01/07/2025
NEODY THUNDER PLAYERS REPRESENT AT COCOA BEACH!!!
Four local players from the Neody Thunder Softball Organization teams recently traveled to Florida to participate in the 2024 USSSA National All State Softball Tournament in the Cocoa Beach area at the USSSA Space Coast Complex. Annalee Winters (14u), Aubrey Jamison (14u), Hadly Carpenter (14u), and Lola Redington (16u) all represented the State of Kansas and the Neody Thunder teams as they competed alongside other athletes from across the United States in a fun but competitive tournament. Each player was nominated to participate based on their performances throughout the 2024 Summer Season in various USSSA tournaments as well as their participation in the 2024 USSSA MoKan All State Games in Olathe, Kansas back in August. The Florida experience kicked off with a Player Camp which allowed the players to interact with instructors which were current Pro & College Softball Players and College Coaches from across the nation.
To say these four players showed their talents well and represented not only the State of Kansas and the Neody Thunder teams with overwhelming pride would be a vast understatement. Each of them made a statement in their respective divisions and climbed the leaderboard in statistics to help their teams have success along the way throughout the tournament. “All four players got high quality reps and gained valuable experience along the way in regards to not only the game, but themselves as well and I could not be prouder of their efforts”, said Sean Redington - coach / head of the Neody Thunder Softball Organization.
Annalee Winters (Daughter of Gary & Melissa Winters) participated in the 14u C Class Division and had an impressive tournament pitching from the circle as well as the plate as a hitter. She ended the tournament with 17 Strikeouts (2nd - 14u C Division) as a pitcher with a 3.50 ERA (3rd - 14u C Division) in 10 innings pitched. (5th – 14u C Division). From the plate, Annalee had 2 triples (T2nd -14u C Division). Her efforts helped propel her Silver Bells team into the Semifinals before falling short in the end. “My favorite part was in game two of single elimination bracket play when we got down early and then made a comeback in the last inning - I just loved how our team was able to rally and pick each other up in the final innings of the game to earn the victory over the #1 seeded team. I learned that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it just matters that you gave 110% and left everything you had on the field. I look at this experience as a positive because I was able to make friends from all over the country while being able to have a vacation all while playing my favorite sport”, said Winters. Annalee is currently an 8th Grader at Neodesha (KS) Middle School.
Aubrey Jamison (Daughter of Jordan & Rachel Jamison) participated in the 14u C Class Division and was a teammate of Annalee Winters on the Silver Bells team. She too had a great tournament from the plate as she showed her consistency from the dish. Aubrey ended the tournament with a .571 Batting Average (T5th - 14u C Division) and played a valuable role at the corner infield positions as well as an outfielder. “My favorite part was being able to make new friends and playing the sport I love. I learned that no matter how competitive the game is, I’ve got to keep my head up and stay positive and have fun. This experience was awesome”, says Jamison. Aubrey is currently an 8th Grader at Neodesha (KS) Middle School.
Hadly Carpenter (Daughter of Jeremy & Ashley Carpenter) participated in the 14u C Class Division and was on the Elves Extreme team. She had a great tournament holding down the short stop position making multiple highlight plays and threw well from the circle. From the plate she had 5 total hits (T6th - 14u C Division) and was able to help her team multiple times to score valuable runs. “My favorite part was being able to meet the baddies on my team and develop new friendships throughout the tournament as well as playing different positions”, said Carpenter. Hadly is currently an 8th Grader at Neodesha (KS) Middle School.
Lola Redington (Daughter of Sean Redington & Amanda Dugan) participated in the 16u Open Class and proved to be more than up for the opportunity to compete. “Her leadership and knowledge of the game was impeccable at key moments defensively in each game”, said head coach Dennis Seymour of Florida. Lola locked down second base for her Flurry Fury team the entire tournament and was like a vacuum fielding everything that came her direction. She had three different highlight plays that all proved to be game savers in three different games and allowed her team to get out of innings and keep the games within reach and have a chance to mount comebacks. Offensively, Lola was a workhorse as she was able to rack up 16 Plate Appearances (T2nd - 16u Open Division) and 13 Official At Bats. She personally scored 7 Runs on 7 Hits (T3rd - 16u Open Division) with 2 RBI’s. “Her consistency was something special - JAYHAWK (as referred too by her head coach) was a true veteran from the plate”, said Seymour. Lola was able to tally 5 Singles / 2 Doubles (T3rd - 16u Open Division) / 3 Walks / 0 Strikeouts and had 7 Stolen Bases (T3rd - 16u Open Division) throughout the tournament. “My favorite part was having the opportunity to meet new friends and compete at a high level against great competition from across the country. It was an honor to represent the State of Kansas and wear the colors of my favorite university. I look forward to this upcoming Summer Season and hope that I am able to put myself in a position to be nominated once again to participate in this event because it was a great experience that I will remember for the rest of my life”, says Redington. Lola is currently a Sophomore at Bartlesville (OK) High School.
“There were two moments that really stood out to me from the tournament; 1) Being able to watch our 14u C girls not only go head to head as their teams faced off against each other, but Annalee and Hadly commanded each of their respective teams from the circle and had a ton of success in a game that came right down to the end. It was truly a coming out party and one that I took great pride in as all three players stood out and made an impact on the game. Three players off the same travel team from a little town in Southeast Kansas that went all the way to Florida and balled out and had the eye of many in the crowd. 2) Watching my daughter Lola make multiple highlight plays defensively and then hit a gap shot to the fence over the center fielder that allowed the runner at first base to score that tied the game late in the game to keep her team alive. Those are the moments I will forever cherish from this trip”, said Sean Redington.
All four of the girls were able to gain valuable experience from everything that went into this opportunity including the fundraising portion that allowed it to even be possible. From each of the girls and their parents, they would all like to thank everyone that played a part in donations along the way as without them a trip of this magnitude would not be possible.
“Overall the trip was a success and made a huge impact on each of our girls both on a player level and a personal level. Learning to compete at the highest level on the biggest stages is so important, however sometimes it’s more about the social aspect of the game that allowed players from all over the nation have the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and learn to interact and build relationships with others they had never met and could potentially last a lifetime. Some of my most fond memories as of late have come from softball and the dreams of our players to accomplish their goals. The future is very bright for all four of these young ladies”, says Sean Redington.
The Neody Thunder Softball Organization will now look to kick off their Spring Season in mid to late March and will run through the end of July of the Summer Season. “We are blessed to have great athletes and parents that are committed to building a program that will help develop potential players for our high school team to continue to be more competitive on into the future and we cannot wait to get started again for our fourth season”, says Sean Redington.
