*** Meredith McLendon, a 2016 shortstop with the EC Bullets-Bass 16U team, has committed to Georgia Southern and talks about why she’s excited to stay in the Peach State to play:

“Georgia Southern first started looking at me in the fall of 2013.  Earlier this year I made a visit to Georgia Southern, and it really stood out to me the first time I saw their campus.

The town really reminds a lot of my hometown and I like that aspect of it.  I loved how everything was all together right there on campus.  The facilities were nice, and the coaching staff is wonderful!

Coach Smith made me feel very welcome and made sure I was comfortable and at home the entire time.  I can talk to her very easily, and I love how honest she is.  She offered me Monday night, and that is also when I committed. I committed there because I felt like it was the right fit for me, and I loved everything about the school.

Playing college softball at the D1 level has always been a dream for me, and I am glad I am going to experience that at Southern.

The recruiting process for me was very stressful, but exciting at the same time. I enjoyed having the opportunity visiting campuses and meeting all the wonderful coaches and people.  I learned through the process that you have to stay patient, remain positive, and just go out there and play your best no matter who is watching.”

Meredith got a great compliment from her coach, Buster Bass, when we profiled the team last fall.

“I’ve sent kids to LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia Tech—two last year,” he said, “and Meredith can play at that level.  She attacks the ball and stays in that athlete position and throws from the slot.  She’s going to be fantastic.”

 

*** Montana Dixon, the 2016 catcher who plays with the powerhouse So Cal A’s-Richardson team and has committed to Stanford, is putting herself in rarified air.

Not only did she help her Lakewood (Calif.) team win its seventh Moore League title in the last eight years within the last week, she’s also making a run at a noteworthy record.

As of the beginning of this week and prior to playoffs, Montana had 17 home runs on the season putting her just one shy of the Orange County record set last year by another Pac-12 bound slugger, Alyssa Palomino from Mission Viejo (Calif.), who has committed to Arizona.  The mark of 18 broke another famous player’s then-record—Lauren Chamberlain of Oklahoma fame had the OC record before

But that’s still a ways off from CIF Southern Section record and the Calif. state mark.

Two years ago, Sierra Romero (Vista Murrieta) and Heather Morales (Indio) both hit 21 homers and are currently tied for the CIF-SS record.

The state record is 27, set in 2009 by small school player Shannon Colquitt from King-Drew of Los Angeles.

And we know how great Sierra is doing right now at Michigan!

Also… check out Montana in action at the 2:20 mark in this video of the Lancers winning the league title against Long Beach Millikan.

 

*** Last weekend, we spotlighted a team in the FAB 50, the Southington (Ct.) Blue Knights who are led by an excellent pitcher in Kendra Friedt, a junior having a lights-out dominant season with a 14-0 record and 0.37 ERA.

She’s uncommitted but it looks like her recruiting is starting to heat up.

A little late to the recruiting scene, Kendra went to Pennsbury (Pa.) last June to see if she was good enough to play at the 18U Gold level.  She ended up having one of the top speeds at the individual camp and at Pennsbury was a guest pitcher for Neil Swanchak of the CT Charmers Gold.

Afterwards Coach Swanchak asked her to join the team full time and since then she’s gotten a lot of interest from DI schools including Georgetown, Penn, Yale, Villanova, UConn, and, last week, Boston College’s head coach made the trip down to Connecticut to see her pitch.

Kendra ha been pitching for eight years at USA Elite, with pitching coach Jen Hapanowicz, whose most well-known pitching student was Rachel Fico.

 

*** More verbals:

— 1B Rian Brown (2016, Alabama Birmingham)… plays for Birmingham Vipers – Parks
— 2B/OF Demi Coleman (2016, Tennessee Tech)… plays for Tennessee Ballhawks
— MIF Halle Hollatz (2016, Syracuse)… plays for the Beverly Bandits
— C/UT Ashley McGowan (2015, Tennessee Tech)… plays for NC Lady Lightning
— SS/C Ashley Prange (2018, Ohio State)… plays for Indiana Magic Gold
— OF Emily Weilbik (2015, Evansville)… plays for the Beverly Bandits