Gianna  committed to Michigan on August 20, 2015.For this Throwback Thursday, we go back to earlier this year when we profiled a “rising star” in Gianna Carosone, a versatile player from Las Vegas who can play almost any position including catcher and pitcher and on August 20 committed to the Univ. of Michigan.

It was another exciting year of high school softball across the nation going back to the fall when states like Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma competed for state championships.

In its 30th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, the Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced its honorees for the 2015 Softball State Players of the Year.

Today we head to a Western state where a pitcher had more wins in the circle than almost anyone else we’ve heard of this year… and, oh yea, she also hit .477 with 43 RBI.

Today, we begin our look at the top 100 players in the 2018 class… we’re spotlighting 10 each day as we count down from 100 to No. 1. These current freshmen were chosen based on input and feedback from college and club coaches who’ve seen them play all across the nation.

A busy weekend across the nation and we break it down in verbal news, event recaps and top performances…

We have a mix of everything today: club news, great high school starts to the season and 18 more verbals to report!

Cool story of a talented freshman from the West who had Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC schools interested, but she’s heading to the East Coast for one key reason—she wants to play with her sister who’s a year ahead of her and going to the same Big East program!

I’ve had the opportunity to see today’s spotlight player several times in the fall and winter in camps and workouts and she can and will play somewhere. Big and athletic, she moves well and off the field is personable too.

As we get closer to launching the 14U FAB 50 there are obviously a lot of teams from states you’d expect: California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, etc.

In the fall I had a chance to watch today’s spotlight prospect at two AFT Prospect Camps in Southern Calif. and each time walked away impressed with her physical tools and skills.

Updated Jan. 17, 2015… we’ve added more deserving candidates to the list with many more to come!

While in Las Vegas a week ago for the NFCA Convention, I was able to stop by a workout thrown by Jeff Blanco and Advanced Fastpitch Training.

A record 1,400 coaches from all over the nation attended the 2014 NFCA Convention in Las Vegas this week and that must have made the companies, big and small, who set up exhibits at the event very happy.

Note: The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Convention kicked off yesterday (Wed.) and runs through this weekend.  Key figures at all levels of softball–coaches, event producers, corporate sponsors, etc.–attend this annual meeting and I will be there Friday and Saturday to meet up with as many folks as I can!  There will be content as usual while I’m there so keep checkin’ back on the site! — Brentt Eads, Full Count Softball