Cyclone Softball: 33-22, was ranked, first NCAA since ‘88, first NCAA wins

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BigJCy

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Bama pitcher has a perfect game going thru 6 innings. UCLA coming up for their last at bat now on ESPN2.
 

CyclonesFan4ever

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WOW, a perfect game in 21 years! Montana Fouts was born in 2000, the year when the last perfect game happened (May 25, 2000 Southern Miss 1-0 over Arizona) . She did it on her 21st birthday, incredible!

This WCWS has been a blast. Will the Cinderella JMU win it all? Now both the top 2 seeds are facing elimination, Saturday's games are going to be tremendous.

Note: The UCLA #1 pitcher Megan Faraimo (1st Team All-American pitcher, next to Montana Fouts) hurt her hand during super regionals and didn’t make the trip to OKC. UCLA's #2 pitcher Rachel Garcia (also 1st Team All-American) has to carry the team.





 
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CyclonesFan4ever

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They have a shot but think you have to go with Bama right now. Look to have the best combination of Pitching & Hitting.
I agree that the Tide are rolling right now. Considering what JMU has already achieved, they have massively exceeded the expectation by getting into the semi-final (Final Four in BB language). Has anyone seen this coming (beating both OU and OK-State as the first-time participant of WCWS)? I wish someday I can live to see one of ISU's teams (in any team sport, men or women) can get into this Final-Four stage (rooting hard for our FB team to get into the CFP this year :) ).
 
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brett108

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So much for Bama and the Cinderella JMU. Chalk talked at the end and OU, a consensus #1 at the start of the year seems to be back in the drivers seat.
 

CyclonesFan4ever

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This is an update of one of the incoming freshmen Angelina Allen (her middle name is Jolie, can you believe it?). Get to know this star recruit through the eyes of her mom. She will be at ISU in August.

Tidbit: Next year there will be three "Angels" on our softball team. Angelica Gonzalez (junior), Angelina Allen (freshman) and Angelita Fuentes (freshman). :)







In case you are wondering, here's how I found out about her middle name.



Some quotes from her mom

"I am proud of myself for raising a great daughter. I know I didn’t do it myself, I had some help. But to raise a respectful, well mannered, beautiful soul, great character and a ambition daughter makes me so proud. A parents best compliment is how great your child is and omg I get that a lot. It makes me cry all the time I hear great things about my daughter. "

"As a mom we always have dreams and goals for our kids. Sometimes they don’t workout and sometimes they do. Before I had a kid I always said I am going to put my daughter in softball so her college can be paid for. I never realize all the sacrifice and commitment for my kid and myself it will take. The missing family events, missing school events, the traveling, the expense and the emotional toll it took on us. SHE FREAKING DID IT THOUGH!! To see my baby work her booty off to get to college is the best thing for a mother to see. To know she will be debt free of college student loans so she doesn’t have to worry about when she starts her next journey is what a parent always hopes for. Thank you god for always proving and helping all of us to get to this journey!! I love you Angelina. I am so proud of you!! "

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Softball senior day video

https://www.tiktok.com/@loveangjo/video/6966840361742355718?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

ISU admission video tailor made for her (if you see the error message just copy-paste the link and press the ENTER the video should play).

I know it's only high school softball, but check out her career batting average .722 incredible!:p
I hope she can become our next Sami Williams.
BTW, she's a left-hand hitter.


More from Cyclones.com

Allen, a native of Moreno Valley, Calif., is ranked the No. 104 overall prospect in the country in the class of 2021 by Extra Inning Softball. Allen comes from a very competitive background, having played travel ball for the Corona Angels – a national club softball powerhouse. In 2018, Allen's Corona Angels took home first place at the PGF National Championship. She is a two-time all-conference selection and was named the Max Preps Player of the Week in 2020. Allen hit .829 with 29 hits and 23 RBI during the 2019-20 high school season. She is the senior class president at Woodcrest Christian and a four-time National Honor Society member.

Coach Pinkerton on Angelina Allen: "We're really excited to get her. She was our first commitment in the 2021 class and was a big recruit across the country. She comes from a really good family and is active in the community and doing community service. Comes from a high-level travel team – the Corona Angels. She helped them win a national championship, and actually had the game-winning hit as a 14-year-old when they won the national championship a couple years ago. Definitely the kind of versatile athlete that we've looked for since we got here. I think she'll help bring that winning culture to our program."

Why Iowa State: "Iowa State is a complete change from my hometown, but I still manage to see myself calling it my new home for the next chapter of my life. The coaching staff and players make me feel like family. Competing at a high level in the Big 12 while being able to major in engineering is everything I wanted." – Angelina Allen
 
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CyclonesFan4ever

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Just updated my previous post with more stuff added. The more I research the more I'm impressed. Angelina Allen committed to ISU in 2018 (like at the end of her HS freshman year) so we might be getting a Lexi Donarski kind of early commit who later has grown to be a big time player in high school. This is a pretty specially young lady we've got. She deserves a full softball scholarship. I hope she enjoys the life in Iowa like a lot of California teammates do. She's got a pretty awesome mom too and I hope she visits ISU often. Hopefully next year our team gets to play some early regular season games in Southern California.

By the way, Angelina Allen played her club softball for Corona Angels, a team which several former Cyclone players were on, including our GOAT Sami Williams. Current sophomore catcher Camille Marin also played for Corona Angels.
 
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CyclonesFan4ever

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Continuing the introduction of incoming freshman class.

Get to know Emily Wood, a 5'8 left-handed outfielder who was just named Quad-Cities' Female Athlete of the Year, the same honor our ace pitcher Ellie Spelhaug received back in 2018. She hails from Pleasant Valley HS, the same school the Spelhaug sisters are from. She is not just a multi-sports athlete, but she excels at all of them.

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Here's a summary of her major achievements in her high school athletic career.

Softball: two state championships in 8th grade and freshman year
Track & Field: two state championships (400 hurdles, 4x100 relay), 2nd place (sprint medley relay), 3rd place (4x200 relay)
Volleyball: two state tournament semi-final appearances as an outside hitter
Basketball: was the team's second leading scorer in her senior year (didn't play in her sophomore and junior years due to workload and injury)

Early this year, she was also named the Female Athlete of the Year by her high school.

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Quad-City Times published a feature article about her with ton of words and photos.


Emily Wood Softball.gif

Due to the length of the article, I excerpt some eye-catching paragraphs below.

Selected as this year’s Quad-City Times female athlete of the year — the fourth girl from PV to earn that distinction since the award started in 1982 — the Iowa State University softball signee has had a distinguished high school career.

She has been a five-year starter in softball (part of two state championship teams), a four-year starter in volleyball (participated on two state semifinal squads) and an individual and relay state champion on a state runner-up track & field team.

And after not playing the past two seasons, she returned to the basketball court this past winter and made an impact as PV’s second-leading scorer and top defender.

“She’s probably one of the most athletically gifted individuals I’ve ever coached,” PV girls track & field coach Kenny Wheeler said. “You don’t see kids move from sport to sport with the fluidity and seamlessness that she does where she contributes to each team at the very highest of levels.

Wood dabbled in about every sport she could find growing up.
Besides the four she has excelled at throughout her high school career, she played tennis, golf and soccer, competed in triathlons and did 5K races.

She'll be joining an Iowa State program with many familiar faces in former PV teammates Ellie and Carli Spelhaug. She has played some club softball with incoming players Olivia Wardlow of Assumption and McKenna Rebarcak of Davenport North. She knows Assumption grad and team member Lea Nelson.

"(Iowa State) left its mark this year and people have high expectations for them next year. Being part of that and getting to play with so many great athletes and great softball players is going to be really fun next year."






From Cyclones.com

Wood hails from Bettendorf, Iowa, and has enjoyed an outstanding prep career playing for Pleasant Valley and Iowa Premier. Wood was teammates with current Cyclones Carli and Ellie Spelhaug on the 2018 Pleasant Valley squad that won the 5A Iowa State title. The following season, Wood led 5A in batting average, hitting .553 en route to First Team Mississippi Valley Athletic Conference honors, and a Second Team All-State selection. Her 2020 squad also qualified for state, and she was named a finalist for the Quad City Times Female Athlete of the Year.

Coach Pinkerton on Emily Wood: "She comes from a championship culture here in Iowa. She won a state title at Pleasant Valley, where she played with the Spelhaugs. And played once again with a high-level, national-caliber team with the Iowa Premier. She's an outfielder and has a lot of tools. I'm really excited to work with her because she can run well, she's kind of like Olivia in that she can bunt and steal bases, and also has power. She can definitely put pressure on a defense."

Why Iowa State: "After visiting the campus and talking to Coach Pink, I really felt like I could see myself living there and being a part of the Cyclone family for the next four years. The academic focus for athletes was also a large deciding factor, as they have a lot of support from advisors and other academic staff." – Emily Wood
 
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CyclonesFan4ever

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Besides the four incoming freshmen who signed back in Nov. 2020, we got a 5th late-spring signee added to our new recruiting class.

McKenna Rebarcak is a 6'0 right-handed catcher/infielder from Davenport North High School. She also plays volleyball and knows the other two new Quad-City signees Emily Wood and Olivia Wardlow well.



E1PR-isWUAAn8s9
 
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CyclonesFan4ever

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Congratulations to Sami for being nominated for the Big12 Female Athlete of the Year (as the ISU candidate)!

To David as well.



Big12 Release:

Fans will be able to vote for their male and female choices from 2 p.m. CT on July 2 until 8 a.m. CT July 5 on Big12Sports.com. Fan voting will be considered in the final tally for selecting this prestigious award. The award winners are announced on Tuesday, July 6.

ISU Female Athlete of the Year Candidate
Sami Williams; Softball
Sr., Laguna Niguel, Calif.


Accomplishments
^ 2021 NFCA First Team All-American - the first in program history.
^ Holds ISU’s all-time records for hits (329), doubles (79), home runs (67), RBI (180), runs scored (212), games played (253) and at-bats (833).
^ Ranked No. 1 among the NCAA’s Division I active leaders in career hits (329), doubles (79) and total bases (627).
^ Williams is the Big 12's all-time leader in career hits (329), doubles (79) and total bases (527).
^ Tied for No. 3 in NCAA DI history with 79 career doubles. Her 627 total bases are fourth-most in NCAA history.
 

CyclonesFan4ever

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We have our second 2022 softball commit. Ashley Minor, a 5'9 INF, hails from Dallas, TX area, same as McKenna Andrews, who committed early this week.






You can check out her softball videos in her YouTube channel.

 
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CyclonesFan4ever

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Congratulations to Coach Pink for a well-deserved contract extension! What you have done in the past season has been truly amazing. Our future is in good hands.

"Iowa State is where I want to be. I believe we have the softball program going in the right direction, both in the classroom and on the field. I am excited about the future of our program."