This summer (2024), my (now) wife Shannon and I went to six softball tournaments together including PGF Nationals, Top Gun Invitational, Patriot Games and Colorado, where we saw one of the most promising young softball players at ANY age— Class of 2027 catcher/third baseman Juliana “Goose” Hutchens.

Goose was on our All-Summer team and was tied as the top position player in the 2027 Line Drive Softball HOT 100… here’s the bio we printed on her:

T-2—Juliana Hutchens, C/3B, Iowa Premier 18U – Dickel
Juliana, nicknamed “Goose,” is the top backstop in the nation and showed her explosive bat this summer at The Patriot Games when she smashed six home runs in four games against some of the top 18U pitching in the nation. Head Coach Greg Dickel says of his franchise-type player: “Goose is a generational player and is the most talented player I have coached in my 20 years of coaching at this (elite travel ball) level.” The travel ball head coach shares a story of her hitting prowess: “She came to the plate with bases loaded and I told her to look change and to react to hard stuff.  It was the third pitch of the at-bat.  She sat on a change up and hit it straight center about 300 feet into a 20-mph wind blowing straight in.  She two-hopped the 310 slow pitch fence and, if the wind would’ve been calm, the ball would have left the stadium entirely.” With such a high ceiling, Goose could be that time of franchise player at the collegiate level as well.

The current high school sophomore had a tremendous fall school-ball season for her Wagoner (Okla.) High team as she tied the state record for most home runs in a season with 23 and was All-State for the Bulldogs as she hit a video-game like .656 with a .835 on-base percentage.

Goose was also named the PrepNation Oklahoma Class 4A Top Gun (Most Outstanding Player) for the Fall season and I remember the one-time baseball player being on fire in Colorado as she smashed five home runs in one DAY over two games.

Here is a video interview I did with Goose over the summer and she is something special… as a player and as a personality off the field…. and, as you’ll learn, she’s already signing autographs for her young fans!

Also, watch after the interview for clips of five of her club home runs…

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball