We’re excited to introduce outstanding senior pitcher Allison Benning from Lake Elmo, Minnesota as our latest student-athlete blogger as part of our Inside Pitcher series.
Allison, who signed with the University of Oregon yesterday, is a tall and dominating pitcher who was ranked as a Top 15 overall selection in the 2021 Extra Elite 100 that recently came out and was one of four in the Top 30 for the Ducks.
She also was named as the 2020 Minnesota Gatorade Softball Player of the Year and made the Extra Inning Softball 2020 All-Summer Team as she compiled a 1.27 ERA with 175 K’s for Top Gun National – Turner while batting .472 with 14 home runs and 61 RBIs against top competition.
A power arm from the Midwest leads off our ‘21 signing class 💪.@allisonbenning_ joins the flock as the No. 1️⃣3️⃣ recruit nationally and the Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/RqcMb6yfgp
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) November 11, 2020
We’ve known about Allison’s on-field talents for a while now and did a recruiting spotlight on her titled: Oregon-Bound Pitcher Allison Benning is “Looking for Redemption” last December.
What we didn’t know is that she wants to major in Journalism at Oregon and is already a talented writer with things to say!
Today, in her initial Inside Pitch, Allison makes a strong case for her region of the country getting better and better when it comes to producing softball talent…
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When you think of the best places to find great softball, what places come to mind?
The West Coast? The East Coast? Down South? While these areas boast tons of talented players, there is one specific region in the country whose softball is underrated: the Midwest.
When you think of the Midwest, softball is probably not something that is on the forefront of your brain. Maybe cornfields? Snow? Fishing?
I say this only because I’m from the Midwest, and that is what I see every time I look out the window!
However, the cold states have recently improved as hot spots for softball. Some of the best players in the nation, including pitchers Jordyn Bahl (#1 in Extra Innings Class of 2021, Oklahoma signee) and Keagan Rothrock (#1 in Extra Innings Class of 2023, Florida commit) are both residents of Midwestern states (Nebraska and Indiana, respectively).
Another indicator of the rise of softball talent in the area is the increasing number of commits to powerhouse Div. 1 colleges, including seniors like:
- infielder Kinsey Fielder of Missouri (Washington signee),
- pitcher Mac Morgan of Missouri (Arizona State),
- outfielder Ashton Maloney from Missouri (Texas),
- catcher Jessie Blaine also from Missouri (Auburn),
- infielder Kami Kortokrax of Ohio (Ohio State signee),
- pitcher/utility Izzy Harrison of Indiana (Kentucky),
- and juniors such as pitcher Alexis Paulsen from Ohio (Washington commit) and third baseman Taylor Pannell of Illinois (Tennessee commit).
As a Minnesotan, I am particularly proud that Minnesota has been producing a ton of talent, churning out many DI signees. Here are some that come to mind:
- Joie Fittante (#82 in Extra Innings Class of 2021 and an East Carolina University signee), who is a great defensive catcher and power hitter,
- McKinley Malecha (University of Nebraska signee), a catcher with a big arm and power at the plate,
- Annie Volkers (Illinois State signee), a high-level left-handed pitcher with a lot of spin and deception.,
- Brynn Hostettler (University of Minnesota signee), a pitcher with a great array of pitches who is a bulldog on the mound.
Additionally, two Minnesotan pitchers have verbally committed to Power-5 schools: Taylor Hess (#95 in Extra Innings Class of 2022, University of Kentucky commit), who is a dominant left-handed pitcher, and Syd Schwartz (University of Minnesota commit), a junior who commands the zone with great spin on the mound and is a pure power hitter.
More and more Midwest-based organizations have proved themselves as some of the top title-winning club programs softball, including the Beverly Bandits out of Chicago; the Iowa Premier and the newly-emerging Top Gun Fastpitch organization out of Kansas City.
In my home state of Minnesota, two long standing programs with great track records are the Midwest Speed and the Minnesota Magic.
Of course, one of these programs holds special meaning as I have been a part of the Top Gun organization for the last two years. Over the last five years, Top Gun has produced over 90 commits and had 18 signees in the Class of 2021, eight of whom are headed to DI schools.
More evidence of the program’s development is the 18U National team, who I am very lucky to be a part of. It burst on the national scene as a strong second-year 16U team last year and compiled a 54-22-4 record playing an elite schedule and beating many Top 25 teams along the way.
We placed 2nd in the PGF Independence Day Invite and got 9th at USA Gold Nationals. If you want to learn more about the Top Gun 18U National team, you can click HERE to see club profile that Extra Inning did on us titled Top Gun National 18U Shines in 2020… Loaded for 2021 Due to “Culture” & “Closeness.”
While softball on the East and West Coasts and down South has been dominant for many years, watch out for Midwest softball!
There are still many hidden gems that have yet to be discovered. I am proud to be a resident of the Midwest and am very excited for the potential Midwest softball has to be a force in the future!
— Allison Benning, Class of 2021, Lake Elmo, Minnesota
