Softball: Seven recruits sign with the Cyclones

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Iowa State’s bench celebrates a run during the Cyclones’ 4-2 win over Iowa in the Cy-Hawk Series.

Sam Stuve

The Iowa State Cyclones Softball program officially signed seven recruits from the class of 2019 last week during the early signing period.

Out of the seven signees, the Cyclones signed three players who have already won a state championship.

These recruits will arrive at Iowa State for the 2019-2020 season.

The Cyclones signed one catcher, two infielders, two outfielders and two pitchers.

Catcher Morgan Wright from Fulshear, Texas signed with the Cyclones. Out of Obra D. Tompkins High School, Wright earned a spot on the First Team All-District Team in 2018.

Jessica Balich and Carli Spelhaug are the two infielders that signed with the Cyclones.

Balich is from Palos Park, Illinois, where she earned All-State and All-Area honors at Marist High School.

Spelhaug plays softball at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa. Spelhaug has earned a lot of accomplishments throughout her career at Pleasant Valley as she won MAC Conference Player of the Year as well as Metro Player of the Year and won back-to-back state championships in 2017 and 2018.

She was the captain of the All-Tournament Team at the state tournament in both seasons.

In the outfield, the Cyclones signed Makaylin Powers and Alesia Ranches.

Powers is from Burlington, Iowa and is one of the top prep players in Iowa. At Burlington High School, Powers has earned all-state honors in high school and was named the Region Player of the Year.

Ranches will be traveling a long way from home to play at Iowa State as she is from Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

In 2018, Ranches was named to the First-Team All-State and won a state championship.

Rounding out the Cyclones’ signees are two right-handed pitchers, Karlie Charles and Janessa Jasso.

Charles is one of the 140 prospects in the class of 2019 and was earned All-District honors while at The Colony High School in Texas, where she won a state championship.

Jasso is a highly-touted prospect out of Dos Palos, California where she earned All-State honors and earned the Most Valuable Player award in her league.