Tulsa Elite: The Standout 16Us
Despite Mother Nature who didn’t always cooperate during the Tulsa Elite Invitational, teams made the most of their weekend and there was some great competition that took place! We did our best to get around to as many games and teams as possible and if we missed you we hope to see you compete later this summer!
A big thank you goes to Jeff Filali and the Tulsa Elite Organization! “First-class” all the way and put on a great event, even with the weather. Special “kuddos” go to the grounds crew over the weekend, it is amazing what they were able to do in saving the fields so games could be played. They are a very talented group and I was so impressed.
Enjoy other pieces of our coverage from the event as well!
Thursday’s Standouts
14U Standouts
Photos!
Use coupon code “tulsaelite19” for a 30% discount on your subscription!
Wichita Mustangs vs. Impact Herrera
This was a fun matchup between two evenly matched teams. There was a good balance and showing of all facets of the game, especially the play from both catchers.
For Wichita Abby Gordon (2020) handled the catching duties while KK Hall (2021) was behind the dish for the Impact. Both athletes were impressive behind the plate. In general, we saw a number of strong catchers who impressed us and these two also stood out. We all know that catchers are the “generals” of the field, something these two did with a lot of confidence and knowledge, they were in control and lead their teams. It was awesome to watch.
Wichita was well coached and aggressive on the base paths and strong at the plate. Tatum Long (2020 Wichita State commit, Ashley Archuleta (2021), and Rylee Rusk (2021) all caught my eye and Gordon even blasted a near home run to go along with her strong game behind the plate. These Mustangs can really swing it.
For the Impact, they received production from their entire lineup peppering hits from top to bottom and string together at-bats to score runs. Ashley Nickerson (2022), Tyra Parker (2021), and Leslie Figueroa (2022) all caught my eye at the plate.
Aces Black versus Impact Gold National Jazz
In what was one of my favorite contests I watched over the weekend, two incredibly talented teams squared off for an early season matchup we could see repeated later on.
Impact Gold had an amazing 2018 campaign and recorded big time finishes. Their team is comprised of highly recruited and various committed athletes to schools such as Houston, UCLA, Texas A&M, and Texas.
And as talented as this Impact team is, the Aces looked stronger in this matchup. This Aces Black squad was the most complete 16U team I saw last weekend at the Tulsa Elite Invite.
Anchored in the circle by the one-two punch of Tatum Clopton (2021 Oklahoma State commit) and Mac Morgan (2021 Arizona State commit) with a strong defense behind them, the Aces will be hard to score on this summer.
I did not get to see much of Clopton and hope to sometime this summer but Morgan was lights out once she settled into the game. She throws absolute gas (high 60’s) with good movement and a devastating off speed, and again, she was hard to touch.
Another impressive thing about the Aces is their talent at the plate. Kinsey Fielder (2021 Mizzou commit) hit one of the hardest balls I saw all weekend while the entire lineup was all around eye popping. What stuck out to me was their ability to manage the zone, foul off pitches they didn’t want, and even square up balls outside of the zone for hits.
Basically, they were scary good and I am excited to follow them over the course of the summer!
Oklahoma Diamond Girls versus St. Louis Chaos Mohan
While I didn’t get to watch a ton of this game a few things stuck out to me. For the Diamond Girls, Emma Rote (2021) pitched and had some good tools! She was very spinny with some good velocity who worked down in the zone. Some of her pitches floated a bit and resulted in opportunities for the Chaos but in general she threw a good game while I watched.
The Chaos is another talented program out of the state of Missouri with a handful of athlete already committed to various division one programs. While I was at this field Annie Mueller (2020 Missouri State) blasted a grand slam to dead center and Piper Montgomery (2021) also put together a strong at-bat resulting in a sharp liner. Montgomery also caught and had some nice pop behind the dish.
Alexa Davis (2020) handled the pitching duties and was strong showing command of her “up” movement. She made it hard for the Diamond Girls to level and square up her pitches for any kind of hard contact.
16U Oklahoma A’s Madden
The Oklahoma A’s program produces strong teams, athletes, and recruits year in and year out. I was excited to watch 16U Premier Madden compete.
In the circle Grace Anderson (2021) commanded the inside well and showed some good movement. She also fielded her position very well.
Offensively, the A’s showed a lot of power at the plate with the ability to produce from all stops in their lineup. While on defense I was particularly impressed with shortstop, Emily Deramus (2022). She made a few solid plays across the field, moved well side to side and up the middle, and made a few strong throws on the run. She was one of the better shortstops I saw this weekend who continued to move through the play and keep her feet going.
A few miscues over the weekend hurt the A’s (defensive and base running) but that could be as much “early season” dust they need to shake off. All and all I look forward to keeping tabs on them over the summer.
Tulsa Elite 2021 Wood
Wood’s team is another squad I look forward to following this summer has they were very successful during the 2018 season. I was impressed by Bailie Runner (2021) in the circle, it wasn’t an easy weekend for this Tulsa Elite squad (at least while I was watching) but her poise and ability to keep working in the circle was impressive. She had some good velocity and movement and should do well as the summer progresses.
Another team who can probably chalk miscues up to “knocking the dust off”, Tulsa did struggle with some mistakes that hurt them in the long run but if they can clean them up, they will be in good shape! Especially since there were many good moments offensively where the lineup’s talent showed.
Oklahoma Exclusive
Yet another team bursting with talent from Oklahoma, Exclusive Premier was fun to watch! They were strong in all areas of the game; defensively, offensively, in the circle, and softball IQ.
Terin Ritz (2021) handled the pitching duties and she threw well; showed good velocity with some successful off speed pitches. I also loved her motion; it was compact, easy, and explosive – nothing overly elaborate about it and it worked well for her. She can also swing a strong bat.
Exclusive is another team this weekend that really got a lot of production from their entire lineup and wow, they had a lot of pop! I was also impressed by their catcher who was strong behind the plate with a lot of pop (I do not have her information as it isn’t provided in my book). She wasn’t afraid to throw in order to keep runners in place and always had a handle on the game and her defense.
On that note, defensively Exclusive also played well. In their matchup with the Texas Bombers Futures, the defense was strong and kept a Bombers team who was making solid contact off the base paths with their play.
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