A late storm derailed the very end of day three, but not before The 2023 Utter Family Dealerships Pudge Rodriguez World Classic, powered by Scott Birmingham - Baird Private Wealth Management, provided more highlights, more standout names and more top performances. Some takeaways:

1) Rocky Mountain High Colorado… the Slammers are representing their state well with two teams doing damage and knocking off some of the events top teams as they push towards a Pudge World Classic championship. Slammers Austin was one of the stories of Tuesday’s action and on Wednesday Slammers Holzemer showed it might be just as good. 

After throwing a gem during the first round of games Tuesday, Virginia commitment Thomas Stewart showed his impressive all-around skill with a couple of strong plays at shortstop and an impact bat from the right side with notable contact ability. Stewart has established himself as one of the event’s top two-way players and prospects. As I’m publishing this, he just hit his second homer of the day during Friday’s action. 

Left-handed hitting first baseman Connor Larkin (Cherry Creek; Colorado) showed one of the best left-handed swings in the event and repeatedly made hard contact, tracked pitches well and competed in the batter’s box. A first baseman, Larkin should continue to fill out and is a good bet to hit at a very high, D1 prospect-type level. Josh McWilliams (Chaparral; Colorado) and Sam Harry (Castle View; Colorado) both had strong games from the right side as hitter and Harry in particular projects well as a 6-3, 180-pound outfielder. Big slugger Josh Sutrina (Chaparral; Colorado) has a bat-first profile, but he also had the loudest hit ball I heard Wednesday when he blasted a pitch to the wall in left. 

2) After writing about a Keller High School 2026 prospect yesterday, I’m going to write about another one today and I’m not just trying to suck up to Five Tool’s Lynn and Brooks Vanlandingham. Shortstop and right-handed hitter Cole Koeninger emerged as one of the best prospects in the event with another very strong showing during Thursday’s action. 

Listed at 6-2, 180 pounds, Koeninger, who is uncommitted, is a very good mover for a player his size and age, which showed at shortstop when he made a tough play from the hole and fired a rocket to first base. He showed a future plus arm with carry, the athleticism, hands, clock and bend to have a chance to stick at shortstop long-term and he’s been one of the top right-handed hitters I’ve seen. He could very well develop into the type of shortstop prospect who is near the top of the future 2026 Five Tool 55 because his tools are very loud and he can play the game, too. His high school teammate Logan Brown is a big right-hander who was up to 86 MPH and showed intriguing stuff and upside despite Slammers Holzemar getting the best of him.

Jaeden Wilson (Shepton), Preston Lewis (Rockwall-Heath) and Shawn Arterburn (Southlake Carroll) all stood out at various times, too. Arterburn’s all-around skill is obvious and Lewis is coming off an impressive freshman campaign as a catcher at the varsity level. 

3) My first in-person look at McKinney Boyd’s Brody Walls was a really good one. Against Stix Prospects 2025 Black, Walls, a Texas commit, threw 7.0 innings and gave up just one earned run on four hits, two walks and struck out eight for Dulins Dodgers Prime 16U. A good athlete on the mound who has also looked the part of a major middle infielder and right-handed hitter with an impact barrel, Walls attacked hitters from a near sidearm slot and a very quick arm. His fastball was up to 92 MPH multiple times, but he settled into the 85-88 MPH range with low effort and ramped it up into the 90s when he wanted to. 

The best offering was his slider, which is already flashing as a plus pitch up to 81 MPH and spin into 2600 RPM range. It’s a true offering with good visual shape that he threw for strikes and also buried late in counts to get whiffs. Walls is another reminder that the 2025 class in Texas is shaping up to be one of the strongest at the top in a long time. 

Although he hasn’t posted big stats, Jody Murillo (Guyer) has one of the best left-handed swings in the event and can really impact the baseball. Dulins Dodgers Prime 16U shortstop Aaron Grant will need to add more strength and physicality as he matures, but he played shortstop with smooth, confident actions and thinks the game at a high level. 

4) But Dulins Dodgers Prime 16U lost a heartbreaker in extra innings to Stix 2025 Prospects Black. I left the game very impressed with Ayden Austin (Allen). Don’t let his pedestrian hitting stats fool you. He can hit and really, really competes at a high level. In the two at-bats versus Walls I saw, Austin battled deep into the count and worked a walk and in another at-bat he timed a good fastball and smacked it hard right at an outfielder’s glove. A good mover who plays some center field with a good frame already, Austin looks like he could emerge as one of the top outfielders in DFW and maybe the state. 

From the left side, Ryan Kelly (Colleyville Heritage) timed 92 MPH like a seasoned veteran and smashed a deep fly out to right field. His swing has really looked and performed well; once he gets a quick barrel into the zone, he does a good job of keeping that plane through the zone and through contact. In relief, right-hander Dylan Dominguez (Greenwood) threw well. He worked at 83-84 MPH with his heater from a lower slot, created some run to the fastball, got the pitch to both sides of the plate and even threw quality right-on-right changeups for whiffs with a slider he executed for strikes. 

5) Central Texas baseball had a strong showing during Thursday’s games. For GPS Legends 16U Montgomery, Conner Helms (Dripping Springs) made a fantastic defensive play at shortstop and flashed his impact hitting tools; Joseph Sandusky (McNeil) put the bat on the ball consistently from the right side and looked the part of an athletic middle infielder; center fielder Colby Fowler (Lago Vista) found his way on base often and tracked the ball well in center field; and Hudson Hartgrove (Cedar Ridge) and Alexander Covar (McNeil) had bright moments, too. 

I’m cheating because this game was on Wednesday… For Canes Southwest Premier, Baylor commitment and Johnson City left-hander Johnny Slawinski showed why he basically averaged a near no-hitter with an absurd strikeout total against 2A competition. After showing his athleticism defensively in left field with a highlight-reel catch during Tuesday’s games, Slawinski fired an easy heater up to 89 MPH, a swing-and-miss changeup and a quality breaking ball. 

On Thursday, Lake Travis product David Womack, who threw some crucial innings late in the high school season, threw a complete game with 10 strikeouts. He really worked the fastball and slider well to his glove side, allowing the slider to come out of a similar window from the hitter’s view before breaking. On the hitting side, physical right-handed hitting center fielder Thomas Schnabel (Moe and Gene Johnson) made quality contact as often as anyone in the event and it helps when you run in the 4.1 and 4.2 range down the line. 

Dustin McComas
Senior Editor