MARION, Iowa – Once the Prospect Meadows Sports Complex got up and running in earnest during the fall of 2019, the eight-field facility began hosting what is now called the Perfect Game Midwest Labor Day Classic.
The event has grown exponentially over its three-year history, and when the 2021 rendition begins its four-day run on Friday (Sept. 5), 74 teams from eight centrally located states (primarily Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin) will compete for championships in the Upperclass (18u), Underclass (17u), Sophomore (16u) and Freshman (15u) age divisions.
And while this year’s field will be dominated by the presence of 24 teams from the ever-expanding Iowa Select Baseball organization, it’s impossible to look past the entrants from Racine, Wis.-based Midwest powerhouse Hitters Baseball, a championship-level program under the direction of RJ Fergus.
“Every year since [PG] has put this event together we’ve liked to go out to Cedar Rapids with all of our teams and get them on the road – for a lot of guys, for the first time,” Fergus told PG during a telephone conversation this week. “You’ll have the whole organization at Prospect Meadows at the same time which is really good for us.
“The younger guys can see the older guys, the older guys can see the younger guys and it’s kind of like a family affair; we all stay at the same hotel,” he said. “It’s a great way for us to kick off our fall season in a competitive environment.”
The 24-team Upperclass division looks to be especially competitive with the Hitters 2022 Navy and Iowa Select 2022 Obermueller standing out heading into the tournament; they are one of two Hitters teams and one of six Iowa Select teams in the field. There are also numerous teams from the Minnesota-based P2P Millers and the Illinois-based Cangelosi Sparks programs that always promise to be highly competitive.
The Hitters 2022 Navy roster will be nearly intact, led by outfielders Michael Lippe (No. 163-ranked, Louisville commit) and Jonathan Kim (No. 468, Michigan); right-hander Mitch Voit (No. 394, Michigan) and catcher Will Vierling (No. 456, Louisville); eight other 2022 Navy prospects are ranked as top-500s.
The most notable absence will be that of PG All-American shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 25, Louisville) who is in the Sarasota/Bradenton, Fla., area competing at the USA Baseball 18U National Team Trials.
The Iowa Select Obermueller roster is loaded to the gills with D-I talent right out of Eastern Iowa high schools, including six from Iowa City’s City High School. The most prominent player is 2021 PG All-American outfielder Tommy Specht, the No. 39-ranked national prospect from the class of 2022, a Kentucky commit out of Dubuque.
There are also six top-500 prospects on the roster who have committed to the in-state Iowa Hawkeyes: middle infielder Gable Mitchell, catcher Reese Moore, outfielder Cade Obermueller, left-hander Drew Proskovec, right-hander/third baseman Aaron Savary and infielder/outfielder Kellen Strohmeyer.
Twelve teams will compete for the MW Underclass MWLDC crown including three Iowa Select squads and a Hitters 2023’s team that features outfielder JT Kelenic (No. 235, uncommitted), the younger brother of former PG All-American and current Seattle Mariner Jarred Kelenic.
Catcher Thomas Curry (No. 448, uncommitted), shortstop Alex Alicea (No. 463, Louisville) and top-500s Zachary Olson, Evan Shapiro and TJ Schuyler (Indiana) are also rostered with the Hitters 2023’s. The top-ranked player at the event is outfielder AJ Garcia (No. 190, uncommitted) from Illinois-based Elite Baseball Training Lugo.
PG tournament director Mike Bonwell has also put together a 21-team field for the Sophomore division, including eight more Iowa Select squads, three more from the P2P Millers program and the Hitters 2024’s. Another 17 will compete in the Freshman division, featuring seven more Iowa Select teams, two more P2P Millers’ squads and, yes, the Hitters 2025’s.
The most highly-regarded prospects from the class of 2024 playing in the Sophomore MWLDC are Iowa recruits in shortstop Myles Davis (No. 145) from Marion and right-hander Joey Oakie (No. 180) out of Ankeny; Davis is with the Iowa Select 2024 Remington, Oakie with Iowa Select 2024 Murphy.
Fergus pointed out many of his younger players, the ‘24s and ‘25s, did experience travel ball over the summer so they won’t come in not knowing what to expect. They have taken a good chunk of August off, of course, and with a lot of guys now playing football, the rosters will be thinner.
That means less depth, which in turn means players will be asked to do more over the course of the long holiday weekend. Guys who may not have pitched a lick all summer could find themselves toeing the rubber at Prospect Meadows.
“The biggest thing is to get out and be outside of home and then learn to play a little bit,” Fergus said. “And a lot of it is to support Mike [Bonwell] and his group of PG guys in Iowa. [PG] has been great to us over the years and we’ll continue our support with you guys there...This is the opening weekend to see what you’ve got and now you’re putting it together to go out to win.”
The PG Midwest Labor Day Classic is among the most prominent of the six Labor Day Classics being held this weekend, with the five-class, 63-team WWBA East Labor Day Classic being held in Fort Myers also deserving of a shout-out.
With only a handful of exceptions, the teams at the East LDC are all based in Florida, with a few outliers from Puerto Rico, New Jersey and Connecticut. Other four-day Classics will be held in Sanford, Fla. (East, 10u-13u) and Memphis (Mid-South).