The Fall Classic came back to open up the fall in Kansas City and brought with it a select pool of teams chalked full of talent from all over the midwest and central regions. 77 teams from from 8 states came traveled to Kansas City in hopes of securing one of the eight titles up for grabs across the six age divisions, with all the action taking place across KC's two premier complexes in Creekside and Homefield. Down below I'll be sharing my picks for the standouts from the Season Finale as well as some detailed player notes from the weekend, followed by breaking down all of the division winners along with their championship counterparts. 

2028 C Caden Circo (Papillion La Vista South HS, NE): The Nebraska Native found himself in the center of a well oiled machine that was the NE Prospects offense this weekend, with a base hit in every game on the slate for the Prospects including a championship game where he added a homerun and a leadoff single in the bottom half of the 7th where he'd come around to score the winning run. Circo features plenty of physicality in the 5'8 frame showing up well in the metrics with a 75mph bat speed and an 80mph arm behind the dish. At the plate, the right handed hitter is as simple as they come with a controlled stride and a larger hand move before a tight turn fires the barrel through the zone on a flat path. Behind the plate, Circo is a more than servicable option with solid recieving skills, working hard to keep balls in the dirt in front. Look for Circo to be a riser in the upcoming season as he continues to develop athletically. 

2028 MIF Porter McCarthy (Benton HS, MO): Following a Summer where McCarthy was the model of consistency on both sides of the ball, playing up with a strong 17u squad before representing Team Missouri in the Future Games, the #10 overall player in the state didn't miss a beat to open up the fall. Over the course of the Fall Classic, The 5'10, 160 pound L/R infielder posted a .500 OBP out of the leadoff spot while showing off the defensive prowess both at shortstop and 3rd base in the 5 game set. At the plate, the lefty shows off a simple setup with a compact stride before working the barrel on a slight uphill path through the zone with plenty of awareness. Defensively, McCarthy shows a well above average look with strong lateral moves, soft hands and an arm that works from a variety of angles clocked in the mid 8's across the diamond. The prowess on both sides of the ball is bolstered by a 6.7 run tool that shows up all over the diamond. McCarthy finds himself as a high impact profile with room to grow as he continues to strengthen the frame. 

2029 OF Henry Kelly (Northwest HS, IA): The #3 overall player in IA's 2028 class came into the weekend with one of the most impressive tool belts regardless of class and Kelly had them all on display in the Fall Classic. The 6'0 185 pound lefty finished the weekend with a .500 average out of the top of the order for the Sticks. At the plate, Kelly features a toe tap timing mechanism with a slight drift in the hands before unleashing an aggressive hack with some outstanding feel for the barrel. Outside the box, Kelly roams the outfield with a + run tool and an upper 8's arm with a solid first step and strong tracking skills off the bat. Between the obvious tools and ability to match in a game setting t's not hard to see why Kelly has found himself in the top of this 2028 class for the state and I would be surprised to see him without a home for much longer than this upcoming spring. 

2028 RHP Maddox Pyle (De Soto HS, KS): After bursting onto the scene in a big sophomore season where he represented team Kansas in the Future Games, Pyle wasted no time getting back to success on the mound in the Fall. The 6'1, 175 pound right handed arm hurled 4 innings of shutout baseball on the hill for the Iowa Sticks, surrendering just 3 base runners while striking out 7. The long levered righty works to a sync and drive mechanical feel with a consistent tempo down the hill hiding the ball well out of a natural 3/4 slot. Pyle ran the fastball up to 86 on this day, working on both halves of the zone. Pyle featured a pair of strong off speed offerings in a slider and splitter with feel to land both, working to weak contact as well as the swing and miss. Look for Pyle to make a big jump in the off season and continue to rise in the Kansas ranks ahead of his junior season.  

Tournament Champions

17/18u 

Pool A: The Inevitable A's brought an impressive roster of 2027-2029 grads to the park this weekend and it showed on the field by way of a 5-0 record and a championship win to kick off the fall. In the pool, the A's racked up a +18 run differential in their double header, good for the #5 overall seed in the bracket before going on to rattle off three big wins by way of an impressive offensive showing. All said and done the A's finished the weekend with a +44 run differential due in large part to strong offensive showings from names like Porter McCarthy, Chase Stieferman, Bridger Schmidt, Ben Delic, and Carson Coy. 

Pool B: NE Prospects 2028 Red came into the weekend as a heavy favorite and did not disappoint on the field. Their +26 run differential (allowing just 1 run) in their pool play doubleheader proved to be good enough for the #1 overall seed coming into bracket play. On Sunday, the potent offense kept chugging along, plating 14 runs on their way to the title game. The championship itself presented a different set of challenges as the Prospects found themselves in a tie game heading into the bottom half of the 7th, but a chance was all Cash Shoemaker needed to deliver a walkoff hit and secure a trophy for the Prospects. Look for big names like Hank Vosik, Caden Circo, and Peyton Marfisi to continue their big summer seasons into the Fall. 

16u 

Champion: Team War Eagle grabbed themselves the #1 overall seed in the pool in a convincing manner, racking up a run differential of +21 across their double header to earn a first round bye. On Sunday, the War Eagles found themselves in a nail biter taking 4 innings of no earned run baseball out of the bullpen from Logan Latier to find themselves in position to walk it off in the semi final. The title game featured a strong offensive showing across the board in order to claim War Eagles first title of the Fall. Look for a strong top 5 of Elian Nunez, Henry Rockenfield, Max Juhl, Logan Latier, and Jack Van Iten to continue to produce the rest of the season. 

Finalist: Iowa Sticks 2029 found their way just short of a title to open up their fall in the Classic over the weekend by way of an impressive semi final showing. Following a 1-0-1 finish in the pool, good for the #2 overall seed, the Sticks made a statement in a 13-1 semi final win to work their way into the championship game. The fundamentally sound play on both sides of the ball for the Sticks is an indicator that this is far from the last time this Fall they find themselves playing deep into the Sunday slate.

15u 

Champion: NE Prospects 2030 Red came, saw, and conquered en route to a 5-0 record and a tournament win in the Fall Classic over the weekend. The Prospects allowed just 3 runs in pool play on their way to the #1 Overall seed before letting the offense roll in the bracket. Across the three bracket play rounds the Prospects ran up a +21 run differential on their way to a title. Charlie Dougherty, Kyan Sundling, Kyler Kobs and Riley Modrell found themselves as impact producers in the title run. 

Finalist: Iowa Sticks 2030 fell just short in the title game following a pair of quality wins in the quarter and semi final rounds. Holding the #3 overall seed coming into Sunday, the Sticks outlasted a strong NE Prospects team before a dominant win over the #2 overall seed to find themselves in the title bout. Look for players like Caden Pauli and Braden Grier to power more long tournament runs as we get deeper into the fall. 

14u 

Champion: Iowa Sticks 2031 cruised to a 5-0 finish on the weekend to grab a trophy in the Fall Classic. Sticks opened up in pool play with a dominant double header allowing just a pair of runs between the two games to claim the #1 overall seed on their way to the Sunday bracket. In the bracket, the Sticks racked up a +25 run differential across the three rounds in order to bring a championship back to Iowa. 

Finalist: Competitive Edge 2031 gave themselves a convincing shot at a title over the weekend in the Fall Classic, grabbing the #3 overall seed in the pools thanks to a strong 1-0-1 showing including a tight 2-1 win to open things up on Saturday. In the bracket Edge squeaked out another one run victory before opening up the offense in the semi final for a big win. The title bout unfortunately went the other way for Edge this weekend but we'd expect to find them playing deep into Sunday all Fall. 

13u 

Champion: The hometown BPC Reds returned to the complexes in raw form for the Fall after finishing the Summer with a 23-4-1 record in the KC circuit. The Reds grabbed the #1 overall seed in the pool winning both games by an average of 10 runs before looking ahead to Sunday. In the bracket, the Reds allowed just two runs across the three rounds in order to take home another title in convincing fashion. 

Silver Bracket Champion: The Olathe Maniacs earned the first seed in the silver bracket following a strong 1-1 finish in the pool behind a positive run differential. On Sunday, The Maniacs took advantage of a first round bye and came out hot with a 16-1 semi final win before securing their title with a convincing 9-5 win in the championship round. 

12u 

Champion: KC Scrappers put together a dominant showing in the Fall Classic, racking up a +28 run differential in their two pool play games in order to claim the #1 overall seed in the division. The impressive showing didn't stop there as the Scrappers won both their semi final and championship matchups by way of a mercy in order to take home their trophy. 

Finalist: The KC Crushers went an impressive 2-0 in the pool racking up a +14 run differential across the two games which was good for the #3 overall seed ahead of the bracket. On Sunday, The Crushers delivered a tight 11-10 win over the #2 overall seed to punch their ticket to the title game before running out of gas in the final round.