An explosive week of commits last week as we hit close to 90 verbals and club changes so there's news to report on some of these select players as well as a look back at the Boulder IDT and the teams that made it through the gauntlet of great competition… Pictured above: Kaylee Erickson, who's following her three older siblings to one particular university!

***  BOULDER IDT RECAP: FloSoftball streamed over 75 games at the Triple Crown-produced Colorado 4th of July tourneys but we don't want to fail to recognize the top teams at the Boulder IDT:

--- In the Boulder 18U finals, the So Cal A's-Richardson team went 6-0 and capped off a very strong week by defeating the Texas Blaze Gold team 4-1 behind the pitching of Maddy Dwyer (Stanford) who gave up seven hits but allowed only one earned run.

For the A's, the story was timely hitting as catcher Montana Dixon (also Stanford bound, pictured right) had an RBI single and infielder Mackenzie Boesel (South Carolina) went 2-for-3 to lead the team with a .485 batting average.  In the six games, she bashed two home runs while infielders Alyssa Kumiyama (South Carolina) and Alyssa Gonzalez (Ole Miss) hit three dingers each.

The pitching was strong throughout the week for the Athletics as Autumn Storms (Arkansas) and Ryan Denhart (Maryland) pitched shutouts over All American Sports Academy and the Corona Angels to help Coach Bruce Richardson's team make it to the finals.

"We struggled a little but early in pool play," Boesel told Carlos Arias of OCSidelines.com, "but we really came together once bracket play started. All of our pitchers threw really well and we had timely hitting."

18U Final Results
1 CA SoCal A's-Richardson 6--0
2 TX Blaze Gold 5--1
3 CA Corona Angels Marty4--1
3 GA East Cobb Bullets 4--1
5 IL Beverly Bandits3--1
5 CA OC Batbusters MS 3--1
5 CA USA Athletics3--1
5 CA AASA 3--1

--- In the 16U bracket played at Longmont, the East Cobb Bullets-Biele team showed that good things come from the East as Andrew Biele's squad went 9-0 including seven wins over Top 15 ranked national teams including the Corona Angels-Slye, Beverly Bandits DeMarini, So Cal Choppers-Ziese, Explosion-Greg and the So Cal A's--all in the Top 10.

The team was anchored by two SEC pitchers, Logan Caymol (Tennessee) and Kelley Lynch (Auburn) who, according to Coach Biele, "were simply spectacular."

The Bullets also got two strong outings from Angelina Biele (2018, uncommitted) versus the Corona Angels-Slye and So Cal Athletics-Briggs teams.

According the coach, the offense was clicking at the right time to lead the Georgia program to the championship.

"The team is loaded with power and speed and they all showed out this week, especially 2019 uncommitted catcher/first baseman Mia Jenkins who led the team in hitting as she batted over .500 for the week with two home runs, one of them a walk-off."

"It was a total team effort as the team hit from the top to the bottom and the defense was spectacular, including what I feel is one of the strongest outfields in the country with Leea Hanks (Notre Dame), Olivia Davis (Georgia State) and Keiara Edwards (2019, uncommitted."

Bullets pitcher/infielder Kassidy Krupit, a 2018 commit to Delaware, added, "The one word that I can describe my team this past week is energy. It didn't matter what game we played, all of us were up on that fence cheering. Without that, we wouldn't have done as well as we did."

The young player felt the offense was a big strength during the title run.

"The energy also carried on to our at-bats as we were absolutely crushing the ball, scoring 44 runs in nine games," she continued. "Our passion and energy mostly came out when we played the Texas Glory. We were losing 6-0 in the first inning and came back to win it 8-7. Playing in that exact game was the turning point for us."

"The first inning of that game wasn't good, to be honest we were kind of out of it, but as the game went on, we started to hit and that was the spark plug for us. Once our hitting started, we kept that same energy from there on and it was key for us."

The incoming junior felt that the championship win was just the first step for the Bullets.

"Winning that tournament was a big step for all of us, knowing that we can compete AND win at this level. We were all so happy at the end of the tournament but not yet satisfied because we are still determined to win the rest of this season. Our goal is to win all four this summer (IDT, TC/USA Nationals, USA Jo Cup, and PGF Nationals). We can't be more excited for the rest of this summer!"

16U Final Results
1    GA East Cobb Bullets 5--0    
2    CA SoCal Choppers 5--1
3    IL Beverly Bandits EK 3--1
3    CA Batbusters MS 4--1
5    CA Explosion    3--1
5    IL Beverly Bandits CA 2--1
5    PA Outlaws 2--1
5    SD Renegades Gold 2--1

In other action the 18U Louisville title was won by OC Batbusters-Lara as pitcher Nadya Orzonco went six innings and gave up just four hits while striking out three in a 6-0 blanking of the Cal Nuggets.

In Broomfield, the OC Batbusters organization won another title as the 14U team scored a 6-0 win over the So Cal Choppers.

*** WOLVERINE ENERGY HAS AN IMPACT: In verbal news, Audrey LeClair, the 5-foot-7 lefty slapper OF/3B with the So Cal A's-Smith/Mercado team, committed to Michigan earlier this month.

Playing for the FloSoftball No. 1 ranked 14U team in the nation, the 2019 grad joined the team last summer for its PGF run and helped Dave Mercado's team win the TCS Colorado Fireworks/Sparkler tourney.

Audrey played left field for the A's last summer at PGF and finished fourth on the team in batting.  She has 2.7 home-to-first speed and an overhand throw of 65 mph.  She's attended the OnDeck June Jamborees the last two years and went to the OnDeck National Elite Camp last October.
 
In high school at Phoenix (Arizona) Country Day, she was 1st team All-Section as a freshman hitting .707 on the season with eight HR and 60 RBI, 62 runs scored, and 37 stolen bases.

Along with visiting Michigan, she also took unofficial visits to Oregon and Arizona.

As far as why she committed to the Wolverines, Audrey said: "Watching the energy of a Michigan team infected me. They were loud, having so much fun, but still going out and winning. Who wouldn't want to be a part of something like that? Then I got to know the coaches. As tough as they are and as hard as they push their girls, they still manage to be so sweet."

"I knew right away, that if I went to Michigan, they would make me a better player and I would be able to play at the highest level as well as get an amazing education. I know what it means to wear the block M, I am going to work my hardest to make them proud. I can't wait!"

Audrey's father, Ted, added: "Coach Hutch had told us during our last trip there, a camp just before the Sparkler tournament, that she wanted Audrey to be a Wolverine. She said we would talk after the Sparkler and would have an offer prepared. That is exactly what happened. We called her three days after the Sparkler and Coach Hutch made the offer. Audrey said, 'It was a dream come true.'"

*** ALWAYS TOP CHOICE: Stanford has picked up a California 1st Team All-State Underclass pitcher in Molly Millar.

As a sophomore at Clovis (California) Buchanan High, she helped lead her team to a 26-5 record and the Tri River Athletic Conference (TRAC) Championship.  Molly went 18-2 with two saves and had a 1.58 ERA with 159 K's in 137 2/3rd innings.

In the TRAC title game, Molly pitched a one-hit shutout with 10 Ks and then went on to win the Central California Section D1 championship as she pitched a three-hit shutout with seven Ks to help her team win.

Molly plays travel ball for The Central Cal Dirt Dogs Gold team coached by Jeff Harger and says of her coach, "I can't thank him enough for all his hard work with the team and especially with my Stanford recruiting process.

Regarding her commitment to Stanford, she explains, "I committed to Stanford June 29. Stanford has always been my No. 1 choice, I have attended a few of their camps and have been on an unofficial visit for recruits."

"I loved everything about the Stanford campus and really felt a connection with the coaching staff. They have been out to watch me pitch a number of times.  Things really picked up after I attended the OnDeck June Jamboree in Hemet and played in the Zoom Into June Showcase in Hemet."

"I had a number of offers, but when Stanford asked my family and I to come to campus for a meeting I was really excited. They made an offer and I accepted. I chose Stanford because my goal has always been to play softball at the highest level while getting the best education possible. Stanford and the Pac-12 are a perfect fit and I am really excited to be a Cardinal!"

*** FUTURE ILLINI: Gabi Robles, a 2019 2B/OF playing with the Illinois Chill, has committed to Illinois.

According to Coach Gerry Quinn, head coach of the Chill, "Gabi has exceptional defensive range and a strong arm that permit her to have a big defensive impact in the middle of the infield or outfield."

"Gabi made the courageous decision to become a left-handed hitter a little more than a year ago to further utilize her speed and enhance her attractiveness to college recruiters . She made a commitment to learning the short game, being tutored last summer by former Chill and current Northwestern star Sabrina Rabin."

"In addition, she takes hitting lessons from our program's hitting instructor of choice Mark Doran.  One year into the switch, Gabi is developing a short game/swing away combo that makes her tough to defend."

"She attended numerous Illinois camps in the past year and the coaching staff took a real shine to her. She further cemented her recruiting attractiveness to the staff by her live competition performances on the recruiting trail. Illinois was Gabi's school of choice so when the opportunity to commit was offered, she jumped at it."

*** BYU Bound--The 22nd in Her Family!  Finally, we end with a fun family story in Arizona where a little sister will follow her big sister to college and she's not the only one--she'll be the 22nd member of the family to go to the same university: BYU!

Kaylee Erickson is the fourth child in a string of five and the latest athlete to commit to play at the D1 level for the Cougars.

A rising sophomore at Sandra Day O'Connor High School in Phoenix, Arizona, she plays shortstop and catcher for Firecrackers-AZ-Erickson, a 14U team coached by Mike Erickson, who it turns out is no relation.

Kaylee's oldest sister Krislyn was a basketball player in high school and went on to attend BYU on an academic scholarship.  She currently coaches girls' high basketball. Older brother Brendon was a three-sport star in high school and attended BYU on a baseball scholarship.  Injuries forced him from the game, but he remains at BYU and is pursuing a degree there.

​Pictured: Emilee and Kaylee Erickson

Older sister Emilee played three sports in high school until her junior year when she decided to pursue a softball scholarship.  She helped lead her high school softball team to a state championship in 2015 and currently just finished up her freshman year for the Cougar softball team.  

According to the athlete's father, Dave: "All three of her older siblings have had a huge effect on her growth and development as a person and as an athlete. Emilee has worked long and hard with Kaylee to help develop her catching and infield skills."

And there's another future college athlete on the way too: younger sister Jocelyn is a 2022 catcher/infielder who plays for Mizuno Storm-Holtorf/Mathis team and has already camped and received interest from Pac-12 and SEC schools.  

Could Jocelyn be the one that breaks the Erickson-to-BYU connection?

Kaylee was a three-sport athlete through the 8th grade but shut down all but softball to concentrate on school and softball. After a year of that focus she got her offer.  Kaylee was voted Female Athlete of the Year at the junior high level in her school district as an eighth grader.  During that year she participated in basketball as a point guard, volleyball as a setter and softball as pitcher for her school teams.  

Interestingly, her volleyball team was loaded with talent and was State Champs her 8th grade year and was so good they beat the boys team (also State Champs) at their school in a grudge match!

According to the athlete's father, "The Erickson kids all grow late, which makes it tough for them to get softball interest, because recruiting happens at such a young age. The summer after her eighth grade year, Kaylee participated in the OnDeck Colorado Jamboree. She showed well and BYU stated their interest at that time, but she was still small at 5-foot-4 and lacked the explosiveness that colleges look for."

"Because of our daughter (current BYU player) Emilee, BYU knows the genetics of our kids, that they don't grow until their Freshman and Sophomore years in high school.  Kaylee grew four inches this past year and showed up to camp this summer at 5-foot-8."

He continued: "The offer happened at camp in early June of this year. (BYU Head) Coach Eakin explained that they love her behind the plate but that as a shortstop she is also athletic enough to play anywhere so he can use her in a number of different ways."

"Kaylee took time to decide because she had other options at the time. She had attended an Elite Futures Camp at Grand Canyon in December. Coach Ann Pierson is doing some wonderful things there after a recent jump to the Division I level and the school is a continuous construction project with new academic buildings and athletic facilities sprouting up everywhere. It is an amazing place and it is close to home right here in Phoenix (about a 25-minute drive door to door)."

After good showings at the OnDeck June Jamboree and TCS Zoom into June Tourney, Michigan State, Grand Canyon, Boise State and DePaul began to  show interest in addition to BYU and Kaylee was trying to navigate through those options and determine their level of interest.  

She also participated in the OnDeck Colorado Jamboree again this year where Indiana and Houston showed interest. Michigan State wanted Kaylee to come out to the campus in East Lansing and it was time to start getting serious about making a decision.  

"We talked as a family on Sunday after the TCS Colorado Sparkler tourney," Dave Erickson explains. "The drive home gave us plenty of time to talk. Kaylee talked about how BYU had shown up to watch her a lot the past week.  When the offer was extended at camp, Coach Eakin took a lot of time with the family discussing BYU's desire to have Kaylee and the BYU staff followed up by watching several games."

"They really made an effort to show her that she was wanted and wasn't just the next sibling in the line.  She realized that BYU had everything she had wanted in a college her entire life: a great education in a place she thinks of as a second home, and the softball is pretty great too with a long string of conference championships and NCAA Tourney appearances. With all that considered, it became clear that BYU is the place for her starting in 2019."

Kayle herself stated, "I am very grateful for all the coaches who have helped me develop along the way. I'm especially grateful for my family, who was always there and never doubted me, even when I doubted myself. I am so glad that I didn't quit softball because it has given me so many opportunities to grow as a person. And thank you BYU for giving me an amazing opportunity and I can't wait to go and play up there!"