Pictured: Titah Fa-Aita at the plate for the San Jose Sting-Gron 18U team.

Under clear and sunny skies Saturday morning, the 99 games scheduled for this weekend at the Dirtdogs Team Mizuno Fall Showcase kicked off in Hanford, California.

Note that 65 of the games are being streamed live on FloSoftball and will be archived this weekend for viewing at any time.  

The talent of the 40 teams participating was strong despite some top prospects not being with their teams as they were on visits to college campuses.

Still, there were quality players in every level of play including players going to schools in conferences like the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

Sierra Pacific High fields in Hanford is the main complex and home to this year's second annual Dirtdogs Showcase. The complex serves three high schools as well as a junior college and boasts five fields in a pinwheel formation. It's an impressive complex that is much nicer than your average high school one or two fields.

Note that the event is a showcase so the play is more important than the results, so no scores are being released (although we have them on the streamed games).

There were a couple dozen college coaches too we saw ranging from schools like Ohio State to UNLV.  Several said they love this event because every field is within a few steps of the others and the other two locations are within five minutes drive.

Here’s a look at some players who stood out in Day 1 of action on the field:

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The LTG-Carda 16U team is one to watch (“LTG” stands for “Love The Game,” by the way) and has several standout players including one of the top catchers in the 2018 class, Shea Moreno, who is committed to UCLA.


Shea Morena, pictured with her mother Krystal, has dreamed 
of playing for UCLA since she was 12 and will get the opportunity
in 2018.

We did a video interview with Shea and her mother, Krystal, who is one of the coaches and there’s some great stories on it including her commitment story to the Bruins.

It seems like she was fated to go to Westwood: when she was nine years old Lisa Fernandez saw her play and told her, “I’ll remember your name.”  When she was 12, Shea remembers watching a Bruin game where the catcher laid out for a foul ball and she thought, “That’s the kind of program I want to play for.”

UCLA became her dream school from then on and at a camp when everyone wanted to impress at shortstop, Shea went to first even though she had never played the position before.  She made a diving catch and recalls Head Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez telling her, “That’s the type of player we want playing for us.”

And now her head coach is Jim Carda, father of Ally Carda, the All-American pitcher for UCLA over the past few years.

Shea played third base today and her versatility and ability to play multiple positions is one of her strengths, but come next spring and summer she’ll definitely be behind the plate.

LTG also has infielders Elysia Herndanez (2018, Cal State Northridge) and Maddi Ayers (2018, San Diego State) who are excellent and ace pitcher Elise Madison, another 2018 who is being recruited by Michigan State, New Mexico and Santa Barbara.

One coach also said to watch out for Gabriella Jimenz, a 2019 catcher/third baseman “who has great drive and passion for softball and is super athletic.”  

Utah State will bring her on campus October 3rd and Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara are also seriously after her.

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There are several San Jose Sting teams of every age division here in Hanford and the 16U and the 18U teams include players who were on the TC/USA 16U Nationals runner-up team from this summer.

The 18U Sting-Gron team had to bring up players as nine athletes graduated including all the pitchers and catchers.

There are also a couple of former Cal Kryptonite players who came over when that organization shut its doors; the pair are Alexis Lindsey, the outstanding first baseman who is headed to South Carolina and Mckenzie Drake, an infielder who, like Alexis, is a senior.


Alexis Lindsey is an athletic first baseman the 18U Sting-Gron team picked 
up from the Cal Kryptonite. She is headed to South Carolina.

FloSoftball had a nice chat with Alexis, who is also a standout basketball player. She recently tripped to South Carolina for a small camp and says, “I’ve dreamed of playing at an SEC school since I can remember.  It’s always been a dream of mine.”

The intriguing new player on that team is Titah Fa-Aita, a 2018 corner infielder who certainly passes the eye test.  She is a big, strong power-hitter who one Sting coach said hit five home runs in the team’s tryouts.


Titah Fa-Aita is a strong, athletic addition to the 18U Sting-Gron
team. 

On the field, she’s surprisingly agile and athletic and is a solid third baseman.
She has a younger sister, Bubbah, who plays on the 16U team who is reportedly bigger than she is.

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Larissa Martinez, a 2017 pitcher for the So Cal A’s –Vasquez team, was impressive in the circle.  She’s not a flame-thrower, but just gets batters out.

Larissa has six pitches she can spot with accuracy and has good spins and hits her locations. George Mason leads the list of programs recruiting her.

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Earlier this week we profiled a pair of 2018 standouts going to the Big Ten in catcher Analiese Raley (Nebraska) and infielder Kaitlyn Coffman (Ohio State).

Their team, the Central Cal Dirtdogs-Harger team, has six players committed and one that looks good who is still on the market is Jordyn Macias, a corner infielder with power in the bat.

At Friday nights prospects camp, Jordyn hit five home runs and has schools like Boise State, Cal State Northridge, LMU, and UC San Diego after her.

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The Firecrackers-Redmond/Ensey team was just combined three weeks ago according to one player and the team looks like one of the better 16U squads we’ve seen.

The pitching is led by Kansas commit Lexy Mills, a 2018 right-hander, and the offense has some pop.  We saw two home runs to right-center in one game—one by 2017 infielder Taylor Golden and one by Carly Ormand, a 2018 infielder.

Keep an eye on a 2018 outfielder on the team, too, with a name you’ll recognize if you’re an NFL fan: Karrington Houshmandzade.

Yes, she’s the daughter of former NFL receiver TJ Houshmandzade, who was best known for playing eight years with the Cincinnati Bengals.

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The South Bay Firecrackers 16U- Gutierrez team has two promising uncommitted players including a senior who’s still on the board but is seeing her stock rise:

--- Krista Dalgarn is “overpowering but can be a finesse pitcher too with her off-speed stuff”  according to Head Coach Tony Gutierrez. “She has good command of her pitches and a great demeanor in the circle.  Krista is a phenomenal pitcher.”

--- Ricki Justiniano is a 2017 first baseman who is a 2017, but is intriguing because she’s only played one year of travel ball but is making exponential growth.

“Ricki is a raw talent who can play anywhere,” says her coach. “She also has a 4.6 GPA and wants to be a lawyer or doctor so don’t be surprised if Ivy League-type schools come after her.”