MaxPreps 2015 Small Schools All-American Softball Team

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Player of the Year: Samantha Show, East Bernard (Texas), Sr.

Show, who as a sophomore was named MaxPreps Sophomore of the Year during a standout season at Pearland (Texas), stood tall in the circle and in the batter's box as she led her team to the Texas 3A state title and a 38-2 season.

Despite being walked 43 times, Show batted .688 and drove in 65 runs (with at least one in 26 different games). She had a 1.666 slugging percentage and a 2.448 OPS to go along with her .781 on-base percentage. She hit 22 home runs and scored 59 times.

But it wasn't her huge offensive numbers that grabbed the headlines. It was her 33 wins (against two losses) and her better than two strikeout-per-inning average (437 in 215 innings). She had 21 shutouts and allowed just 18 earned runs in posting a 0.59 ERA.

Opponents batted just .084 against Show and collected only 61 hits – three fewer than Show collected during the season. She was named the Texas Gatorade Softball Player of the Year in 2015 and 2013, and struck out 1,056 in 541 innings in four high school seasons. Her record was 86-7 and she drove in 185 runs and hit 41 round-trippers.

For her sterling senior season, the future Texas A&M Aggie is the MaxPreps 2015 Small Schools Softball Player of the Year.

Coach of the Year: Don Silva, Mt. Hope (Bristol, R.I.)

Silva, who served in the Navy for 28 years (including in Vietnam), guided the Huskies to a state D-III title and an unbeaten season at 16-0.

The Huskies won just three games in the previous five years and from 2009-14, the softball team's combined record was 27-79. Because of the Huskies' lack of success, realignment dropped the team down to Division III from Division II. There was concern that Mount Hope wouldn't be able to field a team for the 2015 season.

The Huskies responded under Silva's leadership and outscored their opponents by an average of 13.4 to 1.6 runs per game.

"I like challenges," Silva told ESPNBoston.com. "I've never shied away from challenges my entire life. The Navy taught me that. I knew some of the kids going into the season were great kids. I thought they should play in an environment that should be free from yelling.

"It should be an enjoyable situation. Games should be fun."

Junior Maddie Reis finished the regular season with a 13-0 record, a 0.79 ERA, 12 walks, 108 strikeouts and 34 hits allowed in 72 innings.

They also had hitting: Five players hit over .500: Carissa Rego (.605); Samantha Eddy (.588); Reis (.525), Jessica Cerce (.510) and Brianna Gendreau (.510). And Cerce stole 26 bases.

Team of the Year: Richmond (Maine)

Richmond, coached by Rock Coughlin, captured its third-consecutive Class D softball state championship and finished the season without a blemish, 18-0.

In the state title game, the Bobcats pounded out 10 hits on the way to their 52nd-straight win.

Richmond became just the second Class D team to win three titles in a row, joining Jonesport-Beals (1992-94).

Richmond has won six straight Western Maine titles and went 7-0 in winning the Class D West Softball Conference, outscoring its opponents 94-20.

Kelsie Obi was named to the State Senior All-Star West Team and Miranda Martin and Sydney Tilton were named to the West Underclass All-Star team.


First Team

P - Cielo Meza, St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.), Sr.
Meza went 21-5 with a 0.57 ERA and struck out 348 batters in 158 innings. She allowed just 52 base hits and walked just 17 in being named the CIF-SS D-5 POY. She has signed with Long Beach State.

P - Taran Alvelo, Bloom-Carroll (Carroll, Ohio), Sr.
The Washington-bound Alvelo holds Ohio's career records for home runs, strikeouts and pitching victories, and she led BCHS to four state title games. As a senior, she fanned 404 batters in 186 innings and won 26 of 28 games. Opponents collected just 58 base hits off her. At bat, she hit .526 with 11 home runs and drove in 39.

P - Maci Ingram, Nashville (Ill.), Sr.
This season, she accumulated a record of 33-2 with a 0.56 ERA and led her team to a Class 2A state championship. She had 430 strikeouts and for her efforts, Ingram was the Southern Illinoisan's Softball Player of the Year. Ingram finished her prep career with a record of 108-11 and 1,422 strikeouts. She is second in Illinois High School Association history in wins and fifth in strikeouts. She has signed with McKendree University.

P - Autumn Humes, Bald Knob (Ark.), Jr.
Humes posted a 26-1 record in the circle along with a 0.41 ERA this past season, leading the Bulldogs (30-2) to the Class 3A state championship. Humes struck out 246 batters in 155 innings pitched, allowing 55 hits and 23 walks en route to 11 shutouts and three perfect games. At the plate, she batted .543 with 11 home runs, 67 RBIs and a 1.117 slugging percentage.

P - Ashley Guillette, Oxford (Conn.), Sr.
Guillette led the Wolverines to Class M state title. She had a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts in the state semifinals, then a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts in the state final. Guilllette allowed only five runs all season with a 25-1 record, 407 strikeouts and just 10 bases on balls. She pitched 10 no-hitters (five perfect games) and with 20 shutouts, had a 0.15 ERA. For her career, she was 92-10 with 1,503 strikeouts, 22 no-hitters, 63 shutouts and a 0.25 ERA. She is headed to Coastal Carolina.

P - Ali Burdette, Buffalo (W. Va.), Sr.
Burdette led the Bison (32-6) to the Class A state championship this past season. She posted a 25-1 record and a 0.34 ERA in the circle, along with a .674 batting average, 10 home runs and 50 RBIs at the plate. The Kanawha Valley Player of the Year, she struck out 253 batters in 161 innings against just 15 walks. Burdette is a four-time member of the Class A All-State Tournament Team and was co-captain of the Class A All-State Team as a junior. She will attend Marshall University.

P - Meghan Beaubien, St. Mary Catholic Central (Monroe, Mich.), So.
Beaubien led the Kestrels (36-5) to the D-3 state title and threw a no-hitter in the title game. In compiling a 28-3 record, Beaubien threw 10 no-hitters and struck out more than 400 batters on the season. Named Michigan's Gatorade Softball POY, she has committed to Michigan.

P - Megan Deiter, Silver Lake (Kan.), Sr.
Deiter pitched every inning in the state tournament and allowed just one hit, which came against Riverton. She struck out a total of 48 hitters in three games as Silver Lake won its third-straight title with her in the circle. In the final, all but two Hillsboro outs were via strikeout as Deiter finished with 19. She will attend Mid American Nazarene University.

P - Josie Wood, North Miami (Denver, Ind.), Sr.
Wood compiled a 21-3 record with 318 strikeouts in 151 innings and a 0.14 ERA. She had 18 shutouts. Wood also stole 26 bases and batted .485 with 43 RBIs in 30 games. Wood, who lost 1-0 in the state 2A semifinals, has signed with Indiana.

P - Marina Vitalich, Mary Star of the Sea (San Pedro, Calif.), Sr.
The George Mason-bound Vitalich was nearly unhittable this season, finishing 22-4 with a minuscule 0.54 ERA and 367 strikeouts. She had 18 shutouts and 24 complete games and etched her name permanently in the record books, as her 1,154 career strikeouts placed her eighth all time in the CIF Southern Section.

P - Lainey Stephenson, Veritas Prep (Phoenix), So.
Stephenson struck out 468 batters in 186 innings to go with a 0.45 ERA and 26-4 record. She walked just 15 batters and limited opponents to a .076 batting average. She also batted a team-high .478 with 31 RBIs. Veritas lost 1-0 in the state semifinals to eventual champion Superior.

C - Taylor Johnson, Beecher (Ill.), So.
Johnson batted .624 with 15 home runs, 50 RBIs and 58 runs scored this past season, leading the Bobcats (24-7) to the Class 2A sectional semifinals. A returning first-team All-Area selection as named by the Chicago Sun-Times, Johnson worked 24 walks and collected 31 extra-base hits, recording a .706 on-base percentage and a 1.312 slugging percentage. Johnson, who has committed to Wisconsin, was the state's Gatorade POY for softball.

C - Averi Munro, Morrice (Mich.), Jr.
Munro led Morrice into the postseason as she batted .717, hit five home runs and drove in 69 runs. She also had 43 stolen bases.

C - Taylor Pack, Sutter (Calif.), Sr.
The UCLA-bound Pack closed out a sterling four-year career with .a 551 batting average, 57 runs, 70 hits, 45 RBIs, 21 doubles and 16 stolen bases, as the Huskies won the CIF Northern Section D-4 title.

C - Cassidy Kelsheimer, Chase County (Cottonwood Falls, Kan.), Sr.
Kelsheimer, who will play at Wichita State next year, batted .540 with 35 RBIs and 31 runs scored in leading Chase County to its fourth-straight Class 2-1A title. In her four seasons, Chase County won 97 of 98 games.

IF - Sydney Townes, Cabrillo (Lompoc, Calif.), Sr.
Named the Lompoc-area Player of the Year, Townes batted .574 with 31 stolen bases and 32 runs in 19 games. She will attend Santa Barbara City College.

IF - Kaila Searcy, Paraclete (Lancaster, Calif.), Jr.
Searcy hit 22 homers, drove in 74 runs and batted .668 to lead Paraclete to the CIF-SS D-6 title. Searcy, who has committed to Central Arkansas, was 16-1 in the circle with a 0.65 ERA and struck out 1.5 batters per inning.

IF - Rachel McCollum, Spring Creek (N.C.), Sr.
McCollum finished her senior season with a batting average of .805, the best documented single-season batting average in the North Carolina record books. The previous high was .779, set by Sarah Mooney of North Mecklenburg in 2011. McCollum had 33 hits in 41 official at-bats. She walked 20 times and homered 12 times as her team got to the second round of the NCHSAA state 1-A playoffs.

IF - Maggie Gallagher, Kennedy Catholic (Burien, Wash.), Jr.
The Seamount League MVP had a .719 batting average along with 42 runs scored and 34 RBIs. A Washington-bound shortstop, Gallagher helped the Lancers to a league title.

IF - Erika Underwood, Addison (Mich.), Sr.
Named the Citizen-Patriot POY, Underwood batted a county-best .647 with 18 doubles, nine triples, 11 home runs, 37 RBIs and 56 runs scored. She finished her career with 49 home runs, tying the state record. A four-time all-state selection, she will play at Central Michigan.

IF - Jenna Ergle, Sumiton Christian (Ala.), So.
MaxPreps' 2014 Freshman of the Year, Ergle led Sumiton Christian to the state 2A title and was named to the Super State All-State team after driving in 103 runs (she has 230 in two seasons). She batted .519 with 80 base hits, including 25 doubles and 14 home runs. In the circle, she was 25-5 with a 2.66 ERA. She has committed to Boston College.

IF - Kailey Harvey, Calvary Christian Academy (Chula Vista, Calif.), Sr.
Harvey batted .690, drove in 80 runs, collected 28 doubles and had 42 extra-base hits as the Royal Knights went deep into the playoffs. She also stole 27 bases and struck out 67 batters in 27 innings pitched.

IF - Alyssa Cuellar, San Manuel (Ariz.), Sr.
Cuellar batted .650, scored 58 times and drove in 60 runs. She had a base hit in all 30 games as the Miners reached the state final game. She has signed with Pima Community College.

OF - Zoe Casas, Aquinas (San Bernardino, Calif.), Sr.
The Florida State-committed senior is no stranger to accolades from MaxPreps. She was an Underclass All-American Team selection as a freshman, underclass and small schools all-American as a sophomore, and a small schools all-American as a junior. This makes her 4-for-4. As a senior, she batted .736 with 64 hits, giving her a state-record 248 base hits. In 105 games, she scored 193 runs and struck out just three times in her career. For her four seasons at Aquinas, she batted .681.

OF - Kendall Beth Sides, Sumiton Christian (Ala.), So.
Sides led the nation in hits (115), runs scored (95) and stolen bases (107) when she batted .612 and drove in 48 runs. She also pitched 114 innings and posted a 20-5 record as Sumiton Christian captured the state 2A title and won its final 17 games en route to 47 wins. Sides has committed to Alabama.

OF - Hannah Edwards, Catasauqua (Pa.), Jr.
Edwards set a state record for stolen bases with 57 (twice she stole six in a game) and also had 57 base hits in batting .687 and scoring 40 times. She was a first team all-state pick.

OF - Megan Hensley, Ashland Blazer (Ashland, Ky.), Sr.
A two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year, Hensley posted a 25-8 record in the circle along with a 0.75 ERA this season, leading the Kittens (32-9) to the first round of the KHSAA State Tournament. Hensley struck out 371 batters and walked 66 in 233 innings. At the plate, the 2014 MaxPreps All-American batted .429 with 18 home runs, 48 RBIs and a 1.025 slugging percentage. She will play at Louisville.

UTIL/P - Morgan Florey, Brimfield (Ill.), Sr.
Florey was 22-3 with 435 strikeouts and a 0.32 ERA, She also batted .480, hit 17 homers and had 46 RBIs despite being walked 38 times. She will play at Evansville.

UTIL - Grace Baalman, Calhoun (Hardin, Ill.), So.
Baalman supplied the power in the circle (34 wins, 428 strikeouts) and at the plate (19 homers, 17 doubles and 69 RBIs) en route to a state D-1 championship. The Calhoun sophomore pitched 48 innings in postseason games and allowed only seven hits, seven walks and struck out 106 batters. She had an amazing 0.16 ERA.

UTIL - Morgan Ray, Frenchtown (Mont.), Sr.
The two-time returning Gatorade State Player of the Year, Ray posted a 19-2 record along with a 0.32 ERA in leading the Broncs (24-2) to a third-straight Class A state title. Ray struck out 248 batters in 130 innings. At the plate, the three-time Class A first team all-state selection batted .553 with seven home runs, 33 RBIs and a .953 slugging percentage. She has signed with Ohio State.