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Grand Park Fall Championships: '28 Impact

September 17, 2025
Cooper Trinkle
Indiana Scouting Director

The Grand Park Fall Championships year-in and year-out attracts some of the Midwests' top talent performing on the fall circuit. Our staff, with the help of neighboring state's staff members, covered this premier event with plenty of 2028 prospects showing well. This class now begins their lead up to August 1st of 2026 - the opening days of recruitment for this class. Find an impact list of twenty names-to-know from the 2028 class at this event - with the upperclassmen set to receive their recognition in the coming days...

Impact 20 for 2028

Highlights embedded into players' name

1. Kameron Gillespie, SS (MO)
Providing a silky look always, Gillespie has done nothing but shine in my looks with a graceful ease to the actions that he carries on both sides - along with unwavering confidence that made him my favorite rising sophomore prospect at the event. The impact was felt on both sides of the ball, and he stood out as the most impressive defender I saw all week, regardless of class. The memory of multiple out-of-funnel, sliding plays up the middle still lingers, as he more than answered any lingering questions about his ability to anchor shortstop long term. Now presenting a more physical, mature frame than when last seen at the NPI, Gillespie stands 6-foot, 160-pounds with plus run times (6.6) that pair seamlessly with the fluidity of his actions. Offensively, there is impactful twitch in the left-handed stroke, producing line-drive contact with innate barrel accuracy that fits a top-of-the-order profile. In eight trips, the Missouri native went 2-for-4, walked four times, and remarkably left the weekend without a single swing-and-miss—furthering the case for him as a high-end follow in the class.

2. Luke McKenna, RHP (KS)
McKenna stands a long-limbed 6-foot-6, 190-pounds, and delivered a dominant semi-final start against a quality Iowa Sticks lineup that cemented his status as a premier follow moving forward. The delivery remains simple and controlled, operating exclusively from the stretch with a subtle inward turn at lift before working down the slope with a short cross-body stride. The arm is loose and whippy, taking a deeper path on the backside before accelerating with quickness to a high ¾ slot. That athletic operation produced a fastball at 85–88 that routinely carried north of 16 inches of IVB, missing bats with late life and holding the promise of considerably more in the near future. A mid-70s split stood out as a separator, showing advanced action beyond his gradually breaking 68–71 curveball. With continued refinement of the secondaries and natural velocity gains likely to come, look for McKenna to continue to make jumps physically that should do nothing but enhance an already advanced look.

3. Tyler Wilhite, SS (WV)
Watching Wilhite this weekend, his passion for the game was abundantly clear. He plays with a throwback motor, looking to take heads with an aggressive mindset that led to multiple extra bases taken. Wiry in a 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame, the hands set in a lower launch position before delivering the barrel with lag that helps him use all fields. Wilhite stood out despite playing up a grade, and well above his age as a young-for-class 2028 competing in the 2027 division. He moved all around the dirt with athletic feet and a solid above average to better arm that brings some two-way value as well. "Bet on aggressive athletes with aptitude" - Shooter Hunt... Wilhite checks those boxes and some.

4. Jaxson White, OF/LHP (KY)
Bringing a true two-way profile that stands out as one of the Midwests' best for 2028 in that department, White shined most in his championship game start on the hill this past weekend, but I was more impressed with him on the other side of the ball at the NPI in June. An athlete with twitch packed into a 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame - White took the hill and pitched in the mid-80s (T 87) with a fastball that he controlled to both sides of the plate. Unaffraid to pitch inside with his fastball while also landing both secondaries (72-74 SL, 73-75 CH), the competitiveness White brought to the mound was apparent and I saw much of the same on the offensive side earlier in the summer. His bat went quiet this past weekend, but the left-handed hitting centerfielder deploys a gap-to-gap approach with power beginning to blossom. 

5. Collin Lawlor, LHP/OF (IL)
Count me in as a fan of this southpaw from Marist, an athletic, 6-foot, 175-pounder that quieted a solid lineup for a 3-inning outing that included seven punchouts. The arm works freely in a full-circle fashion before getting to a lower 3/4 slot that induced sink on a low-80s heater that touched 83 in this look, and 84 at the Midwest Super Sophomore Games earlier this summer. The fastball worked to both sides and set the tunnel for a well-spun, 69-70 slurve that he landed for strikes at will, along with getting chase later in-counts. Though not needed much, he did flash an easy above average change in the mid-70s that came out with a fastball look - bringing three above average offerings to the aresenal for the age at this present moment. While I feel more bullish on the arm long term, Lawlor did stand out with an athletic look from the left-side while hitting in the middle of the Cangelosi Sparks order. 

6. Andrew Noble, OF (IN)
7. Cooper Nichols, C (IN)
8. Anderson Kaufmann, C/RHP (IL)
9. Brooks Bond, SS (IA)
10. Callum Birdzell, SS (IN)
11. Henry Murphy, RHP (IL)
12. Peter Pignatiello, SS (IL)
13. Jenner Smith, OF (IL)
14. Ty White, SS (IN)
15. Carson Ramoley, OF (IL)
16. Nick Dubofsky, RHP (CO)
17. Finn Steiner, RHP (IN)
18. Isaiah Steward, SS (TN)
19. Brendan Kutz, C (TN)
20. Tyson Resch, 1B/RHP (WI)