RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
As we get ready to launch the 2023 Extra Elite 100, we are again reminded that one of the fun things about the recruiting journey is discovering new talent that wasn’t as well-known nationally.
In the sophomore class, we may have just discovered one such future super star.
Reganne Bennett from Novi, Michigan is a two-way standout who is dominating with her arm and her bat and her numbers at the high school level are just plain silly.
After last week’s varsity player for Novi High, she’s gone 5-1 in the circle in 12 games with a 0.149 ERA and has allowed opponents just a .045 batting average and in 47.2 innings pitched has given up just one earned run on seven hits.
But it’s her strikeouts that jump off the page: 118 K’s versus just 14 walks (2.5 punchouts per inning).
She’s also done some serious damage with the bat, batting .556 after her first dozen contests with four home runs and 27 RBIs that adds up to a 1.000 slugging percentage and 1.583 OPS.
Her club coach, Dana Fusetti, of Carolina Elite – South Carolina says the meteoric rise of the young pitcher is because of her passion in improving herself.
“Reganne is such a humble Goliath!” says her club coach Dana Fusetti, who may have just given her young player a new nickname. “She is a phenomenal player and teammate and her work ethic is second to none.”
When she joined my team in the summer, she was throwing 63 mph and had a change-up that I told her was completely unacceptable to me…. and now I am in love with her change up!”
“Not only does she bring command on the pitching mound throwing 67 mph but she has a deadly bat with tons of power. She’s one in a million!”
Here’s more on this promising candidate to make the 2023 Extra Elite 100…
*****
Name: REGANNE BENNETT
Hometown/ST: Novi, Michigan
Grad Year: 2023
Positions: P/UT
Club Team: Carolina Elite SC-Fusetti
School (City/ST): Novi High School, Novi, MI
GPA: 4.0
Preferred College Major: Kinesiology/ Exercise Science
Walk us through how a girl from Michigan ends up playing with a club team in South Carolina?
We were scheduled to play Elite in one of our tournaments last year in Georgia so Coach Dana ended up scouting the game that I was pitching. She started talking to my mom and handed her a flyer for tryouts. That next day, we reached out to Coach Dana and basically said that if she ever needed an extra player that I would love to play more softball. She ended up calling us when we were on the road back home to Michigan asking where we were at. They were playing in Chattanooga that next day and she wanted me to play with them. Luckily, we were in Chattanooga, where they were going to play, when she called.
We pulled the car over and had to re-pack all the cars because I had my entire family with us! My dad took my brothers back home and my mom and I ended up staying an extra three days down there to play with them.
When I played with them, I played the best I had all summer. My first game that I played with them I hit two doubles and hit a sac-fly to the warning track of a 225-foot fence. I also pitched that week with them and didn’t give up a single run. The third day of games we played four games then my mom drove through the night to get me to my 8 am game in Ohio with my Michigan team.
The main thing that pulled me to this team was the intensity level of not only Coach Dana, but of all the girls on the team. Coach Dana demands the best effort and performance out of all her players. She helped me do that when I played for her those couple days and I knew that I needed her to keep pushing me to reach my goals.
How do you deal with all the travel? Do you go to limited tournaments and workouts?
This year, because of COVID, I am doing virtual school. That means that I can do my school from the car when we drive down to practices and tournaments. I actually don’t mind the drive because I get to spend time with either my mom or dad, depending on who is taking me that weekend.
During the fall, I went to all of the practices and tournaments with the team. Even though it is a long drive, I think it was important for me to be there. By being at practices, I’ve learned a lot by working with Coach Dana and Coach Chuck. We do a lot at practice that I don’t think I could do just by myself at home. For example, I was struggling with my change up during the fall and before one of our games Karlyn (Pickens, a Top 10 player in the 2022 Extra Elite 100 and club teammate) worked with me on it. It was really helpful because that next game I pitched, it was already better.
You’re a standout in volleyball as well as softball… how do the sports compare in what it takes to succeed? And how are they different?
Both volleyball and softball are high intensity and energetic team sports. They both rely on your teammates but you still have to do your job each play in order to win. My favorite part of volleyball is blocking. I can stop the opponent and give my hitters the chances they need to for a kill.
This year when we faced Northville in our first district game, we were down in the fourth set. Our hopes at a district victory were not looking good. My volleyball coach Kacy Byron looked over at me as I subbed in and told me “I need you to get a block right now.” I got a single stuff block that changed the momentum of the game and we ended up coming from behind and winning.
As a pitcher in softball, I get to control the momentum on defense every pitch. I try to work the counts efficiently so my team can come in and hit without any pressure. Our Novi High School softball team is playing so loose and getting lots of hits. In our last seven games we have scored 81 runs. It is great to know that my teammates have my back to score runs or get kills just like I have their back to hold the hitters or batters at the net or in the box.
When did you first realized you loved softball and wanted to take it into college and maybe beyond?
I used to play high level club volleyball at Legacy. Our team ended up placing third at nationals in 2018. It came to a point when I had to make the decision on which sport I would have to pursue at the next level. I never wanted to give up playing either sport because I enjoy both of them.
*** Scroll down to learn more about Reganne including how she decided she would pursue softball over her other great sports love, volleyball…