The spring (and year) are flying by and we’re suddenly in May.

On the player rankings front, that means we’re less than two weeks away from the 2028 Line Drive HOT 100 Nominations deadline.

To be specific, that date is Monday, May 13; the actual rankings start a week later.

The nominations that have come in are tremendous, both in quality and quantity, though we have found some coaches not aware that the deadline is coming up quickly.

Line Drive Softball does have a nomination form (click HERE to access) and we’ve received some inquiries on what and how to present information in the nomination form.

*** Click HERE to see the 2024 calendar year Rankings Schedule.

Below is the great information on one of the top catchers in the 2028 class, Nylah Melendez from Southern California.

Yes, she’s a highly respected standout talent in this class, but coaches who nominate can follow Nylah’s template to see how to present information (and photos) in their submissions…

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First Name: Nylah
Last Name: Melendez
City/ST: Long Beach/CA
Grad Year: 2028
Position(s): Catcher
School: Placerita Junior High School
Club Team: USA Athletics Gold 2026
Club Head Coach: Mike Rogers

Your name & relationship to the player (such as head or assistant coach, personal coach, etc.): Michelle Lehr – Head Coach

Division age: 16U

Suggested player ranking (i.e. 1-10, 21-30, 51-60, 101-150, 201-300, etc.): withheld for privacy issues

Top player stats:

2023-24 Club Season (64 games):

• Batting: .406;
• OBP: .497; SLG: .672;
• OPS: 1.169

U15 Japan World Cup:

• Batting .333 (3rd team ranked);
• OBP: .455 (1st team ranked);
• OPS: .788 (3rd team ranked)

Top players honors & accomplishments:

• In 2023, Nylah Melendez was named the #11 ranked player in the 2028 player rankings.
• She has since added more accolades to her playing resume to help her be considered for the top spot:
• Nylah at 12 years old, was the youngest player named to the U15 Puerto Rican National Team.
• Nylah was a Silver Medalist recipient in the U15 Japan World Cup which included elite teams such as United States, Japan, Mexico, Chinese-Taipei and more.
• Nylah was a Bronze Medal recipient at the U15 Pan American Championship in Peru.
• Nylah helped Athletics Mercado Tidd-Iwai win the 2022 PGF National Championship as the starting catcher and clean-up hitter. In 2023, Nylah helped a short-handed Athletics Mercado team place top 7 at PGF Nationals and in 13 games had a plus .400 batting average, .600 SLG;
• She led the team in home runs and had an amazing 16 RBI’s while catching 60 of a possible 68 innings of play.
• Nylah Melendez has been selected to participate in the 2024 TCS International Challenge for Team Puerto Rico this summer in Colorado at the 16U division.

GPA: 4.0

Scouting report (what makes the player a Line Drive Softball HOT 100 candidate?):

Nylah Melendez is an elite defensive 2028 catcher with an impressive big power bat who has recently taken the challenge of playing up two years past her age group with one of the top 16U clubs in SoCal, USA Athletics Gold-Lehr 2026 (Top 10 in 2023 US Club Rankings).  This team will battle versus the top 2025 and 2026 teams in 2024.

For most of the current season, Nylah Melendez has played under Coach Andy Iwai and Coach Brian Tidd for one of the elite 2028 teams in the nation: Athletics Mercado Tidd-Iwai.

She helped her previous team attain a record of 58-12-3 while starting at catcher and predominantly batting 4th in the lineup. Nylah is regarded as a top-level power hitter but impressively caught over 200 innings thus far in her 2023-2024 season while only allowing an average of 1 stolen base per 10 innings of play.

Her elite bat was also in display at the highest stage international play in the U15 Pan American Championship in Peru and the U15 Japan World Cup in Tokyo. Nylah Melendez was named to the U15 Puerto Rico National Team as the youngest player on her team and one of the youngest in the entire International competition.

In the U15 World Cup in Japan, playing versus the top 15-year-old players in the world, she led Team Puerto Rico in OBP, and was third on the team in Batting Average and SLG %.

She was responsible for several highlight defensive plays and big hits which helped Team Puerto Rico upset Team Mexico, Team Japan, and narrowly lose to Team USA to attain the Silver Medal at this World Cup event.

Nylah takes pride in being a vocal leader on the team, supporting her teammates, and being a highly coachable player. Her power bat has been consistently measured at camps in the 70-73 mph exit velo range.

Anything unusual or different about the player off the field? (other sports, family connections, hobbies or talents, etc.):

Nylah Melendez is the younger sister to Nia Melendez who was recently named to the All-World Team at the U15 Japan World Cup and her younger sister is Naima Melendez who is regarded as a top 2029 prospect at 3B. Both parents are US Army Combat Veterans who promote selflessness, discipline, and sportsmanship in all their student-athlete daughters.