Louisville Slugger Hit Club

Louisville Slugger Hit Club: MVP & Final Notes

Louisville Slugger Hit Club: MVP & Final Notes

The 2016 Louisville Slugger Hit went from Saturday, July 30 through Monday, August 1... here is the MVP, top hitter and best teammate along with player evaluations

Aug 9, 2016 by Brentt Eads
Louisville Slugger Hit Club: MVP & Final Notes
The 2016 Louisville Slugger Hit went from Saturday, July 30 through Monday, August 1 and included everything from hearing from expert speakers to doing fun activities like going to Disneyland and a Los Angeles Angels baseball game.

This year's crop of talented hitters also worked out in the batting cages under the eye of Amanda Freed, a former Olympic Gold Medalist, who gave them tips and pointers before finishing the three-day event by being honored at the PGF Opening Ceremony for Week 2 of Nationals covering 16U and 14U competition.

Below, you'll learn of whom the players themselves thought were worthy of being honored as well as Freed's player-by-player evaluations and final thoughts from the athletes on what they enjoyed most about the 2016 Hit Club…

First, a list of this year's Hit Club honorees:


Nicole "Sis" Bates (Firecrackers-Rico)--University of Washington
Mackenzie Boesel (So Cal A's-Richardson)--University of South Carolina
Elissa Brown (Birmingham Thunderbolts)--University of Alabama
Amanda Doyle (So Cal Choppers-Fausett)--LSU
Hannah Edwards (PA Chaos)--University of Pittsburgh
Jessica Harper (So Cal Choppers-Fausett)--University of Arizona
Aaliyah Jordan (Corona Angels)--UCLA
Kayla Konwent (Illinois Chill Gold)--University of Wisconsin
Nicole Mendes (Diamond Sports Hotshots)--University of Oklahoma
Dejah Mulipola (OC Batbusters-Stith)--University of Arizona
Shannon Rhodes (Texas Glory-Shelton)--University of Oregon

AWARDS:

The players themselves voted on who they thought deserved the top awards… here's who they selected:

  • MVP: Nicole Bates
  • BEST HITTER: Shannon Rhodes
  • BEST TEAMMATE: Kayla Konwent

EVALUATIONS:

On the last day of the Hit Club, the players got in a workout in the batting cages of Pure Fastpitch, a workout facility just down the street from PGF headquarters, which is a partner in the event.

Amanda Freed, who won a Gold Medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, watched each hitter and at the end of the workout made these evaluations on each batter:


  • Nicole Bates: "Extremely versatile. Great hand eye coordination and touch. Quick hands when swinging away and good power."
  • Mackensie Boesel: Great leverage. A lot of upper body power. Good bat extension and power."
  • Elissa Brown: "Very good barrel control and touch but can generate power. Great footwork through the box."
  • Amanda Doyle: "Very pretty pure swing. Great power with minimal effort. Smooth."
  • Hannah Edwards: "Great barrel control and command on soft and hard slaps. Good footwork in the box."
  • Jessica Harper: "Quick to the ball but good path through. Good power and barrel control."
  • Nicole Mendes: "Great leverage. Quick hands to and through the zone. Good rhythm in the box."
  • Deja Mulipola: "Great plate presence. Quiet head and quick hands. Great power."
  • Shannon Rhodes: "Very quick hands and top level power. Great use of lower half."

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM THE PLAYERS:

Lastly, are the thoughts from some of the 2016 Hit Clubber player on what they appreciated the most from their three days as part of this exclusive experience:

  • "My favorite part of this whole experience would have to be hearing from our wonderful speakers. It was amazing hear the perspectives of so many amazing people and athletes" -- Nicole Bates
  • "My favorite part of the entire hit club was meeting and making new friendships with all the girls. I also loved listening to the package deal and Shay Knighten and Amanda Lorenz. They were so fun to listen and talk to about their college experience so far and what we might have to deal with going into freshmen year." - Mackenzie Boesel
  • "My overall favorite was the advice from such empowering speakers. I have never witnessed such an event and I'm glad I was able to learn and meet new friends at the same time." - Elissa Brown
  •  "The people you meet and the connections you get to make are priceless. My overall favorite part was talking to some of the best college players in the nation at the beach bonfire. These last three days really impacted me. I feel like they helped me prepare for college, but they also included a perfect amount of fun events and new experiences throughout the day. I've had a blast!" - Hannah Edwards
  • "Overall the hit club has been a great experience and I am thankful to be able to compete and learn from each and every girl in the hit club! The hit club has spoiled us the entire time and has giving me life-long friendships! But my overall my favorite part was being able to hear the unfiltered version of Shay Knighton and Amanda Lorenz freshman year!" - Jessica Harper
  • "My favorite part about the weekend was tied between hearing all the amazing speakers and getting great advice for college and creating some great friendships with the girls in the hit club." -- Nicole Mendes
  • "I couldn't choose a favorite activity throughout the whole hit club trip because the whole thing was a great experience from listening to alumni speakers like Shay and Amanda and experts like Jen Schroeder, Morgan Stuart and Ken Ravizza to going to Disneyland and the Angels game to getting to hit with the other top hitters in the nation and getting to learn from them. I loved the whole experience." - Dejah Mulipola