2017 Softball College Signings: Around the Horn with Top 25. Below are the highlights for those have reports their classes.
Oklahoma
NORMAN – Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso has announced the addition of four student-athletes that have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Oklahoma softball program in the fall of 2017.
Signing NLIs with the Sooners are Jocelyn Alo (Hauula, Hawaii), Lynnsie Elam (Chickasha, Okla.), Eliyah Flores (Grand Terrace, Calif.) and Alexa Schultz (Los Alamitos, Calif.).
“This class, as a whole, has a lot of power,” Gasso said. “They can hit the ball hard, and they’re very strong. This class has a lot of passion when they play, and it’s very enjoyable to watch them because you can tell they love what they’re doing.
“Each one of these athletes have been playing for championships so they have the pedigree of what it takes to win championships, which is very important for our classes to come in and get acclimated quickly as freshmen. When they have that experience, usually they can step right in and feel comfortable.”
Auburn
“We’re excited about this class,” said head coach Clint Myers. “They’re very talented and athletic. They’re going to make us better.”
In total, the Tigers inked eight players, including five local players from the states of Alabama and Georgia. The class also spans nation-wide as three signees hail from California and Illinois to make up the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class.
“This is our first full SEC-caliber class since we got here and we expect every player in it to be a positive impact to the program,” stated assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Scott Woodard. “How fast this happens will depend on them. It has players in all four position groups and gives us tremendous depth for the 2018 season. We will be replacing the entire left side of the infield much like we did the right side this year, so having depth in the infield was imperative. We also have two pitchers in this class, which will bring our depth in the circle back up as well.”
Auburn has signed Kara Bilodeau (Cumming, Ga./South Forsyth), Makenna Dowell (Suwanne, Ga./North Gwinnett), Chardonnay Harris (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest), Mackenzie Nutt (Madison, Ala./Sparkman), Jenna Olszewski (Hoover, Ala./Spain Park), Livy Schiele (Bonita, Calif./The Bishop’s), Taylon Snow (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) and Abby Tissier (Hoover, Ala./Hoover).
LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. – Coming off of its second-straight Women’s College World Series appearance in June, LSU head softball coach Beth Torina and the Tigers announced the signings of Taryn Antoine, Cristiona Caccamise, Kara Goff and Shelbi Sunseri to National Letters of Intent and will be freshman in the fall of 2017.
Of the four newly-minted signees, Antoine hails from Louisiana and Goff from Alabama, while Sunseri hails from Texas and Caccamise from California.
“We are so excited to receive National Letters of Intent from our signees in the class of 2017. They are a diverse group that includes pitching, solid defense and both power and speed at the plate,” Torina said. “They are sure to make an immediate impact with our program and in the SEC.”
Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan softball team received National Letters of Intent from four student-athletes during the early signing period, head coach Carol Hutchins announced Wednesday (Nov. 9). The quartet — infielder Alexis Allan, LHP Meghan Beaubien, infielder Taylor Bump and RHP Sarah Schaefer — will join the Wolverines next fall and make their collegiate debut during the 2018 softball season.
“We’re very excited about this class,” said Hutchins. “It’s a talented group that has a great deal of potential and the ability to fill our needs right away. That’s what we need them to do. We expect them to come in and make an impact.”
Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama softball inked its first signee of the early signing period as Kyra Lockhart signed her National Letter of Intent to join the Crimson Tide for the 2017-18 school year.
“Kyra is one of the top power-hitting prospects in the 2017 class,” UA head coach Patrick Murphy said. “She has a great demeanor which in turn makes all of her teammates better. We are very excited to welcome Kyra to The Capstone next year.”
Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida softball program and head coach Tim Walton have announced the addition of six future Gators – Danielle Romanello, Hannah Adams, Haven Sampson, Jordan Matthews, Josie Page and Natalie Lugo – to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
The Gators come off of winning the program’s sixth overall SEC regular-season championship and their third over the last four seasons.
“We are very excited to sign these six athletes to join our program at the University of Florida.” Walton said. “Not only are we signing good softball players, but we are signing young ladies that have competed in many different sports winning many different championships all over the country. We look forward to the future of the softball graduating class of 2017.”
Oregon
EUGENE, Ore. – Head coach Mike White and the four-time defending Pac-12 champion Oregon softball program have signed four standout high school players to National Letters of Intent for the 2017 recruiting class.
“I’m excited, we have some really excellent talent in this class,” White said. “We wanted to add depth to our pitching and catching with this group and we definitely did that. It’s also great to have a local recruit for the first time in a while. All four players are excellent students and come from prominent travel ball teams from around the country.”
The class, ranked No. 8 in the nation by FloSoftball.com, features C/OF Mary Iakopo, OF Lauren Burke, C/IF Shaye Bowden and P/1B Olivia Kinsey. It is the highest ranked class in the nation featuring four-or-less signees.
LLU
LAFAYETTE – Eight student-athletes signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to join the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball program beginning with the 2017-18 academic year.
The Ragin’ Cajuns and head coach Michael Lotief signed three Louisiana high school standouts in Carrie Boswell (Alexandria, La./Alexandria Senior HS), Casidy Chaumont (Moss Bluff, La./Sam Houston HS) and Sarah Koeppen (Bossier City, La./Benton HS).
The remainder of the 2017-18 signing class includes Texas products Kimber Cortemelia (Lake Jackson, Texas/Brazoswood HS), Casey Dixon (Willis, Texas/Willis HS), Caitlin Garcia (Spring, Texas/Spring HS), Teryn Pritchett (Palmer, Texas/Palmer HS) and Jolie Readeaux (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes HS).
Washington
SEATTLE, WASH. — Coach Tarr and the University of Washington Softball program announced the signing of five talented student-athletes who will join the team in the fall of 2017. The athletics department received national letters of intent from Morgan Allen, Noelle Hee, Emma Helm, Nawai Kaupe and Gabbie Plain.
“The 2017 signing class brings us five young women who are Washington type players,” said Tarr. “They embody the character traits our program was founded on- discipline, toughness, versatility and intelligence. They fit our system and will develop under our coaching staff and our veteran players. Gabbie (Plain) brings Junior National Team playing experience to our pitching staff, has the pitch balance and pitching repertoire to compete both in the Pac 12 conference and at the national level. Emma (Helm), Morgan (Allen) and Noelle (Hee) each bring versatility and power to our lineup. Emma is a left-handed power bat, Morgan and Noelle both bring us power and RBI potential from the right side. Nawai (Kaupe) is a tooled shortstop from Maui, with a plus arm. She has the potential to compete right away in our middle infield. She does the things the great middle infielders can do, she makes plays that are difficult to teach. We are proud of this signing class and we look forward to helping develop them into the best softball players and people that they can be in the next five years.”
Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona softball inked seven of the top players in the country on National Signing Day on Wednesday, head coach Mike Candrea announced. Arizona’s class has been ranked sixth nationally by FloSoftball.
The Wildcats welcome Hanah Bowen, a pitcher/third baseman from Ramona, California, Ivy Davis, an infielder from Huntington Beach, California, Taylor Gilmore, a pitcher/infielder from Broomfield, Colorado, Lexi Harrington, a catcher from Granite Bay, California, Jenna Kean, an outfielder from Los Alamitos, California, Hannah Martinez, a third baseman from Corona, California and Taryn Young, an outfielder from Anaheim Hills, California.
“This is a class that fits our needs,” said head coach Mike Candrea. “There are still some question marks – I always believe that you don’t know how good a recruiting class is until they’re, probably, juniors. It definitely fills some voids for us. We graduate eight seniors and bring in seven. I think all of these kids have a chance of coming in and helping our program. From a physical and athletic standpoint, I’m very excited about this class.”
Utah
SALT LAKE CITY – Katie Faulk, Julia Noskin, Alyssa Palacios, Abby Robertson, Chandler Walter and Camryn Woodall have signed National Letters of Intent to play softball for the University of Utah beginning in the spring of 2018, head coach Amy Hogue announced today.
“We’re excited about this new generation of Utes that we’ve signed,” Hogue added. “With the success of the program in the last couple of seasons we look to raise the bar in every area, and these six players are as excited as we are about being a part of Utah Softball. Each of them brings unique qualities that can will help us towards our goals in the Pac-12 and nationally.”
Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee softball co-head coaches Ralph & Karen Weekly announced the addition of four newcomers as part of UT’s 2017 signing class on Thursday afternoon.
“Karen and I are very excited about all four of these outstanding young student-athletes,” Ralph Weekly said. “They are talented players who epitomize our core values. We look forward to their immediate impact both on and off the field.”
Gabby Sprang (No. 3), Amanda Ayala (No. 37), Ashley Morgan (No. 70) and Brooke Langston (No. 91) are all included in FloSoftball’s Hot 100 Rankings for the Class of 2017, giving the Volunteers the 12th ranked class in the country. This class will be eligible for competition starting in the 2017-18 academic year.
Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M softball signed seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent, head coach Jo Evans announced Friday. The signees will join the program in the fall of 2017.
Signing NLIs are Dani Elder (League City, Texas), Maddie MacGrandle (Frisco, Texas), Hannah Mayo (Corpus Christi, Texas), Gabby Moreno (Montgomery, Texas), Randi Carol Phillips (Jefferson, Texas), Kayla Poynter (Loganville, Ga.) and Abby Smith (Prosper, Texas).
“We are excited about our 2017 signing class,” head coach Jo Evans said. “We bring in a lot of depth on the pitching mound with Kayla Poynter, Maddie MacGrandle, Hannah Mayo and Randi Carol Phillips. Each pitcher has a different skill set than the other and they will be a great complement to our current pitching staff. Dani Elder and Abby Smith give us depth behind the plate and Gabby Moreno gives us versatility in the infield and outfield. Poynter, MacGrandle, Smith, and Moreno, all hit for power, while Dani Elder is a gap-to-gap hitter. This is an outstanding group of young women; high achievers in the classroom and high character people. They will be a great addition to our program.”
Minnesota
“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Hannah, Macy, Ellee, Rachel, and Alex to the Gopher softball family,” head coach Jessica Allister said. “This group is made up of tremendous students that will bring versatility, depth in the circle, speed and power to our roster. These five student-athletes are a great start to our 2017 recruiting class. Today is an exciting day for Gopher softball.”
Baylor
WACO, Texas – The Baylor softball squad signed four student-athletes to national letters of intent for the 2018 class, announced by head coach Glenn Moore on Wednesday.
The Lady Bears add two Texans, one Californian, and a South Dakota native, rounding out a deep class that will start at Baylor in the fall of 2017 and hit the field for the 2018 season.
“This is a very diverse class with quality athletes who are better people than softball players, and they can play some softball,” said Moore. “I think this class has a very high ceiling and will train themselves into being great Division I-level players. I’m extremely proud of the work my staff did that resulted in this great product.”
Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State head coach Linda Garza has signed her first recruits as a Bulldog during the early signing period for the 2017-18 academic year.
“We have a great senior class graduating in the spring who’ve made a strong impact on Bulldog softball,” Garza said. “Our goal is to continue signing great student-athletes who win on and off the field. Our focus is finding coachable players with a strong work ethic, a desire to win, and add power, speed and/or athleticism.”
The ‘Dogs received National Letters of Intent from outfielder Keala Brown (Tokay High School / Stockton, Calif.) and infielder Hailee Rios (San Marcos High School / Santa Barbara, Calif.).
Notre Dame
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball program completed the 2021 early signing period by inking five talented student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. The quintet is set to attend Notre Dame beginning with the fall 2017 semester.
Sarah Genz, a right-handed infielder from Lakeville, Minnesota (Homeschooled), Alexis Holloway, a right-handed pitcher from Crown Point, Indiana (Crown Point High School), Morgan Ryan, a right-handed pitcher from Greensburg, Pennsylvania (Hempfield Area High School), Abby Sweet, a right-handed outfielder/infielder from Newhall, California (Hart High School), and Riley Wester, a left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing outfielder from Huntington Beach, California (Edison High School), will officially join the Notre Dame roster prior to the 2018 softball season.
South Florida
TAMPA (Nov. 9, 2016) – Head USF softball coach Ken Eriksen has signed four student-athletes to a National Letter of Intent for the 2017-18 academic year. Miriam Schmoll, Kyndall Williams, Jasmine Haynes and Georgina Corrick will be tasked with replacing a senior class that includes 2016 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Juli Weber.
“We are really excited about our 2017 signee class,” Eriksen said. “All four students are successful on the field and in the classroom. Not only are we excited but we feel extremely lucky to have Georgina , Jasmine, Miriam, and Kyndall join the USF Athletics family.”
