Story by Elizabeth Perez, Legacy & Legends Softball:
Louisiana State University (LSU) signee Jayden Heavener garnered the top overall recruit/prospect honors, leading a very talented group of players from the 2024 graduation class. Legacy & Legends Softball (L&LS) awarded this honor to Heavener for the third year in a row, as she completes the "Threepeat" as being recognized as the L&LS Top Overall Recruit/Prospect for her class. Heavener who is a nationally recognized standout in the softball community, has achieved success in both travel ball (Impact Caymol) and high school varsity softball. Most recently, Heavener finished her highly decorated high school career, leading Pace High School (FL) to winning the 6A State Championship. Pace finished as the 4th ranked team in the nation and as the overall top team in the state of Florida, while playing the 21st ranked strength of schedule in the nation (MaxPreps.com). Notably, Florida's 6A Class is considered one of the most talented and most difficult in the nation to win a championship. Heavener's pitching arsenal consists of a smoking hot fastball that cruises in the high 60s touching 69 mph. She compliments the heater with a standard curve, back door curve, rise, a knee buckling changeup, and if opposing players weren't worried enough, she just recently added a D1 quality drop ball this year. With an arsenal filled with various weapons, it will be difficult to predict what pitch is coming even with analytics.
The 2024 class is considered one of the best in history with an abundance of elite pitchers and middle infielders. The differences in skillsets and potential are very slim between all players in the Elite Top 100. This group of elite 5-Stars will have most players starting or having significant playing time as true freshmen for their respective colleges. When it comes to Heavener, what sets her apart from others is that not only is she a phenomenal pitcher (Left Handed Pitcher at that), she is also an amazing hitter (Left Handed Batter). She has a beautiful swing which gets overlooked because of her dominating pitching performances. Heavener has been rated as a legitimate 5-Tool by not only L&LS but other respected scouting and evaluation sites. Heavener is a legitimate offensive threat that consistently produces and she can play pretty much anywhere on the field if needed. When it came to selecting the top overall prospect/recruit, the board finally narrowed it down to three players.
Ultimately, the board could not overlook Heavener's elite pitching results and that she also contributes offensively as an elite hitter. Even if Heavener were to not be evaluated as a pitcher, she would have made the Elite Top 100 as a Utility for her defensive skills and offensive production. LSU is getting two elite players in one ... similar to a Rachel Garcia type of player. Don't be surprised to see Heavener getting additional playing time at LSU in non-pitching duties.
Closing out the the Top 10 on the list are: 2. Addisen Fisher a Right Handed Pitcher from Oregon who is a UCLA signee, playing for NW Bullets PNW and attended Bend HS. 3. Ella McDowell a Middle Infielder from Texas who is a Arkansas signee, playing for Impact Gold - Jackson and attended Foster HS. 4. Audrey Lowry a Left Handed Pitcher from Indiana who is an Oklahoma signee, playing for TN Mojo - Ramsey/Fisher and attended Tri-West Hendricks HS.
5. Morgan Reimer a Right Handed Pitcher from Canada who is a Washington signee, playing for Georgia Impact - Sampson and attended Walnut Grove Secondary School.
6. Kaylie Avvisato a Middle Infielder from Virginia who is a Northwestern signee, playing for VA Glory - Willemssen and attended Riverside HS
7. Erin Nuwer a Right Handed Pitcher from New York who is a Tennessee signee, playing for Impact Caymol and attended Nardin Academy.
8. Townsen Thomas an Outfielder from Texas who is a Florida signee, playing for Blaze United and attended Episcopal HS.
9. Shelby McKenzie a First Baseman from Florida who is a Florida State signee, playing for Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier and attended Pace HS.
10. Haley Ferguson a Right Handed Pitcher from Ohio who is a Michigan signee, playing for TN Mojo - Ramsey/Fisher and attended Beaver Creek HS.
Congratulations to all those who were named to the L&LS Elite Top 100 Centurion Club - 2024. An elite select group filled with stars.
Please click this link to see the 2024 Elite Top 100 Prospects list for Calendar Year 2024 in excel. We will be adding to the list as we publish the entire list in segments.
Story by Elizabeth Perez, Legacy & Legends Softball, 17 June 2024 www.legacyandlegendssoftball.com