The third year of the Louisville Slugger Hit Club takes place Saturday, July 29, through Monday, July 31, in Orange County, California, and once again features 10 of the top high school grads who are about to embark on their college softball careers.

Louisville Slugger and Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) have partnered to give these elite players from the Class of 2017 three unique days of education, fun, bonding, and competition ranging from a trip to Disneyland and watching a Giants versus Dodgers MLB battle to hearing from legends such as Sue Enquist and former Hit Clubbers now playing in the Women's College World Series.



Past Hit Club participants have included such current college standouts as Shay Knighten (Oklahoma), Amanda Lorenz (Florida), Brooke Vines (Tennessee), Morganne Flores (Washington), Amanda Doyle (LSU), Jessica Harper (Arizona), Elissa Brown (Alabama), Nicole Mendes (Oklahoma), Nicole Bates (Washington), Shannon Rhodes (Oregon), and Dejah Mulipola (Arizona).

This summer's selections have been evaluated by a panel of coaches, scouts, and evaluators who looked for hitting expertise, technique, and ability for all types of hitters ranging from speedy slappers to long-ball mashers and come from the pool of players chosen as PGF All-Americans--many of whom are participating in the PGF All-American game on Friday, July 28, the day before the Hit Club begins.

For the next several weeks, FloSoftball will reveal two players each week who have made this year's prestigious event.

Last week, we introduced the first two announced: Lauren Burke and Shaye Bowden.

This week, we learn about two more players who are on opposite sides of the country but are two of the most feared sluggers in their class!

HIT CLUB PLAYER #3: DANIELLE ROMANELLO

Position: 1B/C
High School (City/ST): Canterbury (St. Petersburg, Florida)
Club Team: Gold Coast Hurricanes
University: Florida
Key Stats & Honors: First-Team FloSoftball All-American, PGF All-American, ranked as the No. 13 player in the FloSoftball 2017 Hot 100; Gatorade Player of the Year, FHSAA Softball Player of the Year, MaxPreps Underclass All-American and Florida 2A Player of the Year (2016); batted .527 as a senior with 36 RBIs and 41 runs scored in 31 games; six-year career marks of .516 batting average with 39 career home runs and 187 RBIs; holds every statistical record in Canterbury High history.

Scouting Report: Danielle has played varsity softball for six years and won state titles in the eighth and ninth grades as well as well as a senior (three titles in six years). She's a lefty power slugger who is a great mistake hitter and can go deep to all alleys. She's an excellent all-around athlete who holds a black belt in taekwondo and has the softball skills to line up at several positions, including catcher, first base, and outfield. She's strong but coordinated and has great bat speed through the zone. Her parents went to the University of Florida, and for Danielle it was Gators all the way as she committed to UF in the eighth grade. The Florida native has a sweet stroke and can hit for a high average and power.

HIT CLUB PLAYER #4: JOCELYN ALO

Position: C/1B
High School (City/ST): Campbell (Ewa Beach, Hawaii)
Club Team: OC Batbusters - Stith
University: Oklahoma

Key Stats & Honors: First-Team FloSoftball All-American, PGF All-American, Gatorade State Player of the Year (twice), USA Today First-Team All-American, MaxPreps All-American, led team to Hawaii Div. I title, ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the FloSoftball 2017 Hot 100; batted .571 with an .804 on-base percentage and a 1.450 slugging percentage and had 58 walks in 107 plate appearances including almost all her playoff bats as teams were fearful to pitch to her, as a junior batted .612 with eight home runs in 18 games.

Scouting Report:  Jocelyn is the most feared power hitter in her class. Every at-bat is a thrill to watch as she rarely gets cheated and often hits tape-measure shots that clear the fence by a mile. Against elite pitching at the So Cal A's Invitational a month ago, the Hawaiian slugger had four home runs in her first four games with 12 RBIs including a grand slam. Her power is natural and comes from being a skilled wrestler--she won the Hawaii state wrestling championship as a junior--but she's so good at softball, she commutes regularly from the islands to work out with coach Mike Stith. The question in college will be where she lines up, be it behind the plate or perhaps at a corner or in the outfield or even as a DP. But there's no doubt her bat will get her in games early in her career, as she's shown she can mash against elite pitching.

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