This is Brentt Eads with Line Drive… my wife Shannon and I have enjoyed our time this week in Shawnee, Kan. with the Top Gun Invitational going full speed this weekend.

On Wednesday, a special event was held for grad classes 2026 down to 2030 prior to the start of the Invitational and it was impressive: the CONNECT Camp – KC run by Diamond Direction under the leadership of long-time events producer Nate Eaton.

*** Click HERE to read our event recap

We were at Kansas City area camp —the first of three CONNECT camps this summer (the others will be in Chicago on July 9^th and in Duncan, S.C. on August 9^th & 10^th)—and had the opportunity to speak with two talented participants alongside their parents:

• Kaylee Hodges a pitcher from Chesterfield, Va. who plays for Team NC – Bowman and was selected as the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. She is also ranked #7 in the 2027 Line Drive HOT 100,
• Rylee Tedder, a 2028 pitcher who is on Nationals – Batts/Garner team and was #11 in the HOT 100 rankings published last month.

Each have attended previous CONNECT CAMPS—for Rylee this is her fifth one!—and both spoke on how they enjoyed interacting with college coaches from nearly two dozen D1 programs—universities such as Duke, LSU, Michigan Tennessee, UCLA.

They also appreciate having their performance metrics captured including running, swing and throwing speeds.

“What I love about these camps,” Kaylee noted, “is that the coaches really want to know you—not just as a player, but as a person. They’ll ask your name, your favorite color, what you want to do when you get home. It makes it feel meaningful.”

“There are a lot of different coaches who get to see me and work with me,” Rylee added, “and they also run separate camps within these events. So, in one short trip, I get to meet a lot of coaches, and that’s really beneficial.”

Here’s what each had to say in full…

Kaylee Hodges

*****

Rylee Tedder