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MOKAN Fall ID: Quick Hits

November 5, 2024
Eliott Wilk
Central Region Operations Director

On Sunday, October 13th, the Prep Baseball Kansas team hosted the annual MOKAN Fall ID at Creekside Baseball Park in Parkville, MO. This event was open for all high school classes (2025-28), and gave our staff an ample look at the area's top players. 

For a full look at the players that attended, click HERE.

Shortly after the event, our staff compiled several of the day’s stat leaders inside our traditional ‘Stat Story’, which you can find HERE. 

Today, after combing through our notes from the day, we’ve compiled some of the event’s standouts below within these ‘Quick Hits’.

QUICK HITS

+ OF Maxton Meade (Spring Hill, 2026) emerged as one of the biggest winners of the day from Sunday’s event. Packed with athleticism and projectability in a lean, 5-foot-11, 157-frame, Meade flashed loud tools in every facet of the game in his Prep Baseball debut. At the plate, the righty swung a strong right-handed barrel with easy bat speed that has shown the ability to play in game across several looks this summer and fall. Still developing power as he continues to add size and strength, Meade squared his best ball up at 96.1 mph - a top five mark on the day. The junior also posted the fastest 60 time of the day with a 6.69 mark and reached 80 mph on his firmest throw from the outfield. Meade will be a name to keep an eye on in the Kansas 2026 class.

   

+ Sunday’s event gave us a chance to get another look at OF Carson Umphres (Great Bend, 2025; North Texas CC commit) and he did not disappoint. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior continues to add polish to his swing, putting together undoubtedly the loudest round of BP on the day (and quite possibly the fall), barreling his best ball 422 feet at 105.2 mph. However, more impressive was his ability to consistently find the barrel with authority, averaging 99.9 mph per batted ball with an average distance of 357 feet. The tools did not stop there, Umphres also posted an event leading 88 mph mark from the outfield on his best bullet and ran a 6.70 60 - second best on the day.

   

+ INF Brayden Shannon (Blue Valley Southwest, 2027) continues to show why he is a top-5 prospect in the Kansas 2027 class. The 6-foot-2, 167-pound righty continued to show a mature approach at the plate with an advanced feel for the barrel, working line drives from gap to gap throughout his round of BP. His short, simple, repeatable swing produced a top exit velocity of 94.3 mph on the day with a strong average of 84.4 mph per batted ball. Shannon also ran a 6.85 60 - top 3 on the day. Look for plenty more to come as he continues to add strength and polish his game. 

  

+ OF Colston Lyon (St. Michael the Archangel, MO, 2027) continues to impress our staff with every look, building off a standout summer with another strong performance on Sunday. With plenty of room to still add on size to a 5-foot-9, 150-pound frame, Lyon continues to polish his swing at the plate, reaching 96.3 mph on his best barrel with an all-fields, line drive approach from the right side of the plate. Lyon also shined in the field, running a 6.86 60 and posting the second highest outfield velocity of the day with an 83 mph mark.

   

+ A recent standout at the Kansas Fall Kickoff, INF JJ Grove (Wichita Northwest, 2026) has jumped onto our radar this fall and was impressive once again in Sunday’s look. The athletic, 5-foot-11, 181-pound uncommitted junior swung a flat barrel that flashed gap to gap power throughout his round of BP with more to come. An above average defender on the infield, Grove flashed impressive range and clean, reliable actions at shortstop while firing a 80 mph bullet across the diamond to pair with a 6.93 60 time. 

   

+ An intriguing two-way follow from the Show Me State, RHP/INF Howie Donoho (Chillicothe, MO, 2027) put together one of the more impressive all around performances on the day. Donoho swung a compact right-handed barrel at the plate, barreling his best ball 345 feet at 92 mph. However, where Donoho really stood out was on the mound. The 6-foot, 183-pound sophomore once again saw an uptick in his stuff, commanding the zone with a fastball at 85-87 mph (T88.1 mph). He also showed advanced feel to land a curveball, slider, changeup mix for strikes at 66-68 mph, 68-69 mph, and 78-80 mph respectively.

   

+ Another uncommitted junior that caught our eye was RHP Blake Sarnecki (Heritage Christian, 2026). At 6-foot, 173-pounds, Sarnecki’s fastball played at 83-85 mph, peaking at 86.5 mph from a loose, whippy, high ¾ arm slot. His best secondary pitch at the moment seems to be his slider which he threw at 67-70 mph with an average of -12.9” of vertical break, also reaching -14” of horizontal movement at times. Sarnecki also turned over a changeup at 71-73 mph. 

   

+ RHP Axton Brewer (Seaman, 2027) showed considerable upside on the mound this weekend in his Prep Baseball debut, throwing one of the most impressive bullpens of the day. In a 6-foot-1, 186-pound frame, the sophomore featured an electric fastball with arm side run at 88-89 mph as part of an impressive four-pitch mix. Off of that he flashed feel for the zone with a horizontal moving slider at 74-75 mph, a vertical breaking curveball at 64-67 mph, and a low spin changeup at 79-80 mph. Watch for Brewer to shoot up our rankings our next update as he emerges as a name to keep an eye on in the Sunflower State this spring.

   

+ Another uncommitted junior arm with an impressive showing this past weekend was RHP Cade Strathman (McPherson, 2026). An effortless mover on the mound, Strathman possesses a projectable 6-foot, 169-pound frame with a clean arm action and the ability to command both sides of the zone with all three pitches. The righty’s fastball played at 82-84 mph with a considerable amount of sink. Paired with that was an impressive slider at 72-73 mph with 2,200 RPM and a low spin, tumbling changeup at 75-76 mph.

   

+ OF Gavin Short (Maize, 2026) was on the barrel throughout his round of BP, with a short, powerful, compact swing that produced line drives through the middle of the field for a max exit velocity of 96.4 mph. Showing advanced bat speed from the left side of the plate (T78 mph), his furthest ball traveled 343 feet - the third highest mark of the day. From the outfield, Short showed off his arm strength, posting the third best mark of the event in outfield velocity as well with a 81 mph bullet.

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