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Maddie “Mac” McCallister, a 2027 C/UT for Lady Dukes 14U-Fouts, is at the USSSA Select 30 National Training Camo this weekend in Florida for the second straight year.
Here’s her blog from Day 2, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023.
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Today was Day 2 of Select 30.
To start off today, my team, Orange #19, and a few other teams started our day at hitting. At hitting, we broke off into three groups of 28. In the first group, we were hitting front toss. For front toss, there were two girls hitting at once. The ladies throwing to us were not given any particular spot to throw to, so it was all mostly down the middle. Each rotation was about 15 minutes long.
The second group were shaggers. All 28 girls in Group 2 would be out in the field while Group 1 was hitting.
Finally, for Group 3 they were hitting off of a tee on a separate field beside Group 1. They did two different drills. One of which was crossover, which is where you put one foot behind the other, then go into your stance and swing away. The other one was just hopping into your swing. My time was cut short by quite a few minutes, so I don’t know if the others groups did anything else. Personally, for me, I started at Group 1/front toss. This lasted from 8:00 a.m. until 8:50 a.m.
The next place I went was inside and we did some learning about recruiting, grades and what coaches look for. NCSA (Next College Student Athlete), are the people that did this segment for Select 30.
The main speaker was Coach Mike Dunlevy. He started off talking about the NCAA recruiting timeline, basically just how often college athletes are recruited in high school. After he spoke about that, he moved on to the topic of grade requirements. The next topic was about helping yourself. By helping yourself, Coach Dunlevy meant ways for college coaches to notice you more. The next thing wasabout gaining exposure.
After that, he moved on to the topic of what coaches recruit their players on the most. Following that, he talked about finding the right fit for you. This lasted from 8:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m.
The next place I went to was Speed/Agility & Chalk Talk.
At this station, all the teams split into two large groups and rotated between speed/agility and chalk presentations. I started at chalk talks where there were three (USSSA) Pride players talking about their recruiting process, what their college day would be like and just answering any other questions the players had.
Once I finished there, we moved to speed/agility and did some dynamic stretches to warm up.
Once we finished dynamics, we broke off into four smaller groups. Each rotation was about 5 minutes. In Group 1, you did the 5-10-5 against another player. In Group 2, you partnered up with one other player and put resistance bands around your waist. You then would shuffle down to second base from the foul line and back. In Group 3, you would run from center field to the foul line along the fence. In the last station, you got back with your partner and used another resistance band to run to second base from the foul line. This lasted from 9:50 a.m. until 10:40 a.m.
Next, we did position-specific training. With this you went to whatever your primary position was you signed up for. For me, I went to catching. At this last, and final rotation, I did two blocking drills and, after we were done, we paired up with 2-3 pitchers and caught them. This lasted from 10:45 a.m. until 11:35 a.m.
At 2:45 p.m. ET, my team, Orange #19, had our first game. For this game, I caught the first and third innings, sat the second inning, and played right field in the fourth and final inning. I got to hit twice, I was walked the first time and I struck out the second time. My team tied, 5-5.
At the very very end of the day, at 6:30 pm., there was a home run derby. Three girls were selected from each age category. After the winner of each age category played against each other, they played against some of the USSSA Pride players. Between each age category, they gave out some prizes to girls who were “most excited” and had the most energy. This year, I won a really cool bat grip.
I am extremely excited to continue these next two days with my amazing teammates and coach/mentors by my side guiding me along the way. Tomorrow, we mostly have classroom work, but I have two back-to-back games at 4:30 p.m. ET and 6:15 p.m. ET.
Make sure to stay tuned to join me on my journey! 🥎🥎🥎🔥🔥🔥
— #130 Maddie “Mac” McCallister