Pictured: pitcher Madison Byrd of the OC Batbusters-Perez 18U team.

The quick, but fun, weekend of softball in Central California wrapped up with a half day of competition Sunday in Hanford, Calif. as the Dirtdogs Team Mizuno Fall Showcase came to an end.

Here’s a look at some of the teams and players that we liked over the two days of games:

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7 TEAMS THAT IMPRESSED (alphabetical order)

1. Central Dirtdogs-Harger 18U
2. Dirtdogs-Davilla 16U
3. Firecrackers-Brashear/Black 18U
4. Firecrackers-Redmond 18U
5. LTG-Carda 16U
6. San Jose Sting-Perales 18U
7. So Cal Dirtdogs-Rojas 18U

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Let’s start by taking a look at the Firecrackers Brashear/Black team that went 39-7 last year and finished 3rd at the Colorado Fireworks tournament and made it to PGF Nationals (where it ran into a buzzsaw of a team, the Tulsa Elite, that finished in the top 5).

Seven players on the Firecrackers team coached by Carlos Gutierrez are committed including Oregon-bound infielder Paityn Willoughby, who actually lives in Oregon but flies down to play with the team.

Paityn played second base when we watched her, but can play short and the outfield as well.

“She is blessed with great natural abilities,” says Coach Gutierrez, “and she combines athletic ability, a great attitude and a strong sense of team work.  Paityn’s mindset is she doesn’t get beat.  Our job is to get her ready physically and mentally to contribute when she gets to Oregon.

--- Playing first base for the Firecrackers is Bridget Fleener, a power-hitting 2017 catcher/corner infielder who is committed to BYU even though she’s not Mormon.

According to Coach Gutierrez, BYU likes her at catcher and third because she has tremendous bat speed—it’s been tested by Zepp analysis at 75 mph.  

“Bridget has a great attitude and her quick hands allows her to see pitches much longer than most hitters.




​Pictured: Lia Hamamoto who was impressive at the plate and behind it for the Firecrackers Brashear/Black team.

--- A new player to the team is Lia Hamamoto, a catcher who also plays first.  She swings the bat like it’s a drum stick and is very vocal behind the plate.  Even coaches in the other dugout remarked how impressive she was at encouraging her players while subtly letting the umps know they missed a pitch call!

Three players on the team are going to UC Santa Barbara including 2017 ace pitcher Dani East, 2016 pitcher Lily Rodriguez and Sammy Fabian, who is a very interesting story.

Sammy is a 2017 slapper who plays right field and at her high school in Glendale, Calif. she has hit safely in EVERY one of her 45 high school games so far with a .615 average this year and a 1.484 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. Again, she has a 45-game hitting streak... very impressive!

One coach says that everyone on the team has the capacity to play at the next level and two to watch are twin sisters Kayla and Sarah Ketring, who play the outfield and catcher spots, respectively.

Both are 2017’s who are outstanding students and have schools like Penn and Villanova after them.

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If there was one player who could have been MVP—if there was such a thing at a showcase—it might have been catcher Shea Moreno of the LTG-Carda team.

Shea is UCLA-bound and we’ll have a video coming up on her soon that will let you see her in action in the field where she has a strong arm and is very athletic to the point she can catch or play any other position.

But it was at the plate where she shined this weekend.

In one game Saturday Shea had back-to-back home runs and on Sunday she clubbed a three-run homer.  Bruin fans will be getting an excellent player in a few years but they’ll have to wait a while: she’s only a sophomore (2018 grad)!

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A good team to watch that’s new to the scene is the So Cal Dirtdogs 18U team coached by Marcus Rojas.

The team could be 16U eligible but will play 18U in its first year.  Coach Rojas is also President of the So Cal side of the Dirtdogs which has added eight teams in less than 30 days.

Yes, that’s growing quickly.

Rojas has an impressive background as he’s been with the Corona Angels and So Cal A’s organizations and he has a wealth of talent to draw upon.

The ace of the staff is 2017 Texas commit Chloe Romero who, as we documented last Saturday, wasn’t at the Showcase as she was with her sister for an unofficial visit to Boston College.

The rest of the pitching is excellent as well including Kylee Fahy, a 2017 hurler who just got an offer from Purdue, and Kaycee Olson, a 2016 who has schools like Loyola Marymount knocking on the door.

One of the top position players on the team is the coach’s daughter, Journey Rojas, who plays 2B/OF and is a good looking 2017 prospect.  She hit a grand slam in a game we saw, driving an inside screwball well over the fence.

Journey is a sleeper who has a lean college frame right now and will be a steal for someone.

Along with Romero, there are six other committed players on the team—a mixture of 2016’s and ‘17’s—including two 2017’s who are going to Utah State: third baseman Kennedy Hira and first baseman/outfielder Briana Lerma.

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Louie Perez coaches two OC Batbuster teams from Southern California—one 18U and one 16U—and we had a chance to watch both place on fields next to each other.

Here are some players on each team we liked:

--- Starting with the 18U team, Dominique Mejia is a 1B/OF who looks like she’ll end up Concordia as she’s visiting the school October 2nd on an official visit.  She’s a clutch offensive player with hits for power and has a nice swing.

--- the 18U team has two 2106 pitchers who will be steals: Madison Byrd is seeing her stock rise as she throws around 60 mph but has good movement.  She also hits well and had a home run this weekend; she plays outfield when not in the circle.

--- one scout told us the other senior pitcher, Alexis Vargas, is “seriously undervalued” as she has good spins and hits her spots.

--- on the 16U team, one player who had a great weekend and upped her stock was 2017 middle infielder Jocelyn Baidon.  She has a good approach to the ball and is likely going to be playing with the 18U team as well this year.

--- finally, a player who has some Cal State schools looking at her is Maria Enriquez, a 2017 corner infielder who has a big stick and good defensive fundamentals.

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MORE PLAYERS TO WATCH:

--- We really liked what we saw of 2017 C/3B Jody Cova of the All American Sports Academy-Harrison 18U team, which is a sister club to Bryan Merrida’s AASA team which had a great summer and finished 5th at Boulder IDT and tied for 7th at PGF Nationals.



​Pictured: Jody Cova, who went 2-for-2 in a game on Sunday.

Jody is a confident, power-hitter who had three home runs and looked strong at third defensively.

She has several West Coast teams after her.

--- Her teammate, 2017 shortstop/centerfielder Lexie Smith was described by one coach as having “high value” because of her athleticism.  Look for her stock to go up and she get some offers soon.

--- One coach said that Jordyn Martinez, a 2018 catcher/utility player with the Clovis Rockets is a “100 percent college player.”  She is a power-hitter who is strong defensively and has a great arm, throwing out some runners at second this weekend.

Jordyn attends Clovis High and she and high school teammate/fellow Rocket Ashley Kincaid, a 2018 shortstop/utility player, played on the varsity team for Clovis that won the Valley Championship.

--- Finally, keep an eye on another Clovis product, Syrena Garcia, a pitcher/third baseman who attends Clovis East H.S.  She was getting some looks this weekend too.