We wrap up this week and head into the last Friday before Christmas by looking at a top junior who was once told to lower her expectations, which she used to motivate her all the way to a college scholarship.  We profile a promising catcher from SoCal and learn why a recruit picked a school that has two former Olympians as coaches!

 

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TOP 2015 PROSPECT: BETHANY CANADA

Bethany Canada is a junior infielder who plays for the St. Louis Esprit and has committed to Wichita State (where Samantha Ricketts, the former Oklahoma All-American, is now coaching).

She’s also an example of being able to reach your dream—in this case playing at the next level—even when others say you can’t.

When Bethany was 11 years old, a college coach, perhaps trying to help, told the young softballer that “not all players can play at the D1 level and sometimes must lower expectations in order to be successful.”

Rather than quit or settle for only playing in high school or, at must, the club level, Bethany politely took the coach’s business card and went home and stuck it on her memo board where it remains to this day.

“Bethany let that motivate her each and every day to prove him wrong,” says the athlete’s mother, Amy.  “She knew that all the sweat, bruises and hours of hard work would pay off if she continued to believe.”

As a junior at De Soto High (Mo.), the corner infielder was 2^nd team All-State and 1^st team All-Region and All-Conference as the Lady Dragons finished third in Class 3A.

Ranked 1^st academically in her class of 238 after her sophomore year, Bethany is a three-time Academic All-State honoree and wants to study Athletic Training and Kinesiology.

A parent asked her after committing to the Shockers what her goal was in college.

“I want to be an Academic All-American while at WSU and help my team achieve great things,” she said.

Like many elite softball players, Bethany has done the extra to get the competitive advantage, including 5 am hitting sessions before school and giving up “countless sleep-overs, parties and school dances to focus on practices, lessons and games.”

 

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RECRUIT PROFILE: MADISON “MADI” GIMPL

Grad Year: 2016
Pos: C/OF
High School: Sonora (La Habra, Calif.)
GPA: 4.36
Club: Firecrackers-Blanco
Honors:  Scholar Athlete, Student of the Month, Honors Chemistry, Honors English
College: uncommitted
Video: skills video

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StudentSportsSoftball.com: With the Christmas break coming up, what will you be doing the next few weeks?
Madi Gimpl: Hanging out with my friends, working out and watching Christmas movies in comfy socks!

 

SSS.com: You play for one of the most high-profile organizations in the country… tell us what being a Firecracker means to you…
MG: I am honored to be a Firecracker.  It feels like so much more than playing Softball.  I’m learning how to be a leader on and off the field and I like the bond the girls share knowing we’re part of an organization that teaches high values inside and outside of the game.

 

SSS.com: What’s been some of your favorite places to play and why?
MG: I loved playing in Northern California because we got to stay in Carmel, Monterey Bay and Paso Robles.  I love playing near the ocean.

 

SSS.com: What is your recruiting situation right now… have you visited some schools yet?
MG: I have visited a few but as a sophomore our family plan was to start setting up visits in 2014, I plan to make some visits in January

 

SSS.com: What are going to be the key factors in your decision?
MG: I want to play and win so I hope I can make a great team but ultimately getting the best education I can is most important to me.

 

SSS.com: How far away from home are you willing to go and will distance be a factor in your decision at all?
MG: Distance will definitely be a factor in my decision but I don’t know what that is yet.  I think it will be a combination of many things and I don want to limit my chances early without being sure of what the opportunity is.

 

SSS.com:  What do you think (or have others said) are your strengths as a softball player?
MG: I work hard, hustle and am very determined and coachable.   These are the things my coaches have said, not me!

 

SSS.com: What’s been a top memory or two for you in your young softball career so far?
MG: Making a diving catch with the runner on third for the last out to get to the state championship game.   Also, hitting five home runs in the Surf City Tourney this summer.

 

Quick Hitters (short answers)

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Working in my new career and starting a family.

Fill in the blank… I’m happiest when:___
I make my family proud.

What do you think is the No. 1 issue in the world today?
Poverty…there is so much to go around I just don’t understand.

Favorite place in the world:
The river.

What’s your dream vacation?
 A grass hut on the water in Tahiti.

Who always makes you laugh?
My sisters Emma and Sydney.

What’s something unusual or different about you that few know?
I’m super shy and I love to draw and paint.

In one word, describe yourself off the field?
Busy.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take one thing with you, what would it be?
My iPhone, duh!

Christmas is almost here, what’s the No. 1 gift request you have in for Santa?
Collegiate sweatshirts.

What’s your No. 1 goal/New Year’s resolution for 2014?
To pick the right school and verbal and to wear my retainer every night.

If you could meet one person in the world, who would it be and why? 
I want to meet the Pope, I’ve always looked up to the Pope and attended Catholic school from kindergarten and it would be a lifetime moment.

 

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RECRUITING PROFILE: ZOE CONLEY

High school: Dixon
City: Salesian
State: 
Calif.
Grad year: 2014
Club: KG Hitters Gold
Position(s):  P/2B
Honors: TCAL League MVP, North Coast Section 1^st Team (Small Schools)
College: Cal State Northridge
Other Offers: San Diego State, Iowa State, St. Mary’s

Why Cal State Northridge: “I get to play for Tairia Flowers and Natasha Watley, for one! Tairia is the Head Coach and Natasha is the Director of Operations, so two Olympic medalists as coaches was something that’d be hard to pass up. I loved the weather down there and the coaches are very in sync with each other and always want to compete. CSUN is in a really nice neighborhood and I really vibed with everything about Northridge.”

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RECRUITING NEWS:

*** Cool story out of Ohio…

Doug Lenos, the President of the Ohio Hawks club team, writes to say he three players committed to the same school, one you may not have heard of, but is one of the best in preparing students for a particular field.

The Hawks are a seven-year-old organization with nine teams in the Columbus area  and 11 in the Dayton to Cincinnati area, which is Southeastern Ohio

Last season, the Hawks had an 18U team in Dayton and one in Columbus and participated in some key events like the PGF and ASA tournaments, the Lasers Invitationals, the GAPSS Showcase and the PGF National Qualifers.

This fall, the teams were at the two Diamond9 showcases in Orlando and Gulfport, Miss.

The 20 teams range from 8U to 18U and 22 Hawks have gone to the next level in the last two years.

The part that’s interesting is that three Ohio Hawk players—Allison Lenos (the coach’s daughter), Carly Ventus and Makayka McClurg—are all going to the same school, the College of Mt. Saint Joseph, which is a private D3 school in Cincinnati that has one of the strongest Nursing programs in the Midwest.

A high percentage of grads pass the nursing exam the first time upon graduation and there are only about 2,500 students.  The school issues academic grants only, but the trio above getting recruiting to play softball will help them get into the various academic programs, which is key as MSJ offers substantial financial aid in terms of grants available.

Lenos was the Ohio Southwest Buckeye League Player of the Year for 2013 while playing at Madison High School in Middletown, Ohio. She set the school record in career home runs, runs scored and RBI’s and hit .490 as a senior.

Ventus was a 1^st team All-Eastern Cincinnati Conference honoree.

 

*** More verbals:

— OF Alexis Gonzalez (2014, Farleigh Dickinson)… plays for Team Mizuno Gonzalez
— OF Mariah Ellis (2015, Longwood)… plays for So Cal Sliderz
— C/3B Megan Dray (2017, North Carolina)… plays for Lady Lightning Gold Team Miken
— OF Sierra Crick (2016, Oklahoma St.)… plays for Oklahoma Exclusive Gold
— P Madey Smith (2016, Penn State)… plays for Jersey Intensity
— 1B/OF Sydney Gutierrez (2016, Texas Tech)… plays for Impact Gold
— UT Maryah Cohen (2014, Cumberland)… plays for Sudden Impact-Blake

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PROSPECT VIDEO:

One of the impressive young players at last weekend’s SoCal Skills Clinic was Analiese Raley, a 2018 catcher who plays with the Central Cal Dirt Dogs.

Soft-spoken but good with the bat, as you’ll see here, she’ll be one to watch over the next few years…

 

 

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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.