Top Players Showcase Their Skills at Power 50 Prospects Event
By Rob Else
Several top players from the 2025 and 2026 classes showed off their skills for college coaches at the Top Gun Events Power 50 Prospect camp. The inaugural event, held November 18th at the Griffon Indoor facility in St. Joseph, MO, wasn’t a traditional camp that players are familiar with. “It wasn’t a traditional camp like people are used to. It was not an instructional camp at all it was purely a showcase camp,” said Paige Crawford, Director of Athletic Experience for Top Gun Events.
The all-day event started early with opening ceremonies and players being split up into teams, depending on their graduating class. Following the opening ceremonies, the showcase kicked off with metric testing. Athletes were run through several tests that college coaches use to evaluate recruits. The tests included a 40-yard dash, the pro agility shuttle, throwing velocity, exit velocity, and pitching measurables. All the results were posted in real-time to the Top Gun Events website allowing college coaches to pull up player performances while at the event.
There were lots of great players, but here are a few that stood out during the metric testing:
- Keegan Baker (2026) – Oklahoma Athletics – Fastest pitching velocity at 66 mph
- Addison Ray (2026) – Select Fastpitch – Top exit velocity of 78 mph.
- Payton Steuart (2026) – Epic Fastpitch – Best catcher pop time, between 1.66 – 1.90
- Lydia Turner (2026) – Select Fastpitch – Fastest 40-yard dash time at 5.33.
You can view the full leaderboard on the Top Gun event website here: Top Gun Metrics
In addition to metric evaluations, athletes attended classroom training. Sessions included the BMS Project talking about mental health, Tony Wylie from The Collective Engine provided information about Name Image Likeness (NIL), and Alana Vawter, a current player for South Carolina. “I loved getting to listen in on the sessions to make me become the best player I can be, all while staying healthy,” said Cali Bentz (2026) from Nebraska Gold.
After a break for lunch, the day continued with live skills workouts and scrimmages in front of the college coaches. “The day was long but fun! I learned a ton of new things about the NIL deals and the recruiting process,” said Avery Nelson (2026) from the SE IA Allstars.
The event was limited to the Top 50 players in the Midwest region. Each player was selected through an extensive process that included being nominated by their club organization. The nominated players were then reviewed by a selection committee to determine if they met the participation criteria. If a player was selected by the committee, then an offer to attend was sent. “My initial reaction was very excited. I didn’t know if I would get in and getting to be one of the 50 athletes selected to go was a very exciting opportunity,” said Bentz.
Overall, the event was a success for everyone that attended. The hope is to continue this event and make it an annual tradition. Top Gun Events is already planning a similar event; the Top 100 Junior Prospect event will be held in January. The event will include over 20 NAIA, JUCO, and Division 2 college coaches on hand to evaluate 2025 athletes. It will use the same selection process for inviting players.
