We’re spotlighting 10 players each day on the countdown from No. 100 to No. 1, and there is no shortage of fresh faces — as many as 25 newcomers are in the updated Hot 100!

We’ll announce the top 10 of the class on Friday, Jan. 19, and shortly after will profile the No. 1 player.

These 2019 honorees were chosen based on input and feedback from college and club coaches as well as our own FloSoftball event and in-person observations. 

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

Today, we feature players Nos. 30 to 21, who come from Alabama, California (2), Florida (2), Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

See 2019 Hot 100 Rankings 

30 | Julia Jimenez SS/3B | Firecrackers – Rico (Michigan)

Jimenez is an excellent defensive infielder and is the type of hitter you want on the field when the game is on the line. Scouts say her biggest asset is her softball IQ. One coach said, “She’s a selfless player who wants to help the team and who knows the game so well she’ll raise the play of those around her." As a sophomore, she batted .434 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, and her 14 walks and only one strikeout in 114 plate appearances for Etiwanda (CA) High School helped her bat .500 with a 1.268 OPS. Jimenez can play all the infield positions and even catch, but it’s her bat that keeps her in the lineup. She’s quick and can hit to all fields. Jimenez had strong interest from major programs in the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC before she chose the Wolverines in October 2015.

29 | Madison Webber 1B/OF | Tennessee Fury - Perry/Weekly (Tennessee)

Webber was a FloSoftball First-Team All-American who helped lead The King’s Academy (Seymour, TN) to a 37-3 record and Class 2A state title in 2017 and repeated as an all-state honoree after she batted .556 with a .603 average with runners in scoring position. The infielder also belted 15 home runs and had 71 RBIs in 40 games. For her Fury team this summer and fall, she batted .396 with five home runs against elite competition. A lefty slugger who is the ideal corner prospect with pop, she has a great eye at the plate and is patient enough to wait for her pitch. Defensively, she has the key tools including a strong glove and arm. She could have gone to any Power Five conference but made her decision early when she committed to the Vols in March 2015.

28 | Emma Wilson P/OF | East Cobb Bullets – Caldwell (Florida State)

Wilson is a tall right-hander who throws in the mid-to-high 60s and recently touched 69 mph. She had a pitching injury over the summer that limited her innings in the circle, but she still played key roles on offensive and defense for the Bullets. She’s fully recovered posting a sub-1.00 ERA this fall while batting .484 for Jeff Caldwell’s club team. She also shined in the high school spotlight, earning first-team all-region honors for her Dallas (GA) North Paulding team as she slugged 10 home runs and knocked in 45 RBIs. She had heavy interest from SEC and ACC schools before she committed to FSU in March 2017.

27 | Ashley Daugherty P/IF | Firecrackers – Brashear (Texas A&M)

Daugherty is a 5-foot-9 swing-and-miss power pitcher who also swings a lethal bat. She’s a .400 hitter at both the club and high school levels and made a splash for Templeton (CA) when she pitched a 15-strikeout no-hitter and the same week had a two-hitter with 19 Ks. As a sophomore, she went 15-4 with a 0.54 ERA and completed 17 of the 19 games she started with nine shutouts and three perfect games while limited the opposition to a .102 batting average. At the plate, Daugherty batted .460 with a .585 on-base percentage. The So Cal junior plays on Sean Brashear’s 18U team and at PGF Nationals last summer went 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA and 25 Ks in 29 innings pitched. Despite heavy interest from Pac-12 and other SEC schools, the two-way standout verbally committed to A&M in June 2016.

26 | Chloe Culp C/1B | East Cobb Bullets—Schnute (Florida State)

Culp is one of the true utility players on this list. Easily considered an elite catcher, she can play anywhere in the field — even in the outfield. She played with both the East Cobb Bullets and the Jacksonville Storm Davis teams over the summer, going yard 11 times in great competition. Culp’s versatility is phenomenal but her bat — good enough to earn 3A Florida Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore —makes her unforgettable. For her Tallahassee (FL) North Florida Christian team, Culp hit eight home runs on her way to a .555 average last season and has been selected to Florida’s all-state team for the last three years. Florida’s high school season is around the corner, and Culp is expected to lead her team, after having a brief injury shutdown thanks to a broken nose. Widely recognized as a pure hitter with great speed, she committed to her hometown university, Florida State, in December 2015. 

25 | Maddie Majors OF | Birmingham Thunderbolts (Auburn)

Majors is a 5-foot-10 triple threat. She’s an offensive juggernaut who is almost unstoppable when she gets in the zone, as she can exploit a defense with her soft slap, power slap, and ability to pop the ball to the alleys if the defense creeps up too far. She has excellent physical tools including great footspeed to play multiple positions, particularly centerfielder. Majors led her Hoover (AL) Spain Park team to the Class 7A title game as a freshman, and in 2007 she exploded for a team-record 87 hits in 56 games batting .518 with 56 runs scored, eight triples, and 27 RBIs to help the Jags finish third at the state tournament. Said one coach, “Maddie’s stock has definitely gone up over the last year and it was pretty high before.” Most of the SEC was after her before she decided to stay in state to play for the Tigers.

24 | Bailey Betenbaugh P | East Cobb Bullets—Caldwell (South Carolina)

The South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year award winner led her Union County (SC) team to the Palmetto State’s 4A State Championship, for the third time in four years. Nicknamed “Diesel,” Betenbaugh accumulated 118 Ks and an ERA of 1.38 along the way. No stranger to high-pressure situations, she also led the East Cobb Bullets — Caldwell team to the championship game of the Triple Crown’s Colorado Sparkler Power Pool Bracket Championship, winning the 18U bracket. At 5-foot-9, she’s formidable on the mound but is also a threat at the plate, consistently batting over .500. With a solid deep ball threat in any competition. Betenbaugh picked up all-state, all-region, and FloSoftball All-American honors. She’s headed to the state capital of Columbia to play for Coach Bev and the Gamecocks in the SEC.

23 | Devyn Flaherty MIF | Santa Fe Inferno—Nowling (Florida State)

This speedy slapper burst onto the national scene by attending a Georgia Tech camp — at age 10. Since then, she’s consistently shown her athleticism and range in the middle infield. In fact, she divides her time between softball, soccer, and beach volleyball and excels at all of them. Returning from an ACL tear that occurred during soccer, she attended the recent Monk Bonasorte camp, where excelled against 18U competition and looks to have made an excellent recovery. Her Santa Fe Inferno team, which includes teammates such as Florida commits Mia Buffano and Elizabeth Hightower, finished third at the 16U USA Softball Gold Nationals last summer. In 46 games, she hit nine home runs and only missed three times, good enough for .511 average. She sprays the ball to all fields and has the speed to leg out the throw. With all the early attention, Flaherty received offers from at least a half-dozen top programs but settled on the Seminoles in 2015. 

22 | Makenna Kliethermes P/UT | DeMarini Aces (Oregon)

This right-handed pitcher has command throwing in the mid-60s and made a splash at the So Cal A’s Invitational last summer. It was the beginning of a great run for Kliethermes, who led her Aces to a 43-game winning streak, during which she picked up 290 Ks over 153 innings for an outstanding 0.729 ERA. This fall she handed a loss to the Beverly Bandits-Conroy. She was a first-team all-state player on her Wardsville (MO) Blair Oaks team. Kliethermes had a standout no-hitter in the state semifinal playoff game, striking out 19 batters in a single outing. With interest from multiple Power Five programs, this serious pitcher is heading to the northwest to Oregon, where she will hope to lead Mike White’s Pac-12 program to continued success.

21 | Olivia Rains P/OF | OC Batbusters—Stith (Oklahoma)

Mike Stith added Rains to his talented staff, making her part of a killer three-ace squad rounded out by Farrah Steffany (Arizona) and Alanna Thiede (Oklahoma). These three could add another title to Stith’s club legacy. A mature pitcher with excellent work ethic, Rains is efficient and difficult to hit, with speeds in the mid-60s. In 2017, she threw two perfect games, three no-hitters, and five games with only one hit. In 209 innings, this workhorse collected 260 Ks. She stands 5-foot-10 and has the frame to use to her advantage in the circle and will continue to improve as she gets stronger. Rains smashed a ball that left the yard for Pryor (OK) in the 5A Oklahoma state championship that ended a 20-year title drought for school. She recorded 293 strikeouts over 235 innings and was the Drillers Softball Athlete of the Year in 2017. Another Hot List player who will stay in her home state, Rains will play for the Sooners in college.