Softball Recruiting

[ShockTalk]

She's kinda easy on the old eyes...

kinda???

[1972Shocker]

Skyler looks like a very solid get for Coach B, especially considering she has a couple more years to develop and get stronger.

https://sportsrecruits.com/athlete/sklyer_rodgers

[SubGod22]

It's National Signing Day and we have our first official new Shocker

[SubGod22]

[SubGod22]

[1972Shocker]

Don't recall hearing of Ava Sliger before, but I may have missed that.

Relying in high school stats probably not as telling as travel ball stats:

https://extrainningsoftball.com/the-...g-nov-23-2022/

Club Team: Athletics National 2024-Madden/Clemmer

Graduation Year: 2024

Height: 5-foot-9

Position: P/1B

Travel Ball Highlights/Summer Stats: Pitching —105 IP, 14-4, 49 Ks, 18 BBs, 3.73 ERA and .272 batting average against; Hitting — .263 AVG, .300 OBP and .263 SLG.

High School Highlights/Stats: Pitching — 145.2 IP, 19-4, 240 Ks, 13 BBs, 0.43 ERA and .118 batting average against; Hitting — .393 AVG, .505 OBP, .631 SLG and 3 HRs; District champions, Regional champions and State tournament appearance.

Can you talk about your decision to commit to Wichita State? I decided to commit to Wichita State because it has always been my goal to play D1 softball. The past year, I had the opportunity to attend a camp and I had a great experience with the coaching staff and current players. I like the rural setting and the small town atmosphere of Wichita. I believe the coaching staff will help me be successful academically and athletically at the collegiate level.

---

Travel ball stats are okay. but much less impressive than her high school stat. That is not surprising since Tupelo is a Class B school which are the smallest schools in Oklahoma.

6A - 32 Largest Schools
5A - Next 32 Largest Schools
4A - Next 64 Largest Schools
3A - Next 64 Largest Schools
2A - Next 64 Largest Schools
A - Next 96 Largest Schools
B - All Remaining Schools

[SubGod22]

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Bredbenner Signs Four on National Signing Day

Four student-athletes signed their National Letters of Intent to play softball for head coach Kristi Bredbenner and the Wichita State Shockers.

Catelyn Beckerley, Brookelyn Livanec, Morgan Lloyd and Ava Sliger will join the softball family in the fall of 2024.

"Development is the foundation of Shocker Softball and these young women have the potential to be a big impact class if they walk in on day one and get to work," Bredbenner said. "They are talented, fast, athletic and hungry to continue the tradition of excellence within the Shocker Softball program."

Catelyn Beckerley | 5-8 | Utility | Cedar Park, Texas | Leander High School
Beckerley, a utility player, is the first of three from the Lone Star State in the signing class. Out of Leander High School, Beckerley is coming off a season where she hit .405 and slugged .538, earning second team all-conference honors. As a sophomore, Beckerley was a first team all-conference selection, helping Leander to a conference championship and a 26-6 record. She's a two-time academic all-conference honoree and four-time letterwinner. She's the daughter of David and Catherine Beckerley and has one sister, Cameryn. She plans to major in health sciences at Wichita State.

Coach Bredbenner on Catelyn Beckerley:
"Catelyn is a utility player that can excel behind the plate or in the outfield. She continues to impress us with her versatility and has a high ceiling to develop throughout her time at Wichita State."

Brookelyn Livanec | 5-7 | Outfielder | Baytown, Texas | Barbers Hill High School
A three-time varsity starter and four-time letterwinner, Livanec will join the Shockers to bolster the outfield position. Livanec earned first team all-district honors as a junior and is a 5A state champion. She's a two-time academic all-district selection, TGCA All-Star and was an all-district honorable mention pick as a sophomore. Livanec is a member of the National Honor Society and a member of the honor roll. She's the daughter of Misti McBride, and has one brother, Jacob Livanec. She plans to major in nursing at Wichita State.

Coach Bredbenner on Brookelyn Livanec:
"Brookelyn brings a feisty lefty bat and natural ability in the outfield to the Shocker softball program. She has enough speed to keep the corners on edge and enough power to split a gap for a triple."

Morgan Lloyd | 5-6 | First Base/Outfield | Houston, Texas | Crosby High School
Out of Crosby High School, Morgan Lloyd is set to add speed to the Shocker lineup. She earned first team all-district honors as a sophomore behind a .395 average, 13 doubles, two triples, 19 RBI, 31 runs and 15 stolen bases. As a junior she increased those numbers to .438, 18 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 37 RBI and 24 stolen bases. Her 18 doubles set a school record for a single season. She was then named to the 2022-23 all-district second team. In the classroom, Lloyd is a three-time academic all-district honoree. She is the daughter of Nick Pate and Jennifer Day. Lloyd is currently undecided on a major at Wichita State.

Coach Bredbenner on Morgan Lloyd:
"Morgan is a natural outfielder that gets great reads on the ball and has a strong, accurate arm. When you combine her strengths in the outfield with her lefty potential at the plate she will be one to watch in the future."

Ava Sliger | 5-9 | Pitcher/First Base | Tupelo, Okla. | Tupelo High School
Sliger is coming off a decorated and prolific career for Tupelo High School. The lone pitcher in the recruiting class struck out nearly 1,000 hitters in her prep career. In 596.1 innings, Sliger had a career ERA of 0.94 with 934 strikeouts and only 58 walks. She registered 43 shutouts and had six no-hitters to her name. She holds the school record for strikeouts and helped lead Tupelo to its first state title in school history. Tupelo went 30-4 on the way to a state title, while racking up a tournament championship, district championship and regional championship. As a senior, Sliger went 27-4 in the circle with a 0.9 ERA, 284 strikeouts to only 19 walks, 14 shutouts and a no-hitter. At the plate, she hit .633 with six home runs and 34 RBI. Sliger earned all-state honors and was named to the South Central All-Star Team. Off the field, Sliger is involved with National Honor Society, Indian Honor Society, Oklahoma Honor Society, STUCO, FFA and was named to the Superintendent's Honor Roll. She is the daughter of Chris and Jessica Sliger, and has one brother, Eli. Sliger plans to major in business at Wichita State.

Coach Bredbenner on Ava Sliger:
"Ava is a true competitor with major upside in the circle. She is built strong and her ability has already created a lot of success for her at the high school and travel ball level. We are looking forward to having Ava everyday to see just how her ability and command mature within our program."

[flyingMoose]

Hmm. From the comments by HCKB, this sounds like four projects with none of them expected to contribute immediately. But that is what coaching is for.

[1972Shocker]

Hmm. From the comments by HCKB, this sounds like four projects with none of them expected to contribute immediately. But that is what coaching is for.

Pitching-wise the Shocks will only lose Lauren Howell next year and will be returning Allison Cooper, Alex Aquilar, Erica Schertz and Chloe Barber so their is not any need to throw Ava Sliger into the fire. And to me it sounds like Ava could definitely use a redshirt year to develop.

We will have a couple of big holes to fill in the outfield with Lulu and Barnyard graduating as well as behind the plate with Lainee graduting as well.

Freshman Sophie Johnson appears to be set to take over for Lainee behind the plate and I supsect she will get a chance to give Lainee a break every now and then this year.

Replacing the offensive and defensive prowess of Lulu and Barnyard will be more probematic. The competition for those spots should be pretty wide open and I wouldn't necessarily eliminate Livanec and Lloyd form that competition. However, whoever prevails it is hard not to expect a significant drop off for at least a year or maybe 2. Probobaly not much of chance for any of the fresshman on this year's roster to see much playing time in the outfield. The most likely outfiled replacements on this year's roster are freshmen Avery Barnard and Mila Seaton.

[SubGod22]

KB seems to be recruiting a fair amount of speed and ee may see a little less pop after this year but potentially more speed on D and the basepaths. Maybe a necessary change in style or a couple of the younger ladies continue to improve their hitting and the long ball remains a little more prominent to go with the speed. I'm still excited to see what Avery B can do.

[1972Shocker]

It's not like Syd the Kid, Barnyard and Lulu were a bunch of lumbering Amazon's. All 3 were somewhat undersized kids who developed into excellent hitters. Addison has a shot at adding the Shocker career stolen base record to her legacy. Sydney was lightning quick out of the batters box and a top notch basestealer as well. Lulu has enough speed to have been a fixture in centerfield.

KB sampled the box of chocolates with those 3 and ended up with the FVV, Ron Baker and Craig Porter of Shocker softball.

What KB has never recruited or deployed to any great degree were pure slappers. Not sure that has changed.

Coach B and Coach E like the long ball and extra base hits. You have to work with what you have but I don't think that has or will change much. Now getting so lucky sampling the box of chocolates as she did with Syd, Addy and Lulu might be a bit of a longshot. But Coach B and Coach E seem to have a knack for coaching that approach.

[Rize Ballz]

Two of the current Fr, Avery Barnard and Seaton, are very fast and will be hard to keep out of the lineup.

[1972Shocker]

The Lloyd family went all in on Morgan's signing day:

[pogo]

That is Damned impressive