Inside Pitch: What Sept 1—the Start of the Recruiting Contact Period—Was Like For 2023 Player Ellie Bostedt

Ellie Bostedt is a talented 2023 pitcher from Las Vegas who, like many across the nation waited excitedly—and nervously!—for September 1, 2021 to roll around because that was the first day college coaches could directly contact the current junior class prospective recruits.

Some got phone calls when the clock struck midnight, but most communications were via texts or emails.

A member of the 2023 Extra Elite 100, Ellie has a 4.46 GPA and created a great website where she has videos, stats, transcripts and more for college coaches to see. She will play this Fall for the Explosion team led by Donnie Hagberg and Bret Denio based in Southern California.

Ellie shared with us how Sept. 1 went… and is still going!

Here’s what transpired with her and, let’s just say, any parent would be ecstatic with the schools who have reached out and expressed interest!

Note: if any players want to share their story of Sept. 1, email us at [email protected].

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My name is Ellie Bostedt and this is one of the most exciting and terrifying times of my life as a girls softball player!

September 1^st of my junior year was the day we all wait for as softball players and, hopefully, it’s the start of us getting calls or emails from college coaches to extend our careers while furthering our education.

Well, this year I was told by many that—because of COVID 19—many 2022’s, even 2021’s, are still waiting to be recruited and the transfer porthole is as full as it’s ever been.

I was told to not expect anything immediately and that I must be patient and that there is a place for everyone.

Even my own father warned me of this; yikes, not a lot of faith!

I must admit, one bit of advice I’ll pass on is to make sure you are on a team that has your best interests in mind. When it came time for that, I was lucky enough that the So Cal Athletics – Briggs team needed a pitcher, so away I went.

I felt I had an excellent summer producing when I was called upon and being in the Briggs organization certainly helped me be in the spotlight as we play a national schedule.

We got to play in a lot of the bigger national tournaments like Boulder IDT, Alliance Nationals, Triple Crown Nationals, etc.

This, along with the help of a good recruiter who was referred to us by the name of Woody Ramos, had developed what we thought would be a winning combination to get me looked at as a prospective collegiate athlete.

In other words, if Coach Briggs did what the team promised, and Mr. Ramos delivered too, hopefully, we would be getting a few calls September 1st. My recruiter and Coach Briggs made sure I updated and wrote schools as much as I could on a weekly basis.

The eve of September 1^st came, and I was as nervous as I have ever been. I worried, “What if no one calls?” and “What if I am not good enough?”

I was always taught to have a “killer mentality,” but even the best players feel self-doubt I would assume. I have worked and worked just like everyone else, was this enough?

At a quarter to 9 pm, I was super nervous; so much so that my dad told me to “relax!” which is obviously easier said than done!

I was glued to my email and when 9 pm came—which was midnight on the East Coast and technically Sept. 1 there—nothing came. 9:03 pm… nothing. 9:05 pm… nothing.

Finally, at 9:08 pm I received my first email… it was from an Ivy League school. The amount of joy that came over me is difficult to express. It literally brought a lump to my throat and a tear in my eye.

Fifteen minutes later,  I received another email from a second Ivy League school asking to set up a call later in the day. I also received a text from Cal Baptist University and almost at the same time as Cal Baptist, I received an email from Ball State.

At this point my adrenaline was skyrocketing and I could barely contain myself!

Not jumping the gun, but it seemed at that moment that all my hard work in the classroom and on the field was paying off.

I finally fell asleep in excitement mode well after midnight. Waking up for class was difficult, but I powered through it and was happy to discover I had three more emails waiting in my in-box: two from Ivy League schools and one from a program in the Patriot League.

I was feeling beyond blessed at this point and appreciated what my Dad had always told me: “Your hard work will pay off.”

With God’s blessing, this was coming to light and later that day I sat in class and thought about how lucky I am to even be in this position.

I was always taught that people have real struggles in this life, such as not having enough food or a place to live. Others have to worry about dodging bombs and what not.

I get to play softball and, hopefully, attend a prestigious university. I am one of the lucky ones and will take nothing for granted.

So far, this is my story!

— Ellie

P.S. Since I wrote about the initial day, George Washington University and Princeton have reached out to me as well making it five out of the eight Ivy league schools that have contacted me.

My happiness is at an unexplainable level and I wish I could articulate it into words!

My Dad is going nuts too as we have worked a long, long time to get to this point. I’m appreciative to have the right people in my corner and for that I am grateful.