Recruiting News & Notes (10/28)
Recruiting News & Notes (10/28)
Verbals often seem to come in waves and sometimes seem to come in bunches from organizations… case in point four from a team in Illinois and three from a team in Nebraska… read on for the details!
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*** Kayla Wedl, 2016, pitcher/utility player for the Illinois Chill, has committed to the Univ. of Illinois-Chicago.
She is a second year player for the Chill and is a junior in high school at Wauconda High School in Illinois.
Her mother, Kim, wrote to say about the recruiting process:
“We found that being associated with the Illinois Chill organization afforded her the ability to be seen by a lot of high quality schools. Because she wants to study Kinesiology, her research found that UIC was one of the top schools in the country for that program.”
“They watched her play all summer both in Illinois and in Colorado and watched her again this fall in Illinois. Her visit to the school and the coaching staff made them a top choice for her. She was beyond thrilled to be asked to play.”
As a sophomore in high school last spring, Kayla helped lead her team to the 3A Elite Eight for the second year in a row.
She finished with a 24-7 record and a 1.56 ERA and a school record 341 strikeouts compared to only 18 walks while leading the team in batting average (.466), home runs (9) and RBI (35).
Kayla was also a second year All-Conference and All Area pick and was a 1st team ICA (Illinois Coaches Association) honoree as well. She was a Chicago Sun-Times pre-season Top 100 Player.
*** Thanks to Gerry Quinn, head of the Illinois Chill organization, who writes to say the Chill has three other verbal along with Kayla over the last couple of weeks:
— OF Ryanne Rokos (2015, Bucknell)
— UT Carly Mattson (2015, Austin Peay)
— OF Claire Crane (2015, Illinois-Chicago)
*** Ava Tillmann, a 2017 pitcher for the Georgia Impact – Gibson team, recently verballed to Ole Miss.
She attends Cedartown (Ga.) High School and this summer helped lead Georgia Impact Gibson, a first year 16 team, to a 5th place tie for 5th at IDT in Longmont Col. and a 7th place tie at PGF Nationals in Huntington Beach, Calif.,
Her pitches include a 64-66 mph screwball, a drop in the 61-63 mph range and a 60 mph curve. She’s also working on a change.
This fall she went 25-10 with 217 innings pitched and 237 Ks versus 61 walks. Ava had a 1.29 ERA and limited opponents to a .170 batting average.
Her 25 wins set a single season school record and she earned All-Region honors for the second year in a row.
Ava was also dangerous at the plate, compiling a .402 batting average with 25 RBI and a school record 18 doubles.
On the fun side, Ava—who used to be a cheerleader—is now her high school mascot, a Bulldog! She’s also in the National Honors Society and is on the Student Council.
*** Sabrina Turner, who was last week announced as the No. 96 place in the 2015 Hot 100, was a 2nd Team Full Count Softball American in 2014 after going 23-3 with a 1.05 ERA.
She has a rollover drop and screwball and is also a .400+ hitter.
I asked her asking how her year’s gone to date and Sabrina, who also has a 4.3 GPA, wrote:
“My team won its third consecutive Mississippi State Championship and I pitched all the winning games for four years. This was my fourth consecutive state championship from the mound.”
“I was named the Sun Herald Softball Player of the Year, All State, State All-Stars, Coastal All-Stars and my team MVP.”
“I joined Lady Lightning Gold Team Mike (N.C.) and we played our first tournament in Huntsville a few weeks ago. We are excited to be playing a very strong summer schedule in 2015 with trips to Calif., Col., Nev., Fla. and N.J. I am excited about playing with my future MSU Bulldog teammates and learning from Coach John Corn.”
“I am still a member of the American Quarter Horse Association and the Mississippi Quarter Horse Association. I am continuing my work with the Equestrian with Disabilities Program as I am currently helping plan the show for February 2015.”
“I love horse showing, but my first priority is to get as prepared as I can to help LLGTM compete for a national championship next summer at PGF and to be ready to play at Mississippi State!”
*** Talk about a pipeline: the Nebraska Cornhusker are all about keeping top players at home and recently got a trio of verbals, all from players who suit up for the Nebraska Gold club team… they are:
— P/1B Olivia Ferrell (2017)
— 1B/OF Payton Huscroft (2017)
— OF/UT Peyton Glatter (2017)