Curiouser and curiouser… to quote Alice from “Alice in Wonderland.”
True, we’re not seeing the volume of underclass players commit like before—although there is still news coming which we expect we’ll hear about for a while.
For example, we learned this week of a top 2023 shortstop/catcher who plays for an 18U team that will compete at PGF that committed initially to one SEC school but changed RIGHT before the new signing rules kicked in April 25th who ended up at another SEC school! She makes our list below…
But what we are seeing is two trends that should keep you coming back each week and vested in the evolving Extra Inning Softball Signing/Verbal list that encompasses players from the Classes of 2018 to 2024.
1) There’s a significant number of players who had committed to one university program, but ended up signing with another.
For example, researching the Elite 100 2018 class, we’ve learned of two standout players (included below) that include a top pitcher from Colorado who originally verbaled to a Mountain West school but ended up at LSU and an All-State outfielder from the West who was headed to the Big Ten, but inked with Stanford.
With coaching changes happening in the past at places like Auburn, James Madison, Stanford and, more recently, Lamar and North Carolina State, you’ll see more of this…
2) Another interesting trend is the changing of club teams… and sometimes, it’s pretty significant!
We know of one top senior who’s headed to a Power 5 school who’s played for five club teams in as many years!
And we noticed an interesting development this week in Southern California with one of the top 18U teams: two Oregon signees—infielder Rachel Cid and outfielder Alyssa Pinto—have joined another Duck 2018 talent in Jasmine Sievers on the California Cruisers 18U Gold team coached by Mel Sievers.
Cid comes from Northern California and played for the All American Sports Academy team while Pinto was with the Firecrackers – Rico squad last summer.
And a top 2019 talent in outfielder Deijah Pangilinan, who also played for a top Nor Cal team in the past—Sorcerer—is now on the Cruisers’ roster making them one to watch this summer in whatever tournament they play in.
Certainly, it will help the four future teammates in Eugene have more experience and expected better chemistry having played together a summer in club ball, but it is a development to watch to see if it will happen more…
