Event Results: Top Gun KC Fall Futures Invite

By: Madison Feldhahn

The Top Gun KC Fall Futures Invite took place this previous Saturday and Sunday at Central Bank Sporting Complex and Mid America Sports Complex. This two-day event featured 24 teams across 12u and 14u.

In the 12u division, each of the three pools were led by an undefeated 2-0-0 pool record, including two in Pool C. These teams were Select Fastpitch Adams in Pool A, Nebraska Gold 515 Futures Lincoln in Pool B, and Nebraska Thunder Bails and Iowa Gold Prospects in Pool C.

There were several dominant wins in the 12u division. Some of these victories include an 11-0 win by Louisville Lady Sluggers, 10-0 win by Nebraska Thunder Bails, 15-0 by Select Fastpitch Adams, and a 15-1 victory by Aces Fastpitch National Lowry. The highest scoring game of the day was the 13-12 Louisville Lady Sluggers 12u VanBoxmeer victory over Aces Fastpitch National Lowry.

There were 3 pools in the 14u age division and four of these teams – Aces Fastpitch National Jones, Select Fastpitch Jones/Carr 13u, Select Fastpitch 13u Goldman/Tollie, and Nebraska Quakes National 13 – went undefeated during pool play as well.

The 14u division has a lot of dominant wins, including a 15-0 victory by Select Fastpitch Jones/Carr 13u. Aces Fastpitch National Jones (10-0), Building Champions Peppers/Wallace (15-1), KC Pride Flavell 14u (11-2), and Select Fastpitch Zagozda (14-2) also had large margins of victory this weekend. Vengeance Fastpitch Gilbert 13u defeated Nebraska Quakes National 13u 12-9 in the highest scoring 14u game.

The 12u champion was Select Fastpitch Adams. They defeated Nebraska Gold Naughton 11u 5-2 to take home the win. Their biggest bracket victory was 15-0 against Louisville Lady Sluggers 12u VanBoxmeer. The team also posted a big win against Top Gun Gallaway, 10-2.

The 14u champion was Select Fastpitch Jones/Carr 13u. The championship was secured 3-2 against Aces Fastpitch National Jones. The team had two 12-0 wins in pool play and scored a total of 38 runs in bracket play.Congratulations to our champions and thank you to everyone who joined us this weekend!

Event Preview: Top Gun KC Fall Futures Invite

By: Madison Feldhahn

This weekend, Top Gun Events is hosting the Top Gun KC Fall Futures Invite. This is the event’s second year, and it brings in 24 teams from across Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa in the 12u and 14u age divisions. The 12u age division will play at Central Bank Sporting Complex, and the 14u age division will play at Mid America Sports Complex.

Gate Fees:

Children $5

Teens & Adults: $10

Senior: $5

Military: $5

Pool play will begin for both age groups on Saturday at 10 AM. This tournament has a double elimination bracket. Bracket play will begin Saturday at 4:00 PM for both age groups. Bracket play will resume on Sunday at 8:30 AM.

Take a look at some of the teams joining us below!

12u

Aces Fastpitch National Lowry

Coaching Staff: Curt Lowry & Tiffany Lowry

Team Social Media Handles: Aces 12u National 2012 (FB)

2024 Summer Successes: We are a brand new 2012 National Team looking to build a team that can compete at the highest level and begin to prepare/develop players for college if that is their long-term goal.

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: We aim to build a team of motivated girls focused on competing at the highest level, developing a strong understanding of the game, and improving each player’s fundamental skill set. We strive for both individual growth and the success of the team as a whole.

Louisville Lady Sluggers 12u VanBoxmeer

Coaching Staff: Ashley VanBoxmeer & Andy Paalhar

Team Social Media Handles: louisvilleladysluggers12u_vb (Instagram)

2024 Summer Successes: We are a new team.

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: We hope to compete at a high level in all 12u tournaments and qualify for Nationals.

 

Nebraska Gold 515 Futures Lincoln

Coaching Staff: Tad Lincoln (HC), Cory Dawson, Brian Ladehoff & Kyle Johnson

Team Social Media Handles: @NE_Gold_515 (X) & NE Gold 515 2012 (FB)

2024 Summer Successes: Top 2 teams in Iowa based on USSSA points and rank. Top 15 finish at Nationals out of 66 teams.

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: We feel good about our additions this fall and are excited to see where we stack up against the best competition in the Midwest.

Nebraska Gold Naughton 11u

Coaching Staff: Kyle Naughton (HC), Anthony Muck (AC) & Ben Grojean (AC)

Team Social Media Handles: @NEGold2012s (X), Nebraska Gold 12u (FB) ne_gold_2012s (Instagram)

2024 Summer Successes: USSSA Midwest Nationals 11 open gold bracket runner-up (9-2-1)

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: Compete in all phases of the game, physically and mentally. Work harder than everyone else. Build character, develop into better teammates, on and off the field.

Nebraska Thunder Bails

Coaching Staff: Ashley Bails (HC, Iowa State softball alum), Dough Kinsel (AC, Iowa State baseball alum) & Brian Duensing (AC, Nebraska baseball alum)

Team Social Media Handles: @UFAThunder (X)

2024 Summer Successes: 40 win season as a young, first-year team. A few local tournament wins, also competed well in bigger, regional tournaments in KC and Des Moines

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: We have everyone back and are excited to compete at a higher level. This is our first Top Gun tournament and want the girls to be challenged as well as gain the confidence that they belong in these bigger tournaments.

Select Fastpitch Adams

Coaching Staff: Brandon Adams, Nate Gamet & Britnee Weber

Team Social Media Handles: @SelectFP09, @316eliteSB, @cnote1616

2024 Summer Successes: 39-12 this summer at 12A as a true 11u roster. Had a 21-game winning streak. Top 4 finish in a Top Gun spring event at the end of April. USSSA KC tourney champs. Undefeated and one seed at Memorial Day PGF prior to tornadoes ending the event. 3rd place finish in the USSSA nationals in Des Moines.

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: We added some players from 316 Elite Weber who joined Select as well as a couple others. So fall is all about us finding out identity and development. Our main goal as a coaching staff is to help have this team prepared for 14s next year and ready to compete at the highest levels come that time. We have a ton of talented players. We look forward to watching them compete and learn. A couple of our bigger events we plan to play in the Top Gun Futures, PGF in September, and Top Gun Select Invite to finish up in November.

14u

Team Kansas Gaughan

Coaching Staff: Doug Gaughan (HC), Chris Harper (AC), Ryan Hassett (AC) & Adam Hill (AC)

Team Social Media Handles: Team Kansas Gaughan 14u (Facebook)

2024 Summer Successes: 1st place Rawlings Mantra Tour, 3rd place Road to the Show, 3rd place Season Opener, 5th place 16B MoKan Border War

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: We added depth to our pitching rotation. We plan to compete at the highest level we can for the girls. We want to challenge the girls by playing good competition like we are going to see in this tournament. We are off to a good start, winning the Silver Bracket at a 14A season opener last weekend.

Team Kansas Hays

Coaching Staff: Patti Hays, Sheena Brown, Willie Nealy & David Kistner

Team Social Media Handles: @TeamKansasHays (X), Team Kansas-Hays 13u (FB)

Expectations for 2024 Fall Season: Based on a pretty competitive schedule and the amount of hard work these ladies put in, this team should be able to surprise quite a few people and pull off some close games.

Good luck to all of the teams competing this weekend!

 

 

Missouri High School Softball Preview

By: Madison Feldhahn

This past Thursday marked the first day of competition for fall softball in Missouri. August 29 saw nine games to kick off the fall season. There will be over 100 games this Friday and Saturday across the state. In the first National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, Missouri had five teams in the Top 25 – Washington (2), Francis Howell (20), Blue Springs South (21), Raymore-Peculiar (23), and Helias Catholic (24). Take a further look at these five schools below.

Washington High School (2)

The Class 4 high school from Washington, Mo. is entering this year off a state championship victory over Helias Catholic (24) in 2023. The Blue Jays, of Washington, Mo., have started their season 1-1 with a 3-2 victory over Francis Howell (20) and an 11-13 lost to Class 5 Northwest High School (Cedar Hill, MO). Washington is led by head coach Grant Young and assistant Tim Zumsteg. The program is rounded out by JV assistant coaches Logan Schamerloh and Craig Vonder Haar. This coaching staff was recently named the 2023-24 ATEC/NFCA High School National Coaching Staff of the Year.

The Washington Blue Jays roster features 7 seniors, lead by Grace Molitor. Molitor was named to the 1st Team NFCA All Region Team last season. The team also adds 11 freshmen to their roster. Key games for the Blue Jays this season include Troy Buchanan (Sept. 11) and Park Way West (Sept. 25).

Francis Howell High School (20)

The St. Charles, Mo. Francis Howell High School won the Class 5 2023 fall state championship. The Vikings defeated Blue Springs South (21) 8-0. The Vikings are currently playing in the Francis Howell Invitational against Bartlesville High Schools and Owasso High School (18, Okla.), and Lafayette High School. The program kicks off their conference play on Sept. 3 against Fort Zumwalt West High School.

Lexi Romeril is in charge of the program. She is assisted by Kaylee Burton and Madison Kettler at the varsity level and Todd Mueller and Sue Herweck at the junior varsity level. Romeril took charge of her alma mater in spring 2023 and lead the team to a Class 5 State Championship in her first season.

The Vikings squad has 7 seniors, including Northern Illinois University commit Elle Glass. One of the key games for the Vikings is against Troy Buchanan High School (Sept. 24).

Blue Springs South High School (21)

The Blue Springs South High School Jaguars are coming off a second place finish in the Class 5 State Tournament. The team from Blue Springs, Mo., is led by Kristina Williams. She is assisted by Tracie Black. Darin Wisner and Ryan Messick are the junior varsity and freshman assistant coaches, respectfully.

The Jaguars are playing at the MO West Round Robin tournament and will head to the Papillion-La Vista Invitational before starting conference play at Grain Valley on Sept. 9.

The program has six seniors on their roster, led by Ava Wilmes who is committed to Iowa State University. Other senior commitments include Mikayla Davis to Jacksonville State University, Ava Minton to Southwest Baptist University, Kaylee Norris to Benedictine University, and Briley Tiller to Howard University. The Jaguars will face Raymore-Peculiar (23) on Sept. 19 and Oct. 7.

Raymore-Peculiar High School (23)

Raymore-Peculiar High School finished third in the 2023 Missouri State tournament, behind Francis Howell and Blue Springs South. It was the Panthers first trip to the state tournament since 2019 and just their second winning season in the same timeframe. Ali Jo Locher took over the program in 2023. She is assisted by Shelby Prather. Brandon Ransom is the head JV coach, and he’s assisted by Brett Marr. John Heinemann leads the freshman team with Ashleigh Easton assisting. In May, Locher was honored with the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s Diamond 9 Award for her contributions to softball as a player and coach.

The Panthers roster carries 4 seniors on their team, including Western New Mexico University commit Bailey Hummel. The Raymore-Peculiar team is playing in the William Chrisman Tournament. They’ll head to the 20th Annual Joplin Paige Neal/Christina Freeman Softball Invitational before beginning conference play at Lee’s Summit North on Sept. 16.

Helias Catholic High School (24)

The runner-up in the Class 4 State Tournament, Helias Catholic, takes on Roll Sept. 3 for their first game of the season. The Lady Crusaders hail from Jefferson City, Mo., and are led by Kelly Fick. She is assisted by Barry Delaney, Megan Smith, and Chris Wyrick. Fick has led the softball program since 2020 and took over the baseball team in May 2024. Delany was named a Missouri HS Fastpitch Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year.

There are just two seniors on the Helias Catholic roster, Cambri Van Loo and Abigail Verslues. The Lady Crusaders are looking for their first state championship since 2019. They’ve finished runner-up in the tournament since then.

The 49th MSHSAA Softball Championships will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2024 at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield, Mo. All tickets must be purchased in advanced on their website and the games will be streamed on MSHSAA.TV.