In today’s Daily Update, we look in depth at one of the top programs year in and year out in Texas, update the roster of one of California’s top clubs as well as look at a Florida State verbal and profile one of the best players in the Midwest…

*****

TEAM UPDATE: TEXAS GLORY-SHELTON

*** Had a chance to catch up with Kevin Shelton of Team Glory-Shelton, who’s one of the sharpest guys in club softball… and one of the nicest.

Not only does he have his Texas Glory website updated already, Coach Shelton has an undergrad in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M(“Gig’em”) and a Masters in MIS.  He’s worked in the Navy in a submarine… nuff said.

Kevin has been a coach since 1997 and been with the Glory since Memorial Day of 2000 with three daughters who played softball including Kathy Shelton who just finished up at Baylor.

This summer Texas Glory finished tied for third at PGF 18U Premier and also 3^rd at the Colorado Fireworks “Super 64.”

One of the most exciting games of the PGF National Championship—shoot, maybe of the whole summer—was the 11-9 win over Team Mizuno-Stith when Glory scored eight runs in the first two innings only see Mizuno tie it 8-8 in the fifth inning.  However, the Texas team scored three more and surived a Delaney Spaulding home run to close out the win.

Glory’s ace pitcher Sydney Littlejohn (Alabama) has graduated and five others have moved on, but Shelton has two new players coming in as well as eight girls coming up from the 16U team (note that the 16U team finished 2^nd at PGF two years ago so there’s some excellent talent that is on this current Gold team).

Here are the two new pickups with quotes from Coach Shelton:

— P/IF Presslee Galloway (2015, committed to Louisiana Tech)
“Presslee came over from the Ft. Worth Batbusters and has a ton of versatility.  She and Skylar Cagle played at Pilot Point High School which won the 2A Texas championship; Presslee would pitch and Skylar would play short and then when Skylar would pitch Presslee would play short.  She (Galloway) can play every position but catcher.”

— OF Maddison Kettle (2015, committed to Baylor)
“Maddison came from Impact Gold and has speed and can handle the bat.  She likes to get the ball on the ground and plays with a lot of aggressiveness.  She is also super competitive.

Here’s the list of the eight players moving up from the 16U team:

— P/3B/1B Carley Haizlip (2015, Arkansas)
— IF/OF Kaylee “Froggy” Isenburg (2015, Northwestern State)
— IF/OF Madi Bishop (2015, Oregon)
— IF/OF Madi Smith (2014, Dartmouth)
— P Erin Riding (2015, Iowa)
— IF/OF Marianna “Mauri” Jamele (2015, uncommitted)
— C Sarah Green (2015, uncommitted)
— P/IF/OF Annelise Oswalt (2015, Texas Tech)

*** I asked Coach Shelton who would replace Sydney Littlejohn and his answer was quick and to the point: “Nobody!”

He did say that Riding looks like she’ll be the No. 1 pitcher out of the gate.

*****

FLORIDA STATE VERBAL

The Seminoles picked up a very good player instate in Carsyn Gordon (@carsynmariee), a 2015 3B/SS who plays at Coral Reef High in Miami, Fla. which won the 8A Florida Championship.

Gordon is a two-time All-Dade County 1^st team pick and committed to Florida State two days ago.

We spoke to her club coach Gator Rebhan of the Miami Stingrays and he said of Carsyn, “She has all the tools—size, speed and a great attitude.  She’s special.”

The Stingrays finished tied for 7^th at the ASA Gold Championship held in Clearwater, Fla.

Here’s a skills video we found of Carsyn done a year ago…

*****

SO CAL EXPLOSION (UPDATED)

Yesterday, we listed some key pickups by So Cal Explosion (Tustin, Calif.) and today will run down all the new players as told to us by Head Coach Bret Denio, who says, “We just reloaded and look forward to competing once again in 2013-14.”

— P/OF Kristin Cullen (was on OC Batbusters-Haning, committed to Cal)
— C/UT Paige Halstead (2015, committed to UCLA… from OC Batbusters-Haning)
— P Brittany Finney (2015, Oklahoma commit… played with Wichita Mustangs last season and flies in from Kansas to play with us)
— P Ashley Ross (2015, just committed to Boston College… played So Cal Athletics – Sota last season)
— P Kristin Cullen (2014, committed to Cal… played with OC Batbusters-Haning)
— IF Brittany Werre (2015, uncommitted… from Firecrackers-Kay)
— IF/OF Angie Vasquez (2014, just committed to LMU… played with So Cal Athletics-Smith last year)
— OF Ashley Clark Johnson (2014, Nevada commit… came from OC Batbusters-Haning.
— SS Alyssa Compton (2014, North Carolina State commit… played with OC Batbusters-Myers last year)
— OF JaeCie Wilson (2015, uncommitted… speedy slapper from Couer D’Alene*, Idaho)

*Editor’s note:  Explosion had two great Couer D’Alene athletes on the team this past year: Casey Stangel, now a freshman at Missouri, and Vanessa Shippy, who is committed to Oklahoma State.  Both players were All-Americans last year.

 

*****

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: MEGAN KLEIST

From time to time, we’ll profile players of note… for example, here is a closer look at one of the top pitchers in the Midwest…

Player: Megan Kleist
High School: Kimberly High School
Club Team: Jr. Phoenix Fastpitch
Position: P/SS
Grad Year: 2015
GPA: 4.18
Stats: 2013:
Honors: 2013: 1st team All-Conference, 1st team All-District, honorable mention All-State; 2^nd team All-Conference (2012)
College: committed to Oregon

Favorite thing about softball:
“My favorite thing about softball is being a part of team.  It’s great to be able to be there for teammates when they may not be having the best game and knowing that they will have your back when you are having a bad game.  I also enjoy being able to travel to different places to play tournaments and meeting players from different parts of the country.  I have made some great friends over the past couple years that I would not have known if it weren’t for softball. ”

Recruiting:
“For me, the process went by in a blink of an eye.  My parents signed me up for a pitching showcase to hopefully put me on the radar of some of the college coaches.  It was the beginning of my sophomore year in high school, so we figured there was a lot of time left to find a good school that I could play softball at.  From there, I was invited to an elite camp in Missouri where I received an offer.  At this point it was the middle of November and by the end of December, I had attended camps at South Florida and the University of Oregon.  The process went so quickly. When I went to Oregon, I knew that was the place I wanted to be.  Mike White and Chelsea Spencer both were very friendly and seemed to fit the type of coaching style that I have grown accustomed to.  I am very excited to be able to play ball at a top notch university with a coaching staff that is equally impressive.”

Biggest softball influence:
“The biggest softball influence in my life is Mike Roberts.  Mike Roberts was my pitching coach from the time I started learning how to pitch at the age of 11.  He has taught me everything I know and has helped make me who I am today.  He has not only taught me the mechanics of how to pitch, he has taught me the mechanics of life.  He is a coach that taught me as much off the field as he did on the field.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without his help and a lot of hard work.

Cat Osterman also was a great influence in my softball life.  I had gone to a camp that she was at when I was just starting to pitch.  Not only was she great working with everyone, but she pulled up a bucket of balls and sat down and talked to us about what it took for her to get where she was at.  She made it “real” and treated us like we could do it to if we wanted to.”

Nickname: “Kleisty”

Is it challenging to get seen and recruited out of Wisconsin?
“I definitely think it is harder for Wisconsin girls to get recruited.  When you live in the warmer states, you have the opportunity to play good competition all year around and you have more opportunities to be seen by college coaches.  These girls get to play games on the dirt versus practicing in a gym.  In Wisconsin there is snow on the ground six months out of the year and you only have a short window of time to get out and play tournaments.  I think the secret to getting recruited when you come from a cold climate is to work hard in the gym during the winter and get out to the camps of schools that you may be interested in.”

Personal scouting report:
… my strengths are:
“I ‘keep my cool’ in the circle.  You have to keep a good sense about things.  If someone hits a homerun off me I think, ‘Wow, that was a nice hit!’and then I go after the next batter.  You can’t let it affect you.”

… areas to improve are:
“As a pitcher, I think there is always room for improvement on mastering all of the pitches and being able to hit those spots.  It doesn’t matter how hard you throw the ball…if you don’t put the ball where it needs to be, it will get hit.  I also need to work on my public speaking skills.  I have never been very comfortable speaking in front of people and need to work on overcoming those fears.”

What’s one thing unusual or different about yourself few people know?
“I love animals and the outdoors.  I taught my dog everything he knows.”

My hidden talent is… I am very artistic and good with pottery.  I also can juggle two balls with one hand.

*****

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