FAYETTEVILLE -- The NWA Hot Shots are a 16-under team that's whipping up on a bunch of 18-under softball squads this summer.
The Hot Shots finished third in the 18U division of FayRo Charity Classic at Lady Dawg Yard this past weekend after winning the 18U division of a tournament in Monett, Mo., two weekends earlier. The team is 27-12 overall this summer, including a 14-5 record against in-class teams during tournaments.
More than half of the roster is made up of players from hot beds of fast pitch softball talent along Highway 62 West.
Farmington players are Carley Antwine, McKenzi Bogan, Paige Devecsery, Madison Parrish and Brandy Wallace. Prairie Grove players are Katharine McConnell, Kylie Scott and Madi Vinson while Jada Corbit is the lone Lincoln player on the roster. The remaining Hot Shots are from Bentonville and Rogers.
"When we started this whole thing, our goal was for the girls to make the varsity team," said Scott Eby, who's in his fourth season managing this team. "Then, when we saw that happening, our goal was to star for the varsity team and that's started to happen.
"Now, our goal is to get as many girls as possible to play college ball, so it's been good to see it evolve like that."
To do that, Eby said the players will begin visiting colleges they're interested in and will follow the visits up by emailing college coaching staff before showcase tournaments the Hot Shots will play this fall.
"The idea is to get the coaches to come out and watch us play some ball in these showcases, so our girls can hopefully earn some scholarships," Eby said.
While Eby believes all of the Hot Shots have the ability to play college softball, one from Farmington really sticks out.
"Madi Parrish, that's a D-I talent right there," Eby said. "She's fast on the bases and in the outfield. She throws girls out at home all the time. She batted .714 in Monett, which led our team in average. And that's a real scorekeeper counting errors and everything else."
At 17, Farmington's Brandy Wallace is the oldest player on the roster, so the senior-to-be has been able to suit up for the Hot Shots when it "plays up" in 18U tourneys. She plays third and first base.
"Brandy's got a cannon for an arm," Eby said. "She's an outstanding defensive player and she's got a great bat. Putting her in the lineup has really helped our team."
Antwine is similar to Wallace, Eby said, because of her "great glove, great arm and great bat."
Sophomore Paige Devecsery injured her knee while sliding into second base, so she didn't get to pitch during the Fayetteville tournament.
"Paige is hurt unfortunately because if we had Paige, we would be that much better," Eby said.
Another versatile player and pitcher from Farmington is McKenzi Bogan, who will only be a freshman this fall.
"So we have an eighth-grader playing with 18-year-olds and she's one of the top hitters on our team," Eby said. "She's a really good pitcher for us also, so we have three really good pitchers [Sarah Pollack is the other] who could start for just about any high school out there."
The team began four years ago with a tryout in Farmington, but Prairie Grove players began joining the roster each year.
McConnell and Scott have been "great for us on defense" and have been doing a solid job as slap hitters. Eby said McConnell, who goes by "KG," is batting around .500 this season.
Vinson plays shortstop and second base despite playing mostly at third base for the Lady Tigers this past spring.
"Madi Vinson's bat has really come around," Eby said. "She batted .428 for us at Monett and she had several good hits for us this weekend. She's been working really hard and it's paying off for us."
Corbit joined the team this season after helping the Lady Wolves reach the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
"Jada Corbit has been a great addition to our team as well," Eby said. "She's a solid all-around player that works really hard."
The team played around 100 games per year before the players got old enough to play high school softball each spring. They'll now play between 60-75 in various tournaments around the four-state area. The Hot Shots also finished fifth out of more than 30 teams at a tournament in Kansas City earlier this summer.
"If you win, you get to play more games, but if you lose, you're three and done, so we couldn't be happier," Eby said "Every girl we have is solid, every girl we have contributes to their varsity team and a lot of the girls are freshman and still contribute to variety," Eby said. "We have two girls who made all-state, we have seven that made all-conference in high school. We couldn't be prouder of them.
"And we're having a very, very good season right now."
Sports on 06/22/2016