​Pictured: A trip to Florida State sealed the deal for top recruit Devyn Flaherty; left to right: Travis Wilson, Lonni Alameda, Devyn Flaherty, Craig Snider and McKenna Flaherty

***

Note: our hearts are heavy today with the news out of Buford, Georgia surrounding the tragic car accident that took one young life in the family of Logan Caymol, the standout 2018 pitcher, her 11-year-old brother Drew.

We spoke to EC Bullets 16U  head coach Andrew Biele after the earlier story was published and he said that Logan’s father, Teo, has multiple broken bones, including back, ribs and hip along with collapsed lungs and is on a ventilator but may get off the ventilator as early as tomorrow.

The other sibling, Matty, is in a medically induced coma and is doing much better today than earlier when it was feared he wouldn’t survive.

Again, we pray for the continued recovery of these two and the other driver, who swerved into the Caymol’s car after a deer ran into his car forcing the two vehicles to hit head-on.

The information below, including the note on the EC Bullets fourth verbal to an SEC school, was written before we learned of the accident and some of the info was submitted by Teo Caymol just hours before the accident…

***

A busy week as the NFCA Convention is this weekend and, here at FloSoftball, we’re excited to premier our video series called “The Program: University of Florida” which chronicles the 10 year development of the Gator dynasty under the leadership of Tim Walton, which, as you know, includes the last two NCAA D1 National Championships.

*** We’re also going to be launching in two weeks our initial FAB 50 16U Club Rankings for the 2015-16 season so if you want to provide input on your favorite team, e-mail: brentt.eads@flosoftball.tv!

*** And right around the corner, our Hot 100 list for the 2019 class so send in info on your favorite player for consideration to the e-mail address above.

As for recruiting, you’d think with the long Thanksgiving weekend last week that most players and their families would focus more on turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, football and trying not to gain 10 pounds...

… or, on the flip side, maybe with the time off many top players spend the free moments thinking about their future and where they want to be playing softball post-high school.

So which is it, a slow week of news or a busy one when it comes to recruiting and verbals?
 
Somewhat surprisingly, it’s been a busier week than you’d think as we’ll have almost 50 new verbals to report this week including many going to big conferences like….

*** Devyn Flaherty, a 2019 middle infielder who plays for Team Mizuno – Morgan out of Florida, officially committed to Florida State last weekend.

Last fall, we profiled the Florida standout in a piece called “Devyn Flahery: softball’s next great athlete?”

In the piece, we talked about the current freshman and how she was a star in several sports… here’s an excert:

“Softball isn’t the only sport Devyn excels at—she’s also a standout soccer defender and made it several tryouts deep vying for a spot on a prestigious U.S. Soccer team. The multi-sport star plays soccer from September through May and squeezes in softball in the fall when she came as well as during the summer.

And if that isn’t enough, the 2019 grad is also a competitive beach volleyball player, following in the shoes of her 15-year-old brother Connor who has played the sport in tournaments across the nation as well.

It’s not like they have to go far to practice on the beach—the family lives 15 minutes from the Gulf Coast.”

Flo talked to the future Seminole’s father, Mark, yesterday who spoke about the recruiting process saying “it was a tough decision” for the athlete and her family.

“We tried to put Dev into a position to take a long and in-depth look at the great schools and the opportunities at each school both academically and athletically,” he explained, “and to make a reasoned versus emotional decision.”

“Over the course of a year Dev took visits to UCF, Arizona State, Missouri, Auburn, Alabama, Florida and FSU.  She had numerous offers for other visits and interests from other great schools,  but a busy summer of softball, school responsibilities and fall soccer didn’t allow for any more visits.”

“Dev ended up with offers from Pac-12, SEC, ACC and AAC schools.  It was exciting for her to meet great coaches and great players at all the different universities and became easy to understand why these coaches, players and schools have been so successful.”

“At end of day, Dev felt a terrific level of comfort with Coaches Alameda, Snider and Wilson at Florida State and felt at home in Tallahassee and with the FSU softball program.  As parents we tried to allow Dev to explore many different options and are very thankful for the time and effort all the other schools invested in her and our family; however as both her mom and I graduated from FSU we are pretty excited!”

*** One of the most fun articles we’ve done in the last year was when we profiled Chooch Carroll, the current 8th grade catcher who now plays for the Atlanta Premier – Perkins team led by former Georgia Tech head coach Sharon Perkins.

The article was titled “Chooch does it BIG” which had a nice double meaning referring to the slugger’s proficiency in hitting bombs (her first home run at the Champions Showcase last November went 225 feet) and, speaking of feet, as a 7th grader at the time she was wearing a 13 ½ MEN’s shoe which is a 14 ½ in women’s footwear!

As we noted in the article, she had to have her cleats custom made by Ringor!

Her stock immediately exploded and ACC and SEC schools soon jumped all over her.

About a month ago, the 2020 Hot 100 candidate committed to Auburn. The weekend before Thanksgiving, Chooch tripped to Auburn where she hung out with several other recruits.

So what’s the origination of the name “Chooch?”

“And as for the name “Chooch,” which we’ll likely be hearing for many years to come, her mother, Adele, tells how it originated when the athlete was two years old.

 “My uncle by marriage is from Sicily, Italy. Growing up as a kid I had a girlfriend with a crazy Italian name; her real name was Cookie Rakonza. Her sister couldn’t say ‘Cookie’ and, instead, called her “Choochie.’”

“Northern Italians have blonde hair with blue eyes and fair skin and my daughter is a strawberry blonde and looks just like my friend Cookie.”

“I told my Uncle Luigi about all this and he laughed and said, “She’s a ‘Chooch,’ which means ‘funny, goofy, silly.’” And that is my daughter, she’s a funny kid who is always in a good mood and it shows in the dugout and on the field.”

*** Referring to our FAB 50 16U Rankings coming out in a few weeks (tentatively scheduled to start on Monday, Dec. 14 with 10 teams being announced each day starting with 50-41 and working up to the Friday unveiling of teams 10-1), one of those likely to make the list pretty high up is the East Cobb Bullets Gold – Biele team.

On paper, the team is loaded with talent and this week the team had its 4th player commit to an SEC school as 2019 3B Paige Cook recently verballed to Mississippi State.

The others are 2018 P/1B Logan Caymol (Tennessee), 2019 IF Madison Koepke (Auburn) and 2018 OF Haley Simpson (South Carolina).
Along with those four, 2018 P/IF Kassidy Krupit has committed to Delaware.

Back to the newest commit, Paige… she’s a young 2019 but some feel she’s one of the best players in her class.

The scouting report on her is that she’s a true two-way player with a high level bat but just as good on defensive at third. Paige has a textbook swing and mechanics that consistently creates a smooth, line drive plane that allows her to square up on the best pitchers.

At third, Paige has a rocket for an arm, smooth with her actions and footwork that will easily translate into her being a high caliber SEC third baseman.
For the team, that leaves seven players not committed and we’re hearing there could still be 3-4 more SEC commits within 4-8 weeks with a probable ACC verbal as well.

***

Another 16U team to watch for the FAB 50 and which had a good fall was the KC Zephyrs – Wade team which went 5-1 at the Surf City Early Thanksgiving Showcase with wins over Corona Angels-Perez, So Cal Athletics, Mizuno Hawks, American Freedom, Irvine Sting and tied Killer Bees. 

At the prestigious tournament, the Zephyrs hit six home runs, compiled a team batting average of .368, had 17 extra base hits and 46 runs scored while the pitchers gave up 18 runs in six games. 

In the past two years the Zephyrs have had several players go on to the next level including a 2016 pitcher to Kansas, a 2016 OF to Mizzou and, most recently, Carolyn Stock, a 6-foot-2 lefty pitcher/1B who has committed to Missouri State.

Carolyn has the size, obviously, to be imposing in the circle but she’s also good with her pitch placement.  At the plate she hit a ball 280 feet at Surf City.

The Zephyrs also have a 2020 commitment in Aniya Holt, who has great range on the left side of the infield playing either third or short. She’s also a power hitter who bats for average and hit .500 at Surf City.

 ***

Coach Josh Fisher is on a roll.  Last week we told you in our Recruiting Roundup about three standout 2019’s he has and an ’18 who are all receiving big school interest.

This week, his Carolina Elite 14U Gold team has a verbal of note as 2018 center fielder Shayla Thompson has committed to North Carolina.

From Maiden, North Carolina, she was also recruited by schools like South Carolina, East Carolina, North Carolina-Wilmington, College of Charleston and Elon.

Says Coach Fisher of his ACC-bound player: “Shayla is a kid who is one of, if not the fastest girls I've ever coached and is a very talented outfielder and an advanced slapper/bunter.”

***

Congrats to T.J. Goelz and the Tampa Mustangs-TJ staff which is being awarded the NFCA 2015 National Travel Ball Coaching Staff of the Year award tomorrow at the Convention in Atlanta.

The Mustang coaches certainly earned it after winning the PGF 16U Nationals this summer, going 12-0 after losing the play-in game.

The team has moved up to the 18U level, which is always a tough jump when you get up in the rarified air with the likes of the powerhouses like the OC Batbusters, So Cal A’s, So Cal Choppers, Beverly Bandits, Explosion, Birmingham Bolts, and so many more.

But the returns so far this fall have been very impressive: the team entered last weekend with a 22-1 record including wins over OC Batbusters-Stith, Cal Crusiers-Sievers, Rock Gold-Waye , Gold Coast Hurricanes-Cooper and State College of Florida.  

The Mustangs’ only loss came again Kevin O'Donnell's Jersey Intensity Premier 18U team at Diamond 9 during Halloween weekend. 

The Mustangs did go undefeated and won Florida's Finest, Rising Stars and Xtreme Dimensions tournaments.  

Then game the final tournament of 2015 as the Mustangs entered the USA Elite Select Region 1 Qualifer in hopes of capturing a berth to the inaugural USA Elite Select World Fastpitch Championship in Kansas City in July.  Other top organizations included the Atlanta Vipers, Georgia Impact, East Cobb Bullets, Georgia Elite and Worth Cobras.

After dropping two pool plays games, the Mustangs went on a tear similar to the one at PGF in August, to make it to the Winners Bracket final undefeated where they faced Georgia Elite-Hoover, another strong team loaded with SEC recruits.

The Mustangs won 5-2 led by Rutgers commit Myah Moy who slugged a two-run home run and another three-run bomb.  The Mustangs waited four hours to see who they would play in the Championship Final at Valdosta State University field and, again, faced the Georgia Elite -Hoover team for title and a rematch.  

Amazingly, the final game of 2015 for both teams would pit the FloSoftball Preseason No. 1 16U ranked team in the country, Elite-Hoover, versus the Flosoftball Final No. 1 ranked team in the country, the Tampa Mustangs-TJ.

An outstanding battle ensued with the Tampa Mustangs coming out on top with a 6-4 championship win.  The Mustangs were led offensively by another Myah Moy two-run HR and Denali Schappacher's key two-out 2 RBI single.  

The winning pitcher was 2016 UCF commit Kamryn Toney who joined the Tampa Mustangs-TJ team this fall after playing with the Georgia Elite-Hoover team for many years and pitched a complete game victory against her former team.

Mustangs won a $1000 paid entry to the World Championships and $2000 travel money.  This will be added to their 2016 summer schedule where they already have a free entry to PGF Nationals as returning champions.  

Best of all, the amazing year for the Tamp Mustangs will be celebrated January 1-4, 2016 when the entire team and their families get to go on a three-day cruise to the Bahamas together!  

Talk about the spoils of victory!

Note that the 18 Gold team will be looking for a few select national-level players to replace a few girls who will miss the 2016 summer season to attend their college's summer school.  Inquiries should be directed to Head Coach T.J. Goelz at: ltgoelz@yahoo.com.

*** Staying in Florida to finish up, the traveling tour for top 2019 prospect Madisyn Davis, the talented pitcher for the Jacksonville Storm, continues.

Madisyn recently visited Georgia Tech and already has been to Virginia Tech, Florida, South Alabama, Duke, North Carolina and USC-Upstate with Central Florida, South Florida, Troy and Georgia Southern still on the docket.

Madisyn is already 5-foot-9 and throws around 60 mph with great spins. She’s teammates of another outstanding freshman who is a strong Hot 100 candidate in Baylee Goddard, a third baseman committed to Florida.
​