Hot 100 Final 2017s… #60-51

Hot 100 Final 2017s… #60-51

FloSoftball continues our final look at the top 100 players in the 2017 class… we're spotlighting 10 each day as we count down from 100 to No. 1.

Oct 28, 2016 by FloSoftball Staff
Hot 100 Final 2017s… #60-51
FloSoftball continues our final look at the top 100 players in the 2017 class… we're spotlighting 10 each day as we count down from 100 to No. 1.

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FloSoftball continues our final look at the top 100 players in the 2017 class… we're spotlighting 10 each day as we count down from 100 to No. 1.

We'll announce the Top 10 of the class on Friday, November 4, then on Saturday, Nov. 5 we will reveal the "Next In (101-200)" and finally on Sunday, Nov. 6 will unveil our Top 50 College Classes.

There's been a lot of movement in these rankings compared to the previous list published six months ago pre-summer tourneys.  For example, there are 16 new players in the final 2017 Hot 100 (indicated with an *) and many players making being jumps up the lists.

These players were chosen based on input and feedback from college and club coaches who've seen them play all across the nation.

Criteria for choosing and ranking the players including performances at the club and high school levels and projecting how they will play at the collegiate level.

Below we feature players No. 60-51 with standout players from Alabama, California (3), Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas (3).


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null60--Alex Wilcox P… Birmingham Thunderbolts (Mississippi State)
Alex is the player in the Hot 100 we are rooting for the most if only because she's had the most adversity of anyone in the 2017 class. In the first 2017 Hot 100 (released in December 2014), she was No. 5 because she was the top two-way player in the nation with great power in her bat--including 28 home runs in the proceeding summer and fall for the Bolts--and shined as an ace pitcher. Alex has won Alabama state titles in softball and basketball and also plays volleyball. She has shined at PGF Nationals both at the 16U and 14U levels and had over 30 D1 offers before committing to MSU.  Last December, she was diagnosed with malignant ovarian cancer and has undergone surgeries and chemotherapy to combat and treat the tumor. One coach told us "she should be back to Top 5 five by next summer." The Alabama senior has a great, positive attitude which should help her return all the way back to her dominating form and everyone in softball is rooting for her.

null59--Erin Edmoundson P/OF… Aces Express (Texas Tech)*
Erin is a dual threat who is an outstanding hitter who can rake from the left side while playing outfield and also pitching.  She was an integral part of Deer Park High (Texas) winning two state titles her freshman and sophomore years while losing in the regional quarterfinals this year despite going 33-4 and being ranked in the national Top 5 at one point. Erin is a .400 career hitter who can hit anywhere at the top of the line-up, from the two-hole to 5th in the order--as she can drive the ball to all fields and drives in a lot of runs. In the circle, the Texas senior is a crafty southpaw strikeout pitcher who compiled several no-hitters and even a perfect game last season. 

null58--Alyssa Kumiyama 1B/C… So Cal Athletics -- Richardson (South Carolina)
Alyssa is a dangerous power hitter who, when she squares up on the ball, can hit it farther than almost anyone in her class. She can drive the ball to all fields and is a threat to go deep at any time. Alyssa has been working with legendary hitter and new Texas Charge head coach Crystl Bustos who says of her student, "Alyssa is one of the strongest hitters I've seen in a long time and also has a great understanding of hitting and her swing… she is also able to control her swing to place balls for moving runners." Alyssa has been playing more first base recently since the A's had Stanford freshman Montana Dixon behind the plate, but Alyssa can catch too. She won two club national titles at the 10U level (ASA) and 12U (PGF) before making the jump from 14U to 18U to play for the prestigious Athletics-Richardson team. Alyssa's younger sister, Hannah, is a 2019 P/IF who is also committed to South Carolina and the family will move there after the older sibling graduates from Gahr High in Cerritos, California next spring.

57 - Natalie Rodriguez57--Natalia Rodriguez SS… Wagner's Gold (Michigan)*
Natalia has emerged as one of the top players in the South and her game is very similar to one of the fast-rising stars in baseball, Franciso Lindor, the Cleveland Indians' shortstop who ironically played on the same travel team with Natalia's older brother, Clemente, for four years (her two older brothers play college baseball at Georgetown and Amherst College). As a junior playing for Montverde Academy in Florida--the school that's become famous for producing Lindor--Natalia hit .506 with a .571 on-base percentage and stole 31 bases this year.  On defense, Natalia had a .959 fielding percentage with only four errors in 27 games. She is a switch hitter who can do it all on the field to beat teams with her bat, glove, arm, softball IQ and leadership. Natalia's arm speed has been measured at 65 mph and her bat speed at over 70. Playing for her father Rob, she won the USSSA 16U World Series paying on a 14U team. Natalia has been a high school varsity starter since the sixth grade and holds almost every offensive record for her school.

null56--Madison Preston P/UT… DeMarini Aces (Alabama)
No one's had a better week than Madison, who led her Centralia High (Missouri) team to the Class 2 State Championship on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2016 in dramatic fashion. She was the hero of the title game as she hit a walk-off two run homer in the 8th inning along with striking out 15 opposing batters. Madison was the workhorse of the Aces too as she threw 25 innings and against one team had 15 K's. She's a 6-foot lefty who exploded onto the recruiting scene in the Fall of 2015 when she pitched 81 1/3 innings and struck out 140 hitters. She combines power and movement to get batters off-balance and after shining in fall showcases had several Top 25 offers before picking Alabama.

null55--Rachelle Benavides SS/2B… Texas Bombers Gold (Florida State)
Rachelle has been a key component for the Texas Bombers success over the last four years but you won't see her on the field in competition playing for Scott Smith's program this fall for a unique reason: she's turning 19 and is age ineligible even though she's a 2017 grad. Rachelle is and will still practice with the Bombers and will likely help coach the team with the plan that she will play spring high school ball and then leave for Florida State right after she graduates. So we count her as part of this class because Rachelle continues to be one of the elite seniors not matter her inability to play club ball. On the field "Rock" as she's called is one of the top defensive infielders in the class.  She has tremendous range and reads the ball off the bat with the best.  Rock is the complete package solid defense on defense and smooth in box. One coach said she may be the toughest out ever from the Bombers' organization.

null54--Sara Jubas MIF… Beverly Bandits (James Madison)
One word keeps coming up to describe Sara Jubas and that's "smooth." She has a smooth swing and a smooth glove. One coach said that, if drafting players from the entire Bandits organization, Sara would be the first non-pitcher selected because of everything she brings to the table including the ability to swing the bat, run, play multiple positions and be the ultimate team player, doing whatever is asked of her.  She's tough too--at Nationals she was hit in the mouth by a thrown ball and, spitting out blood, wanted to stay in. Sara batted .400 for the Bandits-DeMarini team that won both PGF 16U Premier and ASA 18U Gold and at the high school level had a .729 on-base percentage this year to earn her third straight All-Section honors in the Pittsburgh area. Sara had offers from ACC and Big Ten schools before choosing the Dukes of James Madison.

null53--Hanah Bowen P/UT… Athletics - TO/Mercado (Arizona)
Hanah is a do-it-all player who will shine no matter where she's placed on the field. Perhaps the best utility player in the class, she is a standout pitcher and also plays short and third as well as anyone. She hits in the 3-hole for the Athletics and helped the team finish 2nd at the recent PGF Shootout where she went 10-for-15 at the plate facing top-level pitching. Coaches rave about how Hanah "comes to play every pitch, loves to be coached and soak in the learning part of the game." She has a high softball IQ and has when in the circle is a north/south pitcher who knows how to exploit batters' weaknesses and get them out. Her ability to do everything well has man scouts thinking she will be an impact player as a freshman in Tucson.

null52--Maddy Dwyer P/OF… So Cal Athletics -- Richardson (Stanford)
Maddy is one of the aces for Bruce Richardson's A's team that won Boulder IDT and finished 5th at PGF 18U Nationals. She also had an outstanding high school season having her Orange Lutheran High (California) team ranked No. 1 for much of the season before a loss to Mater Dei in the CIF-Southern Section Div. 1 finals. Her team finished 11th nationally in the FloSoftball FAB 50 rankings and Maddy was the driving force, going 26-3 in the circle with a 1.10 ERA against some of the top teams in the country.  She throws a rise and screwball, but her change-up is what makes her an elite pitcher. Maddy committed to Stanford in June of 2015.

null51--Maddie MacGrandle P… Texas Glory (Texas A&M)
Maddie is a two-time FloSoftball All-American and was the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year after pitching all but two innings for her team and going 31-3 with a 1.05 ERA and 393 K's in 213 1/3 innings. She also batted .533 with 10 home runs and 57 RBI to lead her Frisco High (Texas) team to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Maddie is a dominating lefty who throws in the low to mid 60s and has a knee-buckling curveball. She also pitched most of the meaningful innings for the Texas Glory and led them to Top 5 finishes in Colorado and at the DeMarini Invitational as well as a 2nd place finish at the World Fastpitch Championship and 13th at PGF Nationals. She also no-hit the PGF 18U Champion Firecrackers into the 7th inning in the 3rd round of the Winner's Bracket before the Glory lost 1-0.  Maddie committed to Texas A&M in December of her freshman year.