We continue our final look at the top 100 players in the 2017 class… we're spotlighting 10 each day as we count down from 100 to No. 1.

We'll announce the Top 10 of the class on Friday, November 4, then on Saturday, Nov. 5 we will reveal the "Next In (101-200)" and finally on Sunday, Nov. 6, will unveil our Top 50 College Classes.

There's been a lot of movement in these rankings compared to the previous list published six months ago pre-summer tourneys.  For example, there are 16 new players in the final 2017 Hot 100 (indicated with an *) and many players making being jumps up the lists. 

These players were chosen based on input and feedback from college and club coaches who've seen them play all across the nation. 

Criteria for choosing and ranking the players including performances at the club and high school levels and projecting how they will play at the collegiate level. 

Below we feature players No. 30-21 with standout players from Alabama (2), Arizona, California (6) and Oklahoma.


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30--Sydney Sherrill 3B/SS… Gametime Stars (Florida State)
Sydney helped lead her team to the Oklahoma 6A state championship this fall. She played on a Southmoore team with five other D1 commits that went 26-2 and won its second title in four years. The All-State player will make an immediate impact when she hits the Florida State campus next fall. She dominates the left side of the infield, playing third at the club and high school level, but has the athleticism and physical tools to be a standout shortstop. Sydney joined the Gametime Stars 97 team four years ago and made an immediate splash. She was noticed at the Colorado Sparkler/Fireworks 16U tourney and had a dozen schools ready to offer her a spot. She hit .495 as a junior and has all the attributes to succeed big-time at the next level: a power bat, the ability to hit for a high average, soft hands, and a strong arm and high softball IQ.

29--Mariah Mazon P… Corona Angels (Oregon State) 
Mariah was one of the 20 initial invites--and 10 high schoolers-- to attend the USA Softball Jr. Women's National Team Selection Camp in late December. It's easy to see why: she's a power pitcher who brings the heat in the mid-60s but also mixes in effective curves, screwballs, and riseballs.  Mariah has dominated the Central California high school scene the last three years. In 2016, she was 22-3 with a 0.60 ERA with 242 strikeouts in 161 1/3rd innings. She even hit .486 with nine home runs. Her pitching ability is what has Laura Berg and the OSU staff excited after she committed in August of 2013.  Mariah also has a great work ethic and desire to improve, as shown by her driving five-hours one way from Tulare to Corona to practice with Marty Tyson's Angels program.

28--Eliyah Flores 3B/OF… Firecrackers -- Rico (Oklahoma)
Eliyah also made the initial Jr. Women's National Team invite list. She's an intense, passionate player who plays in a powerful manner such that she can take over a game. Flashy on defense, Eliyah is sure to become one of the best in the game as her ceiling is unlimited.  A key figure on the Firecrackers-Rico PGF 18U National Champs team, she is already an advanced hitter--one coach called her a "professional hitter"--in that she understands the mechanics, techniques, and ways to use the whole field to get on base. Eliyah had a stretch this spring where she hit safely in 19 of 20 games and finished with a .451 average and eight home runs for her Grand Terrace High (California) team. 

27--Kendall Beth Sides OF… Birmingham Thunderbolts (Alabama)
Some high level coaches feel "KB" is the top lead-off hitter in a class which is full of outstanding top-of-the-order batters.  She's been an elite prospect since the 8th grade when she was an Alabama Class 1A All-State pick and this year had her best season, batting .571 with 101 base hits, 104 runs scored, and an amazing 82 steals to lead her Sumiton Christian High team to a 57-10 record and a 2A State Championship. Her 293 career runs and 369 career steals are national records and she still has her senior season to play.  A 5-foot-7 centerfielder, she is explosively fast and is the ideal table-setter who can play the short game to perfection or drive the ball to the fence in the gaps.  KB committed to Alabama in the summer of 2014.

26--Holly Azevedo P… All American Sports Academy (UCLA) 
One of the pitchers invited to the Jr. National Team tryout, Holly was a 1st Team FloSoftball All-American this year after going 25-3 with a 0.18 ERA and had 334 K's in 191 innings. Holly has only given up six earned runs over the last two years and she pitched every inning for her team this season.  The Nor Cal standout is now the ace for the All American Sports Academy which is loaded with several talents like Holly who moved over to AASA from Sorcerer Gold after the retirement of Coach Pete Aguayo. She had a great weekend at the PGF Ultimate Challenge, leading AASA to the 18U championship after pitching a 3-1 win over the Batbusters.  Holly's strengths in the circle include her ability to move the ball on different planes and change speeds to keep batters off balance.  She committed to UCLA in December of 2014 when the Bruin coaches discovered her while scouting other recruits.

25--Mary Katherine Tedder SS… Birmingham Thunderbolts (Texas)
Mary Katherine ("MK") was a FloSoftball 1st Team All-American after being named the Alabama 7A Player of the Year when she hit .457 and set her Spark Park High (Hoover, Alabama) school records with 20 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 56 runs.  She also helped her team finish 2nd in the state, the highest finish in school history. Mary Katherine is a five-tool player who hits for high average. She recently added power to her game, being a flashy defender in the field who can make all the plays--be it charging the short stuff or going deep in the hole and throwing out a speedy hitter. MK's father Scott played in the White Sox organization and she combines experience and intelligence with natural athletic gifts and instincts you can't coach.  She's also a standout in cross-country.

24--Livy Schiele OF… OC Batbusters -- Stith (Auburn) 

Few, if any, have made such a big jump up the Hot 100 list as Livy, who has really elevated her game in the last several months. She had an awesome .840 batting average at the PGF Shootout.  She's a lefty slapper with outstanding speed and can turn a simple hit to the outfield into a double or even a triple. Livy had a big junior year. She hit  .611 with 35 steals and 59 runs scored, which was 1st in San Diego County. She also had 58 hits which was 2nd in the county.  She earned 1st Team All-CIF honors and was the Coastal League Player of the Year. Defensively, Livy covers half the field as a center fielder and has a strong arm that has led to numerous assists gunning out baserunners trying to take an extra base. A FloSoftball All-American, she committed to Auburn in December of 2013 after being first noticed by Clint Myers at one of his camps when he was the Arizona State head coach.

23--Shaye Bowden C/IF… Birmingham Thunderbolts (Oregon) 

Shaye is from Arizona and is another successful player from her state playing for the Alabama-based Bolts, following in the footsteps of Tamara Statman (Arizona) and Morgan Nelson (Northwestern). Shaye was the 1st Team All-Section and District Player of the Year after hitting a school record .595 with 40 RBIs and 26 runs scored. Defensively, she has a 1.6 pop time behind the plate and has the smarts and experience to call her own games.  Shaye's strength, however, is her versatility. She can catch and play all the infield positions at a high level. At the plate, the Arizona senior is a great gap hitter who hits line drives and pulls out home runs as well. The most impressive stat, though, is this: in three years playing at Arizona's strong Div. 2 level, she's only struck out once in 259 plate appearances.

22--Natalie Lugo P… OC Batbusters -- Stith (Florida)
Natalie is not flashy or a flame-thrower, but an efficient, effective pitcher who one high level coach says "can be brilliant" and "one of the elite pitchers in her class when she's on." She will be a senior leader and one of the leaders for Mike Stith's Batbusters, a team expected to rebound with a strong year after not winning the PGF 18U National Championship for the first time in three years. The San Gabriel Valley Player of the Year after going 18-6 with a 0.62 ERA and 279 Ks in 159 innings, Natalie twice recorded 19 strikeouts in games and had 17 in a tough 1-0 quarterfinal loss that went 10 innings. The So Cal standout is an up-and-down pitcher who has a riseball that is tough to lay off of.  She throws easily and has the good mechanics that allow her to eat up a lot of effective innings.  Natalie committed to Florida during her freshman year. 

21--Alexa Schultz OF… Ohana Tigers (Oklahoma)
Alexa is a compact right-handed hitter who is tough and is able to elevate her game when a key play is needed. She has an explosive swing and hits tape-measure shots to all fields.  She has been a standout on Rob Weil's Los Alamitos High (California) team which finished 26-3 and was ranked #16 in the final FAB 50 High School Rankings. Alexa is a left-fielder with a good arm and athleticism. She has played in the So Cal A's organization, winning an ASA 14U National Championship--she hit four home runs in one day--and getting a 2nd place finish at PGF Nationals before following Coach Shawn Quarles to the Ohana Tigers. Coaches say that the So Cal senior does everything consistently at a high level of success and will be the type of player the Sooners can plug in wherever and whenever she is needed. Alexa committed to the Sooners in December of 2013.