force.
Bryn Houlton – Savanna (RHP, sr; Kansas) plays for OK Diamond Girls.
Michal Hylton – Wayne (LHP, jr; Creighton) plays for OK Ultimate
Kelsey Leach – Tahlequah Sequoyah (SS, sr; uncommitted) has DI offers.  Plays for Tulsa Elite.
Mykaela Wallace – Henryetta (SS, jr; uncommitted) one of the top 2015 MIF in-state. Plays for DBAT Tulsa Shootout.

***

3A State Tournament

Thursday’s Quarterfinals Field 4:

No. 9 Meeker (28-13) vs. No. 3 Washington (22-8), 11 a.m.;
No. 4 Marlow (28-5) vs. No. 7 Davis (28-9), 1 p.m.;
No. 6 Henryetta (23-9) vs. No. 5 Oktaha (25-8), 3 p.m.;
No. 1 Tahlequah Sequoyah (32-6) vs. No. 16 Hugo (25-6), 5 p.m.

Friday’s Semifinals Field 4:

Tahlequah Sequoyah/Hugo winner vs. Henryetta/Oktaha winner, noon;
Marlow/Davis winner vs. Meeker/Washington, Okla. winner, 2 p.m.

Saturday’s Final Field 4:

Championship, 1:15 p.m.

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2A State Tournament

Thursday’s Quarterfinals Field 3:

No. 3 Wayne (31-5) vs. No. 9 Drumright (25-7), 11 a.m.;
No. 11 Tushka (28-9) vs. No. 2 Savanna (26-5), 1 p.m.;
No. 1 Dale (35-1) vs. No. 18 Hinton (26-11), 3 p.m.;
No. 7 Colbert (26-8) vs. No. 5 Frederick (31-9), 5 p.m.

Friday’s Semifinals Field 3:

Wayne/Drumright winner vs. Tushka/Savanna winner, noon;
Dale/Hinton winner vs. Colbert/Frederick winner, 2 p.m.

Saturday’s Final Field 2:

Championship, 3:45 p.m.

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A State Tournament

Thursday’s Quarterfinals Field 1:

No. 4 Sterling (27-6) vs. No. 9 Rock Creek (21-10), 11 a.m.;
No. 14 Davenport (24-11) vs. No. 3 Mooreland (33-6), 1 p.m.;
No. 7 Wright City (28-11) vs. No. 5 Healdton (28-6), 3 p.m.;
No. 1 Binger-Oney (25-8) vs. No. 20 Barnsdall (23-10), 5 p.m.

Friday’s Semifinals Field 1:

Sterling/Rock Creek winner vs. Davenport/Mooreland winner, noon;
Binger-Oney/Barnsdall winner vs. Wright City/Healdton winner, 2 p.m.

Saturday’s Final Field 4:

Championship, 6:15 p.m.

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B State Tournament

Thursday’s Quarterfinals Field 2:

No. 8 Caney (28-9) vs. No. 5 Stuart (30-9), 11 a.m.;
No. 1 Red Oak (29-8) vs. (NR) Frontier (10-20), 1 p.m.;
No. 4 Asher (31-4) vs. No. 13 Sentinel (22-16), 3 p.m.;
No. 17 Leedey (17-15) vs. No. 3 Arnett (28-8), 5 p.m.

 

Friday’s Semifinals Field 2:

Red Oak/Frontier winner vs. Caney/Stuart winner, noon;
Asher/Sentinel winner vs. Leedey/Arnett winner, 2 p.m.

 

Saturday’s Final Field 2:

Championship, 11 a.m.

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THROWBACK THURSDAY: KEILANI RICKETTS’ BLOG!

Six years ago we had a promising young writer who blogged for us several times that fall by the name of Keilani Ricketts!

This is a fun look back at a time when a lot was happening in her high school and club softball world… just like the girls we write about today.

Enjoy reading what this future National Player of the Year had going on in her life back then…

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Keilani’s blog from the San Jose circle (Sept. 9, 2007)

Publisher’s Note: Keilani Ricketts, younger sister of Oklahoma star Samantha Ricketts, is already considered one of the top prospects in the Class of 2009 at any position. She has been with the San Jose Sting organization for the past seven years and recently jumped to the Gold team after helping the 16-U team finish 17th at the Nationals in Sioux Falls, S.D. this summer.

Both Keilani and older sister, Stephanie, also pitch for Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., which went 27-1 last spring to win its section and finish No. 3 in the final StudentSportsSoftball.com FAB 50 rankings. Interesting, the only game Mitty lost was the first game, when the Ricketts sisters were still involved with the basketball team, which won the state championship!

Keilani, a CalHiSports.com 1st team all-state underclass pick, went 8-0 with a 0.70 ERA for Mitty and for the Sting 16-U team at Nationals went 5-1 with 76 Ks, five hits allowed and an ERA of 0.16 (only one earned run).

***

Hey there softball world!

Well, I love coming on to this website just to read about the softball world and about all the great players that I play against and I just had the urge to come on here myself to write a little.

This summer was a great summer for my team the San Jose Sting 16-U. We had a great run in Sioux Falls facing some of the best teams such as the East Cobb Cobras, Sarasota Heat, and the Champions Nashville Cruisers.

We had many college coaches at all of our games which made our whole team excited about and I think made us perform better. Unfortunately, we didn’t go as far as we would have liked to, but we still tied for 17th place out of 138 teams. I am going to miss playing with my team but I can’t wait until fall ball because I am now on the San Jose Sting Gold team with my sister Stephanie!

Recently, I attended the Adidas Top 100 Futures Camp which was really well run and I had a blast. Actually, Bethany who had written last week, was on my team for the camp and she is the sweetest person ever, and I really enjoyed pitching along side of her.

The one full game that I pitched was pretty difficult for me to get used to 43 since I had just been at 40 for 16-U nationals. I was pretty nervous because the girls I was facing were all very talented players but, I was still able to pitch a no-hitter. I loved playing with and against the girls at the camp because you could tell each and every girl had love for the game and everyone gave 100% which made every game even more competitive and fun to play.

When September 1st came I was very excited, not only because of the college letters but because I finally turned 16! Unfortunately, my parents had to miss my birthday because they were in Colorado Springs visiting my brother Richard for Parents Weekend.

Richard is a freshman on the Air Force Academy varsity football team which was a great accomplishment of his and we are all very proud of him. I was glad that my parents went to go visit him because I knew that it would be the first time in a long time they would be able to see him because we haven’t seen him since the Colorado tournament (that’s the end of June).

Anyways, back to September 1st, I had received over 20 emails and packets in the mail from different colleges. Talk about a happy birthday! I was so excited and was especially excited to hear from schools I never would have dreamed of hearing from! Up to now, I have heard from over 30 and one including basketball.

I keep narrowing down my list to five but keep bringing two or three more schools everyday into my list, which makes it harder. I have talked to a few coaches this week and have really enjoyed having conversations with all of them. All of this is so fun but yet so stressful, and it is just the beginning.

This summer I was also able to take two unofficial visits to two great schools: UC-Berkeley and the University of Oklahoma where my sister attends. I loved both campus and both coaches, I felt so comfortable at both colleges but I know that I need to visit a few more in order to make my decision.

My parents and I are currently in the process of setting up a few unofficials for the fall and spring to some great college programs which I cannot even tell you how excited I am for visiting!

Well, that’s about all for now, hopefully I will see some of you at tournaments in fall or if not summer! I’ve got to go to bed now.

Later!

Keilani Ricketts
San Jose Sting Gold

 

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UNCOMMITTED 2014 PROFILE: JESSICA WIREMAN

Jessica Wireman is a 2014 P/OF/MIF/UT player who led her Louisville (Ky.) Male High team to its first ever trip to the Kentucky State Tournament as a junior last season.

She plays travel ball with Cincy Doom Gold from Cincinnati, Ohio, and has a goodt deal of experience and success at high level ASA tournaments and various exposure showcases with them.

Jessica was a nominee for the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year this past season,and was an NFCA Player of the Week as well.

During the past high school season, Jessica was used in the circle for the team’s “big” games at early season tournaments then again to carry the team through the end of the season, playoffs and into the state tournament with victories over Ballard HS, Scott Co (twice) and Sacred Heart Academy.

Statistically, she ended the season with a 10-2 record with the two losses coming in the state tournament and only 13 earned runs over 94 innings.

She also played centerfield and hit from the leadoff position where she lead the team in average (.449), runs (38), hits (53), triples (6), steals (21) and on-base percentage (.507).

Jessica has a 3.3 GPA and was an Academic All-State softball player in 2013.

Here’s video of Jessica Wireman… if you’re a coach and want to contact Jessica, e-mail me (brentt@studentsports.com) and I’ll put you in touch.

 

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TOP UNSIGNED 2014’s

Had a great idea from a top club coach to start a list of top unsigned seniors. If you’d like to send a player we’ll be adding to our soon-to-be-launched list, pleasesend 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.