The Super 16 has came and went here in Kansas City leaving a lot to unpack in its wake. 86 teams came from all over the Central, South, and Western regions of the US to battle it out for a championship between the open and member divisions. Down below we'll get into the two champions and their adversaries in the final round, as well as my picks for the best players from the weekend along with some scouting notes from their performances in the Super 16. To kick things off, let's breakdown some of this weekend's standouts... 2028 C Brady Nelson (Staley HS, MO): Nelson has continued his big start to the Summer again in the Super 16 with another strong weekend at the dish. through 7 games Nelson delivered with 7 hits, 4 of which going for extra bases while walking more than he struck out. The rising junior backstop continues to trend upward with both the power tool and plate discipline while delivering elite defense behind the plate on a day to day basis. This is a must follow name in the 2028 class and I would be suprised if he stays on the board too long after August 1st. 

2028 1B Jagger Jackson (Savannah HS, MO): Jackson had what some might call a coming out party in the Super 16 behind an 11/18 weekend at the plate with multiple multi-hit bouts. The 6'3, 215 pound RHH impresses in his approach as much as the frame and metrics, refusing to get cheated with less than two strikes while showing off the barrel control and strength to deliver loud contact when behind in the count. Defensively Jackson doesn't neglect responsibility impressing with both the range and glovework with some sneaky athleticism present at 1B. This is another name in MO's 2028 class that will be hard to ignore come August. 

2028 MIF Braxton Jones (Pearland HS, TX): Jones Is everything one could ask for in a top of the order middle infielder. The compact, physical LHH gets out of the box with 6.6 speed, displays elite bat to ball, and sprays it to all fields while playing some top end defense up the middle with great lateral moves. The highlight of Jones' game is the confidence he displays on the field, his ability to slow the game down while competing at a high level will allow him to continue to impact winning regardless of the place he lands at the next level. 

2028 RHP/UTL Osi Lopez (La Joya Palmview HS, TX): Lopez dazzled in a complete game effort to punch the Wildcatters ticket to the semi final behind 7 innings of 1 run ball on the hill, fanning 7 while sharing the love between 4 pitches to finish batters off. The stout right handed arm displayed a quick, clean action out of a high 3/4 slot, running the fastball up to 87 on multiple occasions with 3 quality offspeed options to pair with it. The SL played to some short, late bite for more of a cutter feel with the curveball playing to more of a traditional shape. The CH was thrown to both sides with feel to kill spin and create depth while keeping arm speed. Lopez was no stranger to success at the plate but his start on the mound made for an intriuging profile to keep tabs on with present pitchability and a competitive spirit. 

2028 RHP/INF Michael Dobbs (Seaman HS, KS): Dobbs was no stranger to success on both sides of the ball this weekend with 6 innings of two hit ball on the mound in his start as well as collecting at least one hit in all of the 5 games played on the tournament. On the mound, Dobbs is as close to a starter profile as you'll find in Kansas' 2028 class managing emotions well, pitching up in big spots, and delivering 5 offerings with feel to land each of them. At the plate the RHH displays a strong feel to create power from the ground up while trusting a quick set of hands to work on plane with consistency. Dobbs looks to do damage to the pull side and does so with consistency, the hit tool will only continue to trend upward as the frame continues to mature. Will be one to get a look at with Team Kansas at the Future Games here in a few weeks. 

Tournament Champions 

Member 

Wildcatters National were a sight to behold on their 7-0 championship run. Between their stable of talented mid to upper 8's arms in Oliver Dugan, Osi Lopez, and Jack Lesseigne to name a few and some incredibly talented top of the order bats like Braxton Jones, Ryan Chism, and Kyle Behan the Wildcatters found themselves as a favorite coming into the weekend. When supplemented by stellar weekends at the plate from Luis Arcaya and Isaiah Oliveras the Wildcatters found themselves barring unbeatable. Above all else, the team bought into winning baseball, they played almost entirely free of errors, took extra bags and played at 110% from the moment they stepped on the field to take home the title. 

Finalist 

The Royals Scout Team fell just a few runs short of perfection on the weekend carrying their +36 run differential and 6-0 record into the championship game. The engine room in the order is one that will continue to produce winning baseball for the rest of the summer in Tavian Ladenthin, Brady Nelson, Theo Fisher, and Isaac Thompson. Keep tabs on this squad as they continue to gel and buy into their roles for the Summer as this is a squad that could very easily find themselves on top again in KC. 

Open 

4D Train Marcum was carrying one thing on their roster that the rest of the open division was not this weekend and that was Carson Wiskur. Behind a nuclear weekend from Wiskur at the plate the rest of the order followed suit with names like Drew Kindle, Cooper Duvall, Spence Gibbs and Sawyer Barnett delivering at a high clip to bring 4D Train an undefeated 7-0 weekend and a title. 

Finalist 

The West Fargo Aces found themselves as a bit of an underdog coming into the weekend with just a singular ranked player on their squad coming into the weekend. While Calan Kliniski did play a big role in the leadoff spot while holding it down at shortstop for the Aces, they found contributions from all over the roster to battle their way into the title game. Notably Mason Wickham, Jack Boehm and Max Bear all found themselves producing at a high level in the order while playing sound defense to find themselves with a 6-1 finish in the Super 16.