It’s the last day of September (wow, where is this year going?!?) and we look at a top California club team, profile one of the top 2014 prospects in the nation and have some recruiting news out of Arizona, Calif., Florida, Indiana and Texas…

 

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TEAM PROFILE: SO CAL A’S-QUARLES (18U)

You know about the So Cal A’s 18U team which has won four straight PGF National Championships and was ranked as the top 2013 softball club team by the Triple Crown Sports-produced ratings.

What you may now know is how good the 16U team was.  Most of the girls from that team which tied for ninth at the PGF 16U Nationals this summer has moved up to the 18U level and will be competing against the top 18U programs in the country.

Last Saturday, the A’s beat the Corona Angels and the California Cruisers at a mini-tournament held at Los Alamitos High School in Southern Calif.

The team is based out of Cerritos, Calif. and had an eventful summer including taking fourth at the Louisville Slugger Tournament in Colorado despite injuries and having a player stay behind because of the death of her father.

Now, being up at the 18’s, there’s high expectations to keep the winning trends going that the Bruce Richardson-led team has established.

Here’s a look at the 2013-14 So Cal A’s – Quarles team with comments from the coaching staff:

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— SS/2B Domonique Acosta (2016, UC Santa Barbara)
“She has grit and is one of the top 2016 athletes in her class.”

— 3B Sierra Bjostad (2015, UC Santa Barbara)
“Sierra’s going to do big things at the college level, she’s one of the hardest workers on any team.  She was a catcher and after three concussions she couldn’t catch anymore, but moved to third and hasn’t missed a beat.”

— OF Ari Burns (2016, Cal St Fullerton)
“Ari’s a strong kid who can do anything she sets her mind to and is also a great student.”

— P Sarah Costlow (2014, George Washington)
“Sarah is a leader and wants to give back, she’s always helping out younger kids like helping coach the 12U team.”

— C  Aiyana “Yaya” Leal-Robles (2014, George Washington)
“Sarah and Yaya are a great battery that can work together at this level and then go to George Washington and be ready for whatever’s in front of them.  Yaya’s a quiet kid but she plays the game very loud.”

— 1B Kylie Lundberg (2015, Oklahoma)
“Kylie has a big bat and is very quick on her feet with a soft glove.  She should do very well at OU.”

— SS/3B Malia Martinez (2016, Arizona)
“Malia has a big heart and is a hard worker who’s just a sweet kid.  She’s a family-oriented girl who has the softest hands in the infield.  She’s really strong and has a big bat.”

— OF/IF Raeanne Martinez (2015, Cal St Fullerton)
“Raeanne is a great utility player and centerfielder, but you can put her on second or third and not be scared at all.”

— C/3B Aneisa Maulupe (2016, Long Beach State)
“Aneisa is a big kid with a big heart and big bat.  She has great opposite field power. ”

— OF/2B Chloe Melanson (2015, uncommitted)
“Chloe was the leadoff batter for Doug Myers team the last year, she’s a small kid with a lot of power.”

— OF/2B Monica Pasillas (2015, uncommitted)
“Monica is new to the program but she’s a really hard worker and she always wants to be in the game.  She always has a smile on her face too.”

— 1B Whitney Pemberton (2015, UC Santa Barbara)
“Whitney is another family oriented kid who has one of the biggest bats you’ll see.  She will break home run records at Santa Barbara.”

— OF Sabrina Quarles (2015, uncommitted)
“Sabrina is a contact hitter who has a good arm in the outfield and an all-around great kid.  She’s always at the cages working on her game.”

— C/3B Lorren Sharp (2015, uncommitted)
“Lorren is a great defensive catcher and will not make excuses for herself if anything goes wrong.”

— OF Aubrey Sota (2015, uncommitted)
“Aubrey has a big bat and is a strong kid.  She has a very strong arm in the outfield.”

— P Trisha Trujillo (2014, uncommitted)
“Trisha has great ball movement and has a great bat.  She allowed only one hit last weekend against the OC Batbusters-Haning team and only two unearned runs.”

— P/SS Destiny “Lulu” Vasquez (2015, uncommitted)
“Lulu is one of those kids where big things come in small packages.  She has a big bat and is a great pitcher.”

— C/OF Kiana Waller (2016, uncommitted)
“Kiana is strong willed and despite some hardships got back into it without missing a beat.  She has a very strong as a catcher, not too many players will run on her.”

 

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RECRUIT PROFILE: SCARLET MCSWAIN

 

Year: 2014
High School: Henry County (Paris, Tenn.)
Club: Tennessee Fury
Pos: SS/OF
Stats: hit .661 in high school with 12 doubles, 30 steals and a .707 on base percentage; hit .359 with Fury with .459 on base percentage with 14 steals
Honors:  2013: All-State and All-District; Fury finished 3^rd at ASA Nationals and at the Colorado Firecrackers tournament; 2012: District 10AAAA Best Offensive Player
Academics: 4.0 GPA in honors classes
Community Service: In 2009, Scarlet founded CAPUT (Community Athletes Picking Up Trash) where she and other volunteer athletes meet at her high school once a month to pick up the trash on their campus and on the campus of a neighboring elementary school. She also volunteers with the local recreational softball league each year.

 

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StudentSportsSoftball.com: How did Tennessee first discover you? 
Scarlet McSwain: I am really not sure because they never said. I went to several of their camps since I was in sixth grade and I played in many showcase tournaments and saw them watching my games, but since they were not allowed to speak to me, I never knew if they were there to watch me or not.

I went to a play date in September of last year at UT that the Weekly’s hosted and I probably played the best game of my life that day, so I believe it may have been that day. But that same week is when I received and accepted an invitation from Kirk Lewis to play for the Tennessee Fury and all the college coaches watch Fury teams play. So I cannot tell you a specific moment.

 

SSS.com: When did the Vols actually offer and how?
SM: In December of last year, my Dad received a text from Kirk Lewis telling him that Ralph Weekly wanted him to talk to him since coaches aren’t allowed to contact juniors. My Dad called him and they talked and then I talked to Coach Ralph. He said he would like me to come to an unofficial visit in January. On January 8, 2013, my Mom, Dad, brother and I all went on the visit.

It was phenomenal. I went to a class with Madison Shipman. We toured all the athletic facilities, went to a coaches meeting and player practice. I ate lunch with some of the players and my family ate with the coaches. We went to eat dinner with the Weekly’s and then to a UT Men’s basketball game. I was sold already in December—that was just the icing on the cake.

SSS.com: How did you commit to them and when?
SM: Since I had never experienced anything like this and I don’t know anyone else who has either, I really didn’t know when or how to tell them so on my ride home from the visit I called Coach Ralph and told him I wanted to verbally commit to Tennessee and he then gave me Coach Karen’s number so I could tell her as well.

 

SSS.com: How far away are you from the UT campus?
SM: We are about 300 miles from UT. It takes us a little over four hours to get there.

 

SSS.com: How do you balance successfully all that you have going on in your life including academics, athletics, charity work, your faith, etc?
SM: It’s really not a struggle at all to balance my life. I love everything I’m involved in and look forward to doing it. I live by the Bible verse Matthew 19:26, With God All Things Are Possible. Showing my faith in God comes first in my life, then family/charity, then academics, then athletics, and then other things I enjoy like hunting, painting and giving softball lessons to young girls.

Being able to do all the things God has blessed me with is my inspiration to be successful. My family is a great support in my life, as well. I know I couldn’t have accomplished as much as I have without them. I’m a huge competitor not only in softball, but also in my academics. I see the game of life as being better than yesterday’s Scarlet, not just in softball, but also in my academics. It is like I am competing against myself and that is what motivates me.

One thing that sets me apart from many other teenagers in the world is that I don’t have a social media website. Having Facebook, Twitter, etc. would get me preoccupied and off my track of success. Instead of checking a twitter feed, for example, I’m using my time wisely by practicing softball, doing homework, and being with my family.

 

SSS.com: What does softball mean to you?
SM: Softball is my passion, my life, and my happiness. I look at every day as a day to better myself as a player. Softball has shaped me into the person I am today, physically and mentally. This sport, believe it or not, has helped me make the right and important decisions in my life. For me, choosing the right path and staying on the right path is the road to a softball field.

 

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** We spoke to Kevin Shelton, the head of the Texas Glory organization, and he tells us there are two recent commits from Glory:

— Jade Miller is a 2016 outfielder who committed to Arkansas about two weeks ago.  Coach Shelton says she is “the fastest kid in our program” and “though she’s small in stature she has the power to drive the ball to the fence.  She has some of the best bat control of all our players and can bunt and slap well and with her speed she’s a threat every at bat.”

“Jade has a real feel for the game mentally,” Shelton continued, “and knows how to play the game at the plate.”

— Taylor Maliska is a 2014 lefty pitcher who plays on the Texas Glory Gold team led by Coach Shelton so he knows her well.

She’ll be playing at St. Edwards, a Div. II in Austin, Texas, and the coaching staff consists of two softball greats: Head Coach Lindsay Gardner and assistant Cat Osterman.

Taylor “really knows how to pitch,” according to Shelton.  “Everything she throws moves—she couldn’t throw straight if she wanted to!  She’s a natural lefty and her ball has spin and she really knows how to pitch.  You don’t have to tell her location, either, she knows how to vary her speeds and is the true definition of a pitcher and not a thrower.”

 

*** Thanks to Ron Pascual who wrote to tell us how his daughter, Jacqui Pascual, a 2014 1B/OF with the Cal A’s committed to Seton Hall:

“Jacqui was discovered through Jeff Blanco‘s AFT camp last October at Cal State Fullerton while playing for Firecrackers 18 Gold – Snyder.”

“She was being recruited by six schools and attended an unofficial at Seton Hall last December as a Junior at Huntington Beach High and fell in love with the school for its beautiful campus with the Catholic background and the high caliber competition of the Big East Division.

“Jacqui was on Jeff’s 2011 16U PGF Championship team and was selected to the 2013 SoCal High School Select All Star team which played international teams. She now currently plays for Cal A’s 18U White under the direction of Kathy Miller.

 

*** More verbals of note:

— C Jocelyn Alo (2017, Cal)… OC Batbusters
— C/1B Cameron Anderson (2014, Tennessee State)… Team Indiana
— IF Melanie Baccay (2016, Michigan State)… Lady Magic
— OF Kindra Hackbarth (2016, Notre Dame)… Grapettes Gomes
— C Maddie Hackbarth (2016, Notre Dame)… Grapettes Gomes
— 1B/3B Hailey MacKay (2016, Arkansas)… Texas Blaze
— OF Merrilee Miller (2015, Arizona)… Arizona Desert Thunder
— C Amber Nelson (2015, Colorado State)… So Cal A’s
— OF/2B Alex Paulson (2015, UNC Charlotte)… Windermere Wildfire
— SS Kristen Prieto (2015, Iowa)… GameTime Stars
— OF Brittney Veler (2014, Providence)… American Pastime Gold

 

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HOT 100 PROSPECTS: CLASS OF 2014 (Day 4)

We have less than a week before we launch our Hot 100 list of the top 2014’s… it’s not too late to send in your player nominations.

If you’d like to recommend a current senior for consideration, send in your info to us at brentt@studentsports.com.  We’ll take stats, honors, accomplishments, recruiting info, photos and use on the site somehow.

 

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