Newsome (Florida) High has five seniors signing this week (l-r): Annie Tarte (Yale), Cassidy Davis (Florida State), Brooke Leistl (South Florida), Hannah Pridemore (Duke) and Claire Feldman (Utah).

Yay! It’s finally here… Signing Day 2015!  

We have over 1,200 seniors in our Master Verbal List and we’re surely missing many so let’s just say well over a thousand softball players are making their dreams come true by signing Letters of Intent to play college softball!

To be clear, today is the first day athletes can sign in the Early Signing Period so it’s not like this is the one and only “Signing Day” (although it gets that name being the first possible day to sign).

Being a holiday makes it a bit more sticky this year since many high schools are closed so a lot of players will make it “official” in signing and forwarding their National Letter of Intent in the next few days but will do a ceremonial signing at their schools at a later time.

No matter how or when they do it, we honor and celebrate those who are taking the next step to play at the next level… a huge congratulations from FloSoftball!!!

*** We’ll be covering the Signing Period for weeks to come so we won’t cram it all in today’s column!  But we will note one school that can say they have five seniors going to the next level and it’s one of the top high schools in softball: Newsome High in Lithia, Florida.

Four of them, Cassidy Davis (Florida State), Brooke Leistl (South Florida), Hannah Pridemore (Duke) and Claire Feldman (Utah), also played on the Tampa Mustangs-TJ team that won PGF 16U Nationals this summer.  The fifth player is Annie Tarte who is going to Yale and looks to be the senior class valedictorian!

What makes this quintet unique is they have played together since they were nine years old and between them have a 10U Florida State Little League Championship, a National Pitch Hit and Run Championship, the 2015 Florida 8A State High School Championship, the 2015 ASA "A" 16u National Championship and the 2015 16u Premier PGF Championship. 

Yea, pretty accomplished group! Note that FloSoftball had the team ranked No. 21 in our Final FAB 50 High School Rankings.

The Tampa Bay Times did a nice piece on the players… here’s an excerpt from the article:

“They all played key roles in the Wolves winning the Class 8A state title last year and vaulting to the No. 13 in the nation by USA Today, the highest ranking of any team in the state.

Davis and Feldman, both pitchers, are ranked among the top 38 players in the nation by flosoftball.com.

Four of the players – Davis, Feldman, Leistl and Pridemore – also play on the Tampa Mustangs fastpitch team that is ranked No. 1 in the nation by flosoftball.com.”

*** In other, non-signing news, Baylee Goddard, a 2019 third baseman with the Jacksonville Storm-Davis 14U team has committed to the University of Florida.  

We asked her club coach, Addison Davis, about Baylee and what makes the freshman talented enough to play for the Gators and this is what he said:

“What makes the National Champions interested in a 2019 like Baylee is you have the ability to find an athlete that will not only make your ball club better on the field, but make your club better from a social, emotional and academic standpoint.”

“Last Thursday, she verbally committed to play softball at the University of Florida and with her they are getting one of the best athletes and hitters in the 2019 class.”

“Baylee hit .528 in the summer for Jacksonville Storm Davis with 15 home runs, 66 RBI, 17 doubles, and three triples.”

“Baylee's ability to create laser-like focus at the plate makes her most attractive and a force to deal with offensively.   One of her greatest assets is her ability to hit with power and consistently hit great pitching, average pitching, and below average pitching with the same mentality.”

“For those who have not seen this athlete, don't be fooled into thinking that this athlete is only one dimensional and can only mash—she can run too! Baylee had 22 stolen bases on the season which showed her ability to move on the base paths with aggression and intent.”

“In Baylee's life, she has been faced with difficult times and has had to overcome adversity at a very young age as her father passed away eight years in a motorcycle accident during his offseason for the Indianapolis Colts.”

“Nonetheless, the system of support that her mother and family has provided has driven Baylee to excel on and off the field.  I have been fortunate to also take on a leadership role in Baylee's life for the last eight years and assist her with developing as a student-athlete and, more importantly, a beautiful young lady in which her father would be proud of today.”  

“Baylee hit it off with Coach Walton immediately and she was excited about his commitment and passion to developing hitters. Her dedicated, commitment, and determination separates Baylee in the 2019 class and provides her an opportunity to wear the Orange and Blue and become a Florida Gator.”

*** More Jacksonville Storm news: Coach Davis adds that the team also has several other players who’ve been offered scholarships including Madisyn Davis (2019 pitcher), Alexis Ross (2019 outfielder), Scotland David (2020 centerfielder), Jenae Wash (2019 shortstop), Taryn Freshwater (2019 first baseman), and Linzie LaFavor (2019 catcher) who, according to Davis, “all are weighing their options.”

Sad news from the Storm organization also… the team was scheduled to play at Scenic City last weekend but upon returning from Diamon9 in Orlando the week before, one of the players on the team came home to find that her 16-year-old sister had passed away in her sleep.

“Without a doubt, this devastated my team,” said Coach Davis, “and we respectfully bowed out of this event (Scenic City) to support our player, our team, and families.  What a difficult weekend but a time to put life in perspective which meant to focus on what matters most: family.”

“This weekend we have elected to play in the Veterans Tribute Showcase and will play with a purpose, which is to demonstrate our love and support for our lost one! In her honor, we will wear the yellow bracelets and hair bows which represent our the favorite color of our player’s sister and symbolize our love for her!”

*** The Michigan Finesse organization has been a nice pipeline for the NCAA DI National Champion Runners-up, the Michigan Wolverines.

Last year at this time, Carol Hutchins and staff signed Alex Sobczak, the outstanding infielder who would go on to win MVP honors at the Louisville Slugger Hit Club in August, from the Finesse organization.

The latest to commit to Michigan from Coach Donny Dreher’s program is 2018 pitcher Renee Hoffman who attends Clinton (Michigan) High.

She’s a power pitcher who recently switched to the Finesse and once she started playing a national schedule, her recruiting stock exploded.

Her best pitch is her rise ball and her change-up has improved dramatically too according to Dreher who says, “Michigan came out to watch Renee pitch four or five times, and each time, Renee got better and her confidence went through the ceiling.”

“Renee is a quiet kid,” he continues, “but is a fierce competitor and she is the ultimate ‘Silent Assassin.’ Renee received offers from a number of D1 schools, but ever since she was 11 years old and attended her first Michigan Camp, she knew she wanted to be a Wolverine, stay close to home, and play in the Big 10.”

*** Carly Rybinski, a 2018 shortstop/second baseman with Newtown Rock Gold-Garvey, has committed to St. Joseph’s University.

She is a lefty slapper with 2.7 speed and just switched to the left side last summer.  She’s an exceptional defensive middle infielder with “outstanding hands and range” according to her coach, Dan Santelli, who also says, “Carly is coming off a tremendous weekend at Diamond 9 where she hit over .350 and made several defensive gems to help lead her team to a 5-2 record against some of the premier 18U teams in the country.

*** Thanks to Christopher Karo, father of junior pitcher/infielder Caitlin Karo of Louisville Stunners 99 - Anderson who is headed to Tennessee-Martin.  He tells FloSoftball:

“On the recruiting front, Louisville Stunners 99 - Anderson had three more players commit and added a Morehead State commit to our team in August:”

• Jordan Thomas, 2017 OF (Western Kentucky)
• Katelyn Smith, 2017 C/3B (Austin Peay)

• Haley Osbourne, 2017 1B (University of Pikeville)

• Allison Davis, 2016 OF/2B (Morehead State)



“They join our five previous commits:”

• Bethany Todd, 2017 P (University of Kentucky)

• Lindsay Renneisen, 2017 SS (Evansville)

• Lindsay Anderson, 2016 2B (Morehead State)

• Halie Fain, 2017 3B/OF (Tennessee - Martin)

• Caitlin Karo, 2017 P/1B (Tennessee - Martin)

*** The Scenic City Fall Showcase was dinged by weather, but there were still a lot of outstanding teams and players.

Take the Carolina Elite Gold-Fisher 14U team, for example.  

Josh Fisher’s squad went 4-0 over the soggy weekend led by 2019 pitcher Bailey Betenbaugh who pitched 3 2/3 innings against a good Tennessee Fury Platinum 19/20 team giving up only one hit with seven K’s.

Bailey is a candidate for the 2019 Hot 100 as she has recorded 49 K’s with only nine walks in 40 innings this fall and is also hitting .419.

She’s visiting South Carolina this weekend, Georgia the following weekend and is also hearing from Kentucky, according to Coach Fisher who says College of Charleston has offered.

*** Another highly coveted player on the Elite is 2019 shortstop Hannah Goodwin who has offers from South Carolina and Charleston and will visit Georgia on Nov. 21.

She went 7-for-11 at Scenic City including two “rocket shots that probably did not get 5-7 foot off the ground before just drilling the fence.”

Adds Fisher, “She continues to pick right up where she left off from the summer where she hit .554, with 15 home runs. She did this all over the country--playing 16s in Colorado at the Firecracker she blasted three home runs, hit two more at the PGF 14U Premier Nationals with both coming in bracket play.”

“Goodwin has blasted four more thus far this fall in three events, making that 19 since Jan. 1. I'm biased, however, I think this kid has to be in the Top 10 list in the 14U Top 100. I'm just baffled to think about nine more hitters as good as she is offensively.”

“She also boasts a .947 fielding percentage while playing 90 percent of innings this fall at shortstop. From West Columbia, South Carolina, Goodwin stands 5-foot-9 and has electric range. College coaches have raved about this kid, and before 2015 is out, I look for her to have five offers, which she already has three, two of which are SEC East.”

The Carolina Elite will be back in action this coming up weekend down in Georgia at the Veterans Tribute Showcase with games aginst the Beverly Bandits, Atlanta Vipers, Jacksonville Storm-Davis,  Tennessee Fury Platinum 19/20 and Diamond Sports from Texas so college scouts will have a great opportunity to see them against elite competition.

*** Finally, some news out of the Rhode Island Thunder camp.  One of the most well-liked guys in club ball in the Northeast—if not the entire country—is Dave Lotti and he has to be smiling this fall as his program as two elite pitchers who are tearing it up:

--- Mary Haff is a 2017 pitcher committed to Arkansas and she had a great weekend at D9 in Orlando a few weeks ago.

Mary faced some of the premier 18U club teams in the country including So Cal A’s-Richardson, Explosion-Denio/Wilson, West Coast Intensity and DeMarinia Aces and in 11 innings had a 0.00 ERA with 21 K’s.

She also had a hot bat with a .555 batting average.

--- Vanessa Oatley is a 2019 pitcher committed to Penn State and she has been with the Thunder since her eighth grade year, making her one of the youngest player that Coach Lotti has ever taken on.

She’s a 5-foot-8, lefty who had visit invites to Oregon and Tennessee before she committed to PSU.

According to her father Vaughn, “After visiting Penn State & meeting the coaches and touring the campus, Vanessa knew where she wanted to go.”

At age 13, her team finished 2nd at the 14U USSSA Nationals and Vanessa was selected as the MVP Pitcher.

Look for both pitchers to be playing next at the PGF Surf City Early Thanksgiving Showcase in Irvine, California the weekend before the holiday.