Today we visit the Peach State to learn about a tall outfielder who’s headed to the SEC.  We also spotlight a good Midwest player who committed to a school nearby because it has a major she likes.  We also profile several commits including an Ivy League-bound Illinois girl…

 

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PLAYER PROFILE:  ALEXIS “LEXI” DUNCAN

Grad Year: 2016
Pos: OF/1B
High School: Woodland (Stockbridge, Ga.)
GPA/SAT or ACT (optional): 3.6
Club: East Cobb Bullets-Bass
Stats (if known): .500+ last fall as team went 31-9
Honors: Georgia 4A All-State, 1^st Team All-Region          
College: Kentucky

 

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In a break from our normal Q&A format, here’s some bullet points on the sophomore who plays for the Bullets-Bass!

*** Bats in the three hole on her high school team that finished tied for 6th with a team full of freshman and sophomores (had only one senior and two juniors).

*** An honor student who chose Kentucky over several other schools due to the fact the she and her family absolutely fell in love with the school, coaches and all around area.  “Plus, it’s only six hours from home (Atlanta) and it’s the SEC!”

*** Her high school coach, Kelli Poff, played for Lexi’s club team, the East Cobb Bullets, when she was younger.

*** In 2010, Lexi’s Georgia Elite club team finished in the top 25 of the ASA Nationals and in 2011 her team improved to finish in the final eight.

*** In the last two years (2012, ’13), she helped her Elite team finish in the top 10 at the PGF Nationals.  In both years, she was 1^st Team All-Region for Woodland High.

*** Lexi is a 5-foot-11 outfielder who can also play first base and outfield.  She’s a consistent hitter who is usually close to the .500 level.  In travel ball last year with the Georgia Elite she hit .511 including PGF Nationals.

 

Quick Hitters:

 

Do you come from a family of athletes?
I feel very fortunate to have come from an athletic family. My dad played baseball and granddaddy was a track star. I’ve been playing softball since I was five and its my life. I also have a younger sister, Gabby (13), who is into chorus and gymnastics.

What do you want to do after softball?
I want to be a sports trainer and/or work with young girls who are up and coming fastpitch players when I graduate from college.

Favorite bat:
Xeno all day!

Favorite Quote:
“One Heart.”  This was the slogan Coach Poff used to motivate her young team to an Elite 8 appearance in the 2013 Georgia high school playoffs.

Favorite food:
Ramen Noodle

What’s been the highlight of your softball career?
Hitting the two-run home run against the SoCal Choppers-Shipman team at PGF to help the team to a 2-1 win and push us into the PGF 14U top 10.

What and who do you attribute for your success in softball?
I give all my thanks to God, my dad who has been a single parent since I was five, Head Coach Buster Bass for everything he has done for me thus far, my former team and former Head Coach Australia Hoover for being there for five years and to my varsity high school coach Kelli Poff for being such an inspiration when everyone said we couldn’t do it!

You just made the switch from one Georgia club team to another… why change?
To have played on the Georgia Elite for five years was awesome, but when we had the opportunity to go play for Coach Buster when he started his new ECB team we felt it was the right decision and I’m so proud to be here. I’m also very lucky to be on such a competitive high school team as well!”

 

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RECRUIT SPOTLIGHT OF THE DAY: MORGAN CHRISTNER

High school: New London
City: New London
State: 
Iowa
Grad year: 2016
Club: Southeast Iowa Hawks gold
Position(s): pitcher/1B
Height: 5-10

Stats & Honors:

* Batting:
had .425 batting average
and school record 21 doubles
with 41 RBI

* Pitching: school record in wins (31-9); school record and second in the state with 379 strikeouts; 1.34 ERA in 250 2/3 innings; held opponents to batting average of .162.

College: Illinois State
Other Offers: “Illinois State was my first and only visit, so they had the only offer. Others showing interest were Wisconsin, University Of Northern Iowa (UNI), Western Illinois, Iowa State and Arkansas.”
Why Illinois: “One of the biggest reasons I chose ISU, is the university specializes in my major, which is teaching. The coaches and staff are awesome and it didn’t take me long to feel comfortable there. It’s very welcoming and I loved the sense of pride that was in the air.”

What is your favorite bat: “My favorite bat is a DeMarini CF5. It has nice pop and I’ve used Demarini bats since I was a young girl, so I have a lot of confidence in them.”
What is your favorite brand of cleats? 
Under Armour.
What is the uniform brand you prefer? Under Armour.

 

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** Katie Schroeder, a 2015 pitcher with Explosion-Borzilleri, has committed to Utah State.

 

*** Yesterday, we told you about Madeline Avery, a catcher/third baseman for the Wasco Diamond 18U team out of Wasco, Ill. who is headed to Cornell.

I asked her father, Todd, how Madeline connected with the Ivy League school and here’s what he said:

“She had been sending letters to the coaches since her the summer before her freshman year.  She also attended a scholars clinic put on by the Stone City Sharks of Minooka, Ill. where she met many of the academic elite colleges.”

“In addition she has attended Cornell’s summer camps and winter camps.  Madeline chose Cornell among others because she really liked the coaches over any of the other Ivy schools.”

“She held up to the pressure of other D1 schools to commit early, to hold out for Cornell.”

 

*** Got a nice note from David MacGrandle passing along some recent news about his daughter, who’s SEC-bound:

“I wanted to make an introduction to Maddie MacGrandle.  Maddie is a 2017 LHP/1B playing on Texas Glory Shelton/Naudin’s team committed to Texas A&M last December.”

“She plays high school ball at Frisco High School in Texas.  Maddie has hit 4 home runs in her last 19 at-bats for Frisco including a couple against 18U Gold pitchers.”

“In the circle, she has over 1.5 Ks per inning.”

“The link below contains some pictures and videos and it’s great if you like Rocky music, but gets awfully close to vacation pictures if you don’t!”

*** Jeff Filali of the Tulsa Elite program wrote to say, “I noticed on your updated verbal list I now includes not just Iv. I, but other levels as well so I wanted to send you our updated list that includes all commitments at all levels.”

PLEASE EVERYONE DO THIS!  If the Master Verbal List is incomplete for your organization, let me know who we’re missing so they can be included as well!

Tulsa Elite

2016’s
1.  OF Kelsey Eropkin (2016, Tulsa)

2015’s
1.  IF Chastyn Spruill (2015, Wichita State)
2.  IF Asea Webber (2015, Oklahoma State)
3.  OF Hannah Heinrichs (2015, Missouri State)
4.  IF Morgan Neal (2015, Tulsa)
5.  IF Ashley Fletcher (2015, South Alabama)
6.  IF McKenzie Escovedo (2015, Arkansas Tech
7.  LHP/1B Cortnye Pool (2015, Northwestern

2014’s
1.  RHP Gracie Bogle (2014, Arkansas)
2.  IF/OF Mallory Collins (2014, Oklahoma State)
3.  RHP/1B Kaitlin Beason (2014, Missouri State
4.  OF Halee Vigneaux (2014, Missouri State)
5.  IF Emily Bevan (2014, Missouri Kansas City)
6.   F/OF Kelsey Goodwin (2014, Missouri Kansas City)
7.  IF Kelsey Leach (2014, Missouri Kansas City)
8.  C Jordan Chimento (2014, Boston College)
9.   F Morgan Bohanan (2014, Kansas)
10.  RHP Emmie Robertson (2014, Pittsburg State)
11.  RHP Mo Selman (2014, Central Oklahoma)
12.  IF Jessica Boone (2014, Northeastern State)
13.  OF Madi McGraw (2014, Northwestern)
14.  IF Mikki Andrus (2014, Drury)
15.  IF Haylee Lorenz (2014, Butler)
16.  OF/C Morgan Lammey (2014, Butler)
17.  C/OF Nicole Pendleton (2014, Hutchinson)
18.  OF Mikelynn Mantich (2014, Cowley)
19.  OF Shelby Madden (2014, Labette)
20.  IF Kelcee Thompson (2014, Hutchinson)
21.  IF Taylor Bolden (2014, Neosho College)

 

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Players, parents and coaches:  want to know the best way to get us info on your favorite player?  Fill out our Recruit Form link and complete.  It comes directly to me (Brentt) and you very likely could see the info used somewhere on our site!

 

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If you’d like to submit information, forward to brentt@studentsports.com.  Also, follow us on twitter at @SS_Softball.