Wow!!

A Big 58mph on the radar glove!!! And still only 14, oh yes and a half.
More to come.

Alicia gets dirty

Alicia got some videos on diving back to bases from Softball Peak Performance website. So she decided on this muddy afternoon to go out and practice her diving back and diving for balls in the outfield. This is what she looked like when she came home.

She was also practicing her pitching and tried out a new toy that she got over the holidays. It is a Sports Sensor Glove radar. Alicia's top speed today was 55 mph.

The Alicia Update

Alicia attended an Elite Pitching clinic yesterday sponsored by the Knockouts Softball Organization. The clinic was run by Sarah and Ricky Pauly. The goal of the clinic was to improve the players elite pitches like the curve ball, change up,rise ball, drop ball and screw ball. All of the coaches of the Knockouts commented on Alicia's change up as well as Sarah Pauly, a Pro softball player, said " You have a beautiful change up." This was an excellent training clinic. She learned how to slow her change up down,and how to throw the rise ball, which she has not started in her lessons. The Paulys handed out some detailed notes which are very helpful.

Alicia has been working out at Proehlific Park. She practices pitching in their batting cages regularly. Whenever she pitches at Proehlific she draws a big crowd. You can't help but come over and watch because when the ball hits the glove it sounds like a gun is going off. Even the owner Ricky Proehl was watching her and commented on how hard she was throwing. Alicia has already caught the attention of several Division I recruiters that want to see her when she goes up to 16U. This writer assumes their interest is due to her strong arm,speed, work ethic and ability to play more than one position.

Softball is Alicia's life. Today there was snow on the ground and she used this opportunity to practice her sliding and diving back to the base. Plus of course, exercising her arm with a snowball fight. Then later today she will do some weight lifting.

Dead Zone not so dead

There is so much to tell so let's start with an update of this fall season. Alicia's fall high school league won six of their seven games. Alicia's rec team won six of their eight games. She has one more tournament for her travel team, on the weekend of November 20th.

Alicia's team mates have come up with several nick names for her, Smiley and Sunshine. The writer thinks this shows how much her team mates love her and her character. She is always smiling and trying her best. Alicia is a team player, she encourages and supports her team mates.

Alicia has a new pitching coach because she previous coach Vanessa Oakes Williams took a position as pitching coach at UNC- Wilmington. Alicia's new pitching coach is Teri Fister. Alicia's travel team coaches recently evaluated her pitching skills and plan to use her more on the mound. Alicia has several pitches now, a fast ball, change up, screw ball, backdoor screw, a curve ball and is working on a drop ball.

Alicia also has a new hitting coach, Alex Emeterio, a junior on the UNCG softball team.

The month of November is the Dead Zone for High School Softball. It is not very dead for Alicia. She continues to have hitting lessons, pitching lessons, travel team workouts indoors and outdoors and is enrolled in the PSP program for 3 months at Proehlific Park. She also adds in some weight training and running.

Alicia plays second base most of the time because she is the most comfortable with that position. She also plays outfield and will be doing some pitching. Her travel team, TFS-NC is impressed with her speed and arm strength. She has been lead off batter. Her coach said that he usually puts his smartest player at second base.

Yesterday, Alicia attended the UNCC Fall Showcase Clinic. She was very impressed with the campus, the coaches and the players. Alicia was one of three freshmen that attended. The camp had brought in a former major league baseball player to do video analysis on the player's batting swing. The Major League player was impressed with Alicia's hitting mechanics and only gave her some small suggestions.

At the end of the camp they broke the group into two teams. Alicia played second and right field. Alicia showcased herself by catching a fly ball to right field. She also went 1 for 2 in batting. The pitcher from the Cardinals organization was pitching fast but Alicia hit the ball right back at her and up the middle of the field.

Alicia will be attending an Elite Pitching Clinic on December 4th, put on by Rick and Sarah Pauly.

First Team TFS tournament

This past weekend was the first tournament that the new 12u/14u Team TFS has played in together. It was an amazing weekend. The 12u and 14u were combined in this tournament. The parents and coaching staff really were not sure what to expect and everyone was amazed when we placed second in the silver brackett. This tournament was mostly for training purposes.

Alicia had a double and triple in this weekend's tournament. She played second base and out field.

Alicia continues to maintain a straight A average while playing for three softball teams. Her rec team won there game last night.

Playing for Three Teams

We are very busy with softball at the moment. Alicia is playing for three teams. She made the High School SECC league which is made up of mostly last year's Northern High School's Varsity Softball team. This team is run by Ken Dobbins, who coaches for the Power Fastpitch travel team. She is one of four freshman on a team of 14 players.

She is playing Recreational softball for Oak Ridge to get in more pitching time.

She just had her first real three hour practice withTeam TFS this past Saturday. I am so amazed by what she learned in just that one practice. They did many things that I had never seen on any of the other teams she has played for. Next practice she will be given an 80 page handbook and is expected to study it and be tested on it. This team also wants to see any report cards so they know that the players are doing well in school. Coach Dennis said the more he sees Alicia play the more impressed with her he becomes.

Alicia has also be volunteering her time to help train her brother's Mustang league baseball team for Summerfield Recreational Association. The 9-10 year old boys were at first worried that they would hurt "a girl" and some were disappointed when she hit their pitches into the outfield. I am sure they have come to respect her and she really enjoys helping out.

New Team

Alicia has agreed to play for Team TFS 14u of NC. She is really excited about this new adventure.

Unfortunately, now that Alicia has started High school today she can on longer work with Gwen Johnson, Assistant Coach at UNCG. We are currently seeking a new hitting coach.