We continue our look at the top club teams across the nation in the 14U age division as we roll out the next group in the FAB 50 14U Rankings.

Each day this week we'll unveil 10 teams and conclude on Friday, April 14 with the teams ranked 10-1 and on Saturday list the Next In (51-100) teams.

The key factors in where teams are ranked include performances and results from the summer, in the fall and early this year (although we understand that showcase competition, where some top players are held out to allow others to be seen, can be misleading in terms of "who beat who").

We also weight heavily the return of key players and the addition of talented new ones.

Information was acquired by the FloSoftball staff watching teams in person as well as considerable input provided by club and college coaches across the country.

If we've missed anything or you would like to provide input on your favorite teams and players, send your info/insights to: Brentt.Eads@FloSports.TV.

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T40--Fury Platinum

The Tennessee-based Platinum team is one to watch because, by the end of the summer, Jimmy Hutchins' team could have three pitchers who are committed to SEC or ACC programs. The team lost a trio players who moved up to the 16U team, but return good prospects like Lilly Holston, a 2020 utility player who recently committed to East Tennessee State, and P/UT Kaylan Cole, another 2020 who is being recruited heavily as a pitcher and athlete due to her excellent speed. The Fury's success, though, will be determined by a strong crop of newcomers including SS Laura Mealer (2021), a Power 5 recruit who hit eight home runs in 10 fall games; C Sophie Piskos, another power hitter and perhaps the most athletic player on the team and two fast-rising pitchers who are being strongly recruited: Jordan Warzynski (2020) and Sydney Berzon (2022).

T40--Impact Gold - Lang

Chris Lang's first-year 14U team was one of the top 12U teams last year having gone 50-19 last spring. They haven't missed a beat, going 28-7 since the fall. Last summer the Impact finished 4th at the USA Elite Select Nationals, captured the USA Elite Select Diamond Battle title and took 2nd at the Georgia State ASA Championship. Key returners include P/SS Kelsie Walker, who's drawing SEC interest and is hitting .553 this spring; righty pitcher Sophia Voyles, whose 0.55 ERA was Top 5 at Nationals; C/2B Annie Dalton, who is batting .450 with a 1.432 OPS this year and has SEC programs interested in her and 3B Kayla Grace Lang and 1B/P Kylie Macy, who are both hearing from ACC programs as well.

39--So Cal Breakers

The Breakers had a great summer in 2016, winning a PGF Nationals berth by going 5-0 at the Las Vegas Qualifier and then tieing for 17th place at both the Boulder IDT and PGF Nationals (Premier). The team won close to 90 percent of its games and lost some key 2019's who've moved up to the 16U team, but Coach Robert Labs has a strong nucleus coming back including 2020 ace pitcher Staci Chambers, who is committed to Cal State Fullerton. Excellent pitching depth was added by the pick-ups of two more quality 2020 hurlers, Jaiden Ditimus and Julia Streb. They join promising young pitcher Ava Bradford (2021). The future is bright with more '21's stepping up including UT Allyson Amato; 3B Olivia Burroughs; OF Paige Dimler and SS Ariel Lopez.

T38--Tulsa Elite Prospects

The pipeline of talent for the Tulaa Elite organization just keeps getting filled and Jeff Filali has two good 14U programs with the Prospects team being one that can compete with anyone. The Oklahoma-based team has been playing 18U and 16U all spring after building an impressive resume last summer as a 13U squad, winning the USSSA 14U Nationals in Florida, taking 3rd at the ASA 14A State Championship, 5th at Hustle City and 17th at The Top Gun Invitational. Anchors on the team include 2021 SS Ally Sockey, who is being recruited by Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 schools; 2021 P/IF Drew Riddle, who brings big home run power from the left side and can pitch in the upper 50's; 2020 righty hurler Makayla Williams, who has good movement and hits 60 mph on the gun and 2020 lefty slapper Auryana Johnson, a center fielder who is starting to get a lot of recruiting interest.

T38--Lady Magic - Munoz

The Lady Magic out of Sacramento, California is coached by the husband-wife tandem of Ernie Munoz and Lindsey Ziegenhirt Munoz, who was an All-Pac-12 catcher at Cal a few years ago. The co-head coaches have their team primed to be one of the top programs in the West, if not the entire country. In the fall, the Lady Magic went 38-3 with two of the three defeats coming to 16U teams. The Magic won a pair of 16U tourneys and on the way knocked off many of the top 14U teams as the Magic hit .379 and had a team ERA of 1.35. The California team combines excellent 2020s like MIF/CF Kameron Welch, a speedy lefty slapper; C Harleigh Braswell, a power hitter who can go deep to all fields and pitchers Ela Villanueva (fall ERA of 0.84) and Hailey Peterson (81 K's in 81 innings) with promising young talent like 2022's Jordan Woolery, a SS/3B who hits third in the line-up and batted .509 in the fall and MIF/CF Shaylen McDowell, the leadoff hitter who is getting Pac-12 interest.

37--Team Seattle

J.T. D'Amico, the husband of Washington Husky Head Coach Heather Tarr and an assistant with the Pac-12 program and a former head coach in the NPF, spearheads Team Seattle so it's no wonder top players in the Northwest want to play in the program. Last year, the 14U team finished in the Top 10 at the Boulder IDT and finished tied for 17th at PGF Nationals. D'Amico's squad lost a trio of standout 2020s who've gone elsewhere in SS Raigan Barrett (Washington commit); OF/P Kiki Milloy (Tennessee) and P Landyn Bruce (Ole Miss), but there are enough skilled athletes returning to make Team Seattle a formidable foe. Those include C/IF Charity Sevaaetasi (2020), a multi-tool player with light tower power; IF Kiley Hubby (2020), who is advanced defensively on the left side at both short and third and C/1B Hannah Hvitved (2020), who has a plus arm behind the plate. Also, watch for 2021 utility player KJ Hopfer, who the coach calls the "heartbeat of the team" because of her energy and work ethic that is "off the charts."

36--East Cobb Bullets - Heath

JD Heath's Bullets team is coming off a great 2016 summer that culminated in a 9-0 run to win the ASA 12U Nationals. The bulk of the team returns and hasn't missed a beat moving up to 14U where it's gone 15-3 in four tournaments with an amazing 24 home runs. The team is stacked with some of the top 2021s and '22s in the country and is getting a lot of visits from SEC, ACC and Big Ten schools. The question will be how well the team adjusts to playing more experienced second-year 14U clubs. It all starts with pitching. The staff had a 0.42 team ERA during the title run last year. Lefty Kylie Ferguson (2021) averaged 1.5 Ks per inning last year and won the championship game giving up just two hits in seven innings. The other ace is righty Allanah Hopkins (2022) who was 4-0 at Nationals including a perfect game. Olivia Cook (2021) and 5-foot-8 Karlee Fuller (2021) are both throwing in the low 60s. Offensively, the entire line-up can go deep, but really watch out for C/UT Tori Hedgecock (2021), whose older sister Rylin is committed to Arkansas, and IF Taylor Ensley (2021) who have combined for 10 bombs already this spring.

35--Firecrackers Brashear/Oakes

This SoCal-based Firecrackers team benefits from having two outstanding coaches in Sean Brashear and Robert Oakes who have a first-year 14U team made up of all 2021s. The team was ranked 11th in the FloSoftball 12U FAB 50 last year and admittedly had a disappointing PGF Nationals run when ace pitcher Lexi Miramontes got hurt. She's healthy now and her great spin makes the Firecrackers a threat in any tournament. This spring the squad won the TCS Toys for Tots event in San Diego and finished tied for 5th in the St. Patty's Day Showdown beating some other FAB 50 14U teams. Recruiters from the Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten are inquiring about the talent which includes 1B/P Charlotte Forniss who, like Miramontes, was invited to the Colorado Jamboree as a 12U Player. Forniss has great power to all fields and is one of the top first basemen in the age division. Other top returners include C/OF Amanda Gull, who smashes 250-feet homers, has a Big Ten offer and is hearing from Pac-12 programs. SS Corissa Sweet, cousin to Lauren Sweet--the former Michigan catcher and current NPF player--is a dual threat who can slap and hit for power. She too is hearing from Pac-12 schools.

34--Huntsville Sparks Elite

The Alabama-based team is coached by Robby Barnes, a six-year assistant in the Sparks organization, and is based on the combination of speed, power, strong pitching and defense. Barnes takes over for Slade Stewart, the Sparks program lead, who is focusing on the Elite 00 team which has 10 players committed. The new coach has a strong nucleus to work with--in the fall the team went 27-2-1 highlighted by tournament wins at the Troy University Halloween Tournament and Scenic City, where the team went 8-0. At one point, the Elite won 23 games in a row. The offense is led by 2B Kinley Adams (2020), the lead-off hitter who has 2.6 speed home-to-first and hit .463 this year with 34 stolen bases. Another speedy standout is 2020 OF India Smith, who hit .537 with a team-high 46 steals and also has 2.6 speed. In the circle, Shelby Waldrop (2020) went 20-1 and in 88 innings had 127 Ks with her command of four pitches; at a recent exposure tournament, she was clocked at 63 mph. Catcher Jessica "Tank" Edde (2020) has a 1.7 pop time and like the others is hearing from SEC schools as well as local programs like Troy, UAB and South Alabama.

33--Texas Glory

It's a strong year in the Lone Star State at the 14U division and the perennially tough Texas Glory team coached by Ed Naudin will have its hands full as the talent in Texas keeps improving state-wide. The Glory finished 3rd at USSSA Select Elite and 5th at Boulder IDT but has lost seven key 2019 and 2020 players including C Hayden Brown (2020, LSU) and P Savannah Desrochers (2020, Kansas) who moved up to play on the 16U Naudin team. The 14U team's coaching staff has been more focused on showcasing players the last few months, but when he puts his active roster of 17 together, he'll have nine players with D1 offers and five that are already committed. Once the line-up is finalized, he'll have a talented, confident and battle-tested team ready to compete including key 2020 returners like MIF Riley Love (Texas Tech); IF Sage Harlow (Tulsa), IF Camryn Compton (Texas Arlington) and P Lauren Lucas (uncommitted). The Glory picked up seven talented newcomers including C Haley Schmaltz (2020, Texas Arlington) and some outstanding 2021's such as P Jaycie Hall; C Audrey Schneidmiller and IF Kelby Robbins. By the time PGF Nationals rolls around, look for the Glory to be a threat to play late in the week.

32--DeMarini Aces

Ryan Taylor and his wife Taylor have had on-going success at the 18U level and now that success is filtering down to the younger ages. The 14U team has already received a PGF Nationals invite and is showing it is primed for a strong spring and summer as it will play in 10 or more elite tournaments including Boulder IDT, TC/USA Nationals and PGF Nationals Premier. The Aces have already won the USSSA Swing for the Rings tournament in April at the 16A level, going 6-0 and outscoring opponents 30-5. Two weeks earlier, the Missouri-based team went 7-0 to win the USA Softball Shamrock Shootout and outscored the opposition 62-5. The Aces are deep in pitching as 2020 P/1B Maren Judisch (Baylor commit) is a Hot 100 honoree ranked #47 and is backed by 2021 P/IF Katie Brooks who is being recruited by Washington, Oregon and Oklahoma State. 3B Whitney Kinser (2020) is hearing from Illinois while C/2B Riley McNemar (2021) and C/IF Riley Heckenkamp (2020) are being recruited by Auburn and Texas AM (McNemar) and Iowa and Notre Dame (Heckenkamp).

T31--Ohana Tigers

Joey Quarles' team finished tied for 17th at last year's PGF Nationals and in the fall and winter have compiled a 50-12-2 record. The Tigers won the Triple Crown Sports Don Battles On tournament and has earned a Power Pool berth in Colorado this summer. The So Cal-based program also has earned a berth to USSSA Elite Select and has been invited to the Atlanta Legacy Showcase. Half of the team returns including top players like 2020 Hot 100 honoree Jamie Sellers (ranked #63), a big power pitcher and hitter and younger sister of Boston College freshman Cami Sellers. Also key to the team's success will be other 2020 grads like 1B/OF Jojo Rodriguez, who has been a standout offensive and defensive player in her age group since 10U; OF Ariell Romero, an underated 2-hole hitter with good tools and OF/3B Malia Luna, who can play almost anywhere on the field including pitcher as she's athletic and has a live bat with good speed and gap-to-gap power.

T31--Athletics - Mercado 2020

The top team in the 14U age division last year was the Dave Mercado-led Athletics team that featured elite players like C Kinzie Hansen (2019, Oklahoma), P Lexi Sosa (2019, UCLA), C/IF Alyssa Garcia (2019, UCLA) and MIF Presligh Pilon (2020, LSU). That team won the PGF Nationals 14U Premier championship and dominated all summer. The top Athletics 14U team this year will have some big shoes to fill, but is still loaded with talent as shown by the A's taking 3rd at USSSA Nationals last year and placing 2nd at the So Cals Finest tournament in December. The pitching will be outstanding as Landyn Bruce, a 5-foot-10 Ole Miss commit, dominates with a great curve, drop, rise and change. Other elite players to watch for are C Sara Kinch, who is strong behind the plate; versatile 3B/OF Alexis Holloway, speedy OF Malia Benson; athletic 1B/3B Sasamamao Koria and IF Zaia Castruita, a power hitter with good hands.

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