This is Brentt Eads of Line Drive Softball.

Sometimes our Throwback Thursday stories go back 10, ever 15 years, but today’s fun look at the past just goes back to this summer…. and it was one of my favorite moments of the travel ball season.

I was reminded of this last week when Class of 2027 pitcher Addison DeRoche, ranked No. 3 in the 2027 HOT 100 released Sept. 5, 2025 – and a player I’ve covered for several years – announced she would be signing with Florida State:

I am thrilled to announce my commitment to FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 🍢❤️💛#fearthespear #GoNoles @FSU_Softball @Coach_Alameda @FSU_CoachWilson @TCam_FSUSB @KaleighRafter @CoachElCooper @kristintubeck pic.twitter.com/RAhg3scpFf

— Addison DeRoche 2027 (@AddisonDeroche) October 3, 2025

Over the summer we announce our Line Drive High School All-American Teams and on Friday, July 11, 2025 we published our 1st Team High School All-Americans – Multi-Purpose Players list.

Addison was on that prestigious team… here’s the bios what we wrote about her then:

Addison DeRoche (Soph., P/1B, Cheverus, Portland Maine)
The two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year finished her sophomore season with four perfect games, an extra no hitter and nine shut outs in 93 innings pitched with 206 K’s, a 0.45 ERA, .a 063 BAA and a measly 0.38 WHIP. She belted nine home runs with 37 RBIs in 59 at-bats finishing with a .492 batting average and a 1.654 OPS. Addison was named the 2024 SMAA conference Pitcher of the Year and also led her Mojo Lewis club team in the circle winning the 2024 PGF Premier Championship last July.  Called a “generational talent” by her coach, she also has a 3.99 GPA in the classroom.

One of Addision’s teammates on her Mojo team, 2026 infielder Avery Stockwell, a Tennessee commit who also made the Multi-Purpose All-American Team:

Avary Stockwell (Jr., IF/C, Green Hill, Mt. Juliet Tenn.)
Avary played third and behind the plate for the Hawks, leading the team to the Tennessee Class 4A state title game as she was explosive at the plate with a .663 batting average, 25 home runs and 62 RBIs. Other impressive stats for her 2025 campaign: a .754 on-base percentage and a 2.387 OPS for the Tennessee Vols commit who was ranked No. 10 in the Line Drive 2025 HOT 100. Avary is also stellar academically with a 4.26 ERA heading into her senior year of high school.

Here’s where it gets fun…

The Multi-Purpose All-American Team was announced on that Friday and on Saturday we caught up with the Mojo team at a club tournament

Knowing that Addison and Avary were at the summer event my wife Shannon and I were at, we thought it would be fun to “reveal” to the pair that they made the list.

I set it up through their head coach and… well, here’s how it played out in a humorous way thanks to their teammate and good-natured interviewer Finley Montgomery, a 2026 commit to Notre Dame.

And be sure to watch their surprised (uh huh) Mojo teammates when the two players are told. Spoiler alert: we somewhat think the entire team had an inkling of what was going on… but you decide if they knew in advance or not by their oh-so-surprised reactions!

*****

Originally published July 12, 2025 on Line Drive Softball

OK, I’ve watched this clip maybe a dozen times and I laugh every time.

Friday the “Multi-Purpose” players on the 2025 Line Drive High School All-American team were announced and two excellent underclass players on Brittany Lewis’s Mojo travel ball team were honored.

Avary Stockwell is a 2026 third baseman and catcher from Mt. Juliet, Tenn., and Addison DeRoche is a 2027 pitcher and first baseman from Portland, Me. Both, coincidentally, were Gatorade State Players of the Year and now can add Line Drive High School All-American to their athletic resumes.

So here’s where it gets fun: I asked Addison’s mother, Bridget DeRoche, if she would arrange to have someone video Addison and Avary—who are at the Atlanta Legacy tournament this weekend.

She contacted Coach Lewis who arranged that talented 2026 pitcher Finley Montgomery, a Notre Dame commit from Lantana, Texas and Class 6A All-State honoree herself, would be the one to spring the news on her two teammates.

And here’s how she did it:

So what’s so funny about the clip?

You gotta love the Mojo players who do their best to look surprised and celebratory for their teammates who just find out about the All-American honor in this clip.

Or maybe not.

Honesty, no Academy Award is going to be given to the players on the team after the would-be raucous response to the big news.

I asked Coach Lewis if, well, this big news reveal was, umm, staged?

“Yea it was kinda staged,” she laughed, “but we tried to make it look like it wasn’t! Avary and Addison are quite stoic people and I don’t think you would have gotten good material on a surprise reveal!”

Maybe not, but kudos to the pair and their wonderful teammates, especially Finley, for making this “celebration” so fun.

And funny.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media.