Five Players Who Are Crushing The Ball This Summer

After a long and sometimes grueling spring season, you would think that the energy level might be down for some athletes when travel ball season comes around. That is not the case for these five athletes. Hitting can be an art form, and while these players still have two or three seasons to go, they are well on their way to becoming true artists with the bat.   Below, Prep Softball highlights five athletes who are crushing the ball this summer.    After an electric sophomore season for the HCYA Warriors, during which she blasted 18 home runs and collected 58 RBIs, Taegan Lermann has kept her hot streak going this summer. Playing for the Hotshots National 18U Nelson squad, Lermann is batting over .400 with 15 RBIs, four doubles, and two home runs. While playing tough competition in Oklahoma City during Top Club Nationals, she routinely put the ball in play, striking out zero times. Her swing is short and quick through the zone, ideal for hitting line drives into the gap and sometimes over the wall. If you don't pitch her carefully, it's comparable to stretching a rubber band too far, and then getting blasted by the recoil.     It was just another ho-hum season for Chelsea Miller in Alliance, Ohio. After setting the Marlington program record for single-season home runs during her freshman season with 13 (not to mention the record for RBIs as well with 51 and the record for triples with 12), she surpassed all of that in her sophomore season. Her 17 bombs and 53 RBIs are now the new program records. And Miller has not stopped blistering the softball since her high school season ended. Through the first month of summer ball for the Ohio Outlaws 16U National team, Miller has 29 hits, eight home runs, six doubles, and a triple for good measure. The left-handed slugger has no problem getting on top of a rise ball, so don't even bother trying to blow one past her. Are there any Ohio records that are safe?     The Wicksburg program record for single-season home runs had been 17, but Anleigh Wood wasted no time changing that. In an unforgettable freshman season, Wood broke the school record with 18 long balls, to go along with 20 doubles, 70 RBIs, and a .507 batting average. To top it off, Wicksburg also brought home the Alabama 3A state title. Not looking to slow down, Wood has kept the power going so far this summer for Southern Steal. At the Death Valley Invitational last month, she had eight hits, six RBIs, two doubles, a home run, and a .421 batting average. She has power to all fields, and has a fluid swing that drives the ball when her arms are extended. The scariest part for her opposition is that she's just getting started.     Joley Bennett stays awfully busy. When she's not blasting bombs on the softball field (she had 17 of them her freshman season for D'Arbonne Woods), she's throwing the javelin further than anyone else in Louisiana. The two-time defending javelin state champion strikes so much fear into her competition that during the playoffs earlier this summer, she was given a free pass with the bases loaded. What makes her such an accomplished hitter is her incredible pitch recognition. Playing this summer for the Texas Bombers Gold 16U squad, she has taken her approach to the next level. Her balanced stats, including multiple home runs, doubles, and singles, tell the story of a successful and emerging young player.     For the second year in a row, Morgan Sanchez was named to the 6A All-State Team in Texas, and for good reason. The power hitter finished fifth among all sophomores in Texas in home runs with 15, and now has a career .429 batting average to go along with her 22 career home runs. Competing this summer with Impact Gold Premier 2627, she has continued her success with the bat. At the Hot Corners event earlier this summer, she was able to turn around an outside pitch and rip it to the opposite field for a single; then took a rise ball, got on top of it and pulled it past the third baseman for another single; and then took a drop ball and blasted it out of the park into deep center field. She is a pure hitter, and it will be fun to watch her play in the years to come.

After a long and sometimes grueling spring season, you would think that the energy level might be down for some athletes when travel ball season comes around. That is not the case for these five athletes. Hitting can be an art form, and while these players still have two or three seasons to go, they are well on their way to becoming true artists with the bat.