Saturday at the Clearwater Fall Classic was night and day different than Friday’s strong action for one simple reason: there were close to 300 college coaches in attendance.

They came from all over the nation and included, but weren’t limited to (listed in order of sign in):

• Texas
• Michigan
• Oklahoma
• Duke
• Florida
• Central Florida
• Nebraska
• Northwestern
• Oklahoma State
• Purdue
• Clemson
• Tennessee
• LSU
• Alabama
• Auburn
• Kentucky

… and many, many, many more.

*** Our Game of the Day was the matchup featuring the Texas Bombers 16U team versus the Beverly Bandits 16U squad.

It appeared to be the game that had the most college coaches in attendance including three P4 head coaches: Mike White (Texas), Karen Weekly (Tennessee) and Kate Malveaux (Auburn).

Dale Serie’s Bombers team won thanks in large part to the outstanding pitching performances of a pair of impressive 2028s: left-hander Maliyah Lewis and right-hander Jessica Hinnant.

Lewis is an energetic lefty and Hinnant a right-hander that gives the team a tough one-two punch.

These two will be ones to watch for the next several years and should help the Bombers go deep in any tournament they play in.

Here’s our interview with the pair after their big win today…

*** A team that was impressive today was the Texas Blaze 18U United team coached by Cory Robertson.

The team’s battery was very impressive.

Houston-bound pitcher Julia Kasper of the Texas Blaze threw six shutout innings in the 3-1 win over Impact 18U – Caymol Premier at the Eddie C. Moore complex in Clearwater, Fla.

Her future head coach at Houston, Kristin Vesely, sat behind the backstop taking notes and said she was there to scout but also to show players like Julia that she is there to support them.

She had to like what saw in the pitcher.

*** Her catcher, Lorelei “Lolo” Gamble, a 2027 commit to the Univ. of Texas, impressed with her cannon for an arm. For example, she had one throwdown between innings that was a laser that settled into the middle infielder’s glove without it having to move.

The Longhorns will have a great one in a player that seemed fated to end up at UT.

Here’s an interview we did with the standout backstop:

*** Blaze Head Coach Cory Robertson said what makes his team special is their energy—something they work on off the field and on. The bench players stands outside the dugout to greet the team on the field when they exit the field.

*** Jolene Henderson, now coaching at Stanford, was in the stands next to her father, Joe Henderson, head coach of the Love The Game (LTG) team in a game matching the Colorado Batbusters against Marty Tyson’s Corona Angels.

Each roster featuring a Stanford commit and it was no coincidence that Jolene was in the stands to not only evaluate talent but also to let her commits see that she was there.

“Besides scouting, you show your players you support them and that being here matters,” she said.

Coach Henderson emphasized the competitive value for his athletes in playing against the top teams featured at the Clearwater Fall Classic.

“It’s the opportunity to face top competition,” he said. “These kids get better by playing against the best.”

*** Corona Angels 18U Head Coach Marty Tyson echoed the same point when asked why his strong California program heads to this event every year.

His answer was simple:

“Competition.”

Then he expanded with an example:

“We’ve played five games so far,” Tyson said. “All five pitchers we’ve faced are Division I including ones from Ole Miss, Alabama, Tennessee. That’s why we come, to face the best.”

*** Ding Balavender is a 2029 pitcher for Tampa Mustangs 16U – Renee and she looked impressive in action on Saturday.

So far for the weekend she has a 1.30 ERA mixing her pitches well including a curve, rise, back door curve, slow curve, and a drop curve.

Ding, who holds a 4.25 GPA at attends Melbourne (Fla.) High School has pitched in 13 games this season with no losses.

She was “Pitcher of the Tournament” at PGF Show Me the Money last year and made the “All Tournament Team” as Team 1 Connect.

*** Finally, the Georgia Impact – Taylor team is loaded with talent and the results have been impressive.

When you look at their performance last week at the Bombers event in Texas where the team went 8-1 and outscored opponents 48-5 along with how they’ve played in Clearwater this weekend, you’ll see the entire team is on fire…

Here’s who’s getting it done at the plate:

• Nina Carrone (2026, SS, committed to Florida): .391 batting average, four home runs, 13 RBIs
• Jacely Hogan (2026, OF, Liberty): .375 batting average, .476 on-base percentage (leads team)
• Riz White (2026, OF/UT, Duke): .368 batting average, no strikeouts in plate appearances
• Kadyn Gabrels (2026, CIF, South Carolina): two home runs, nine RBIs
• Janie Goldin (2027, C, Oklahoma State): .440 on-base percentage, six steals

… and here are the pitchers who are excelling:

• Hannah DeMarcus (2027, P, Auburn): 30 strikeouts in 20 innings
• Addie Rackley (2026, P/UT, LSU): .538 ERA, 20 K’s and only two hits given up in 13 innings
• Kate Brennan (2026, P, Georgia): 0 runs given up in nine innings
• Braylee Spence (2027, P): 11 K’s in 11 innings