Sunday saw the wrap-up of the three days of team play in the Diamond 9 Sun Classic Fall Showcase held at four venues in the Orlando, Florida area with most of the action taking place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex next to all the Disney World parks.

The Sun Class is huge: there were 260 teams competing representing 31 states and approximately 4,000 girls taking the field in the 14U, 16U and 18U divisions. And, perhaps the most important number of all, there were close to 300 college coaches in attendance from all over the country.

Sunday’s weather was much more amenable and friendly as the skies were sunny, but the wind was minimal and the temperatures were higher.

The games once again started at 8 am with the last contests kicking off at 3:30 pm. The final games consisted mostly of Florida area teams as those who were from farther away generally left earlier in the day to catch flights home.

Like Friday and Saturday action, there were great plays, players and teams all on display… here are some of my wrap-up observations from the Sun Classic:

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I’m going to start with a story demonstrating why an event like the Sun Classic can help make a young athlete’s dreams come true.

Bonnie Schipper is a 2015 catcher/third baseman from Virginia and a standout student-athlete with a 3.9 GPA and a sparkling 2060 SAT.

She was picked up by the Jersey Intensity – Martin team two weeks ago as head coach Jim Martin was set to go to the Legendary Tournament in Virginia Beach and didn’t have a catcher. Someone recommended Bonnie to him and she played with the Intensity at that event.

“Bonnie has a quick release and was throwing out runners at first, second and third,” Coach Martin told me last night. “She has pinpoint accuracy and was amazing in Virginia.”

The coach talked to Syracuse, Maryland and Columbia about her and Columbia was interested enough to attend a game this weekend where Bonnie threw out a runner and, as the last batter in a game about to be called because of time, hit a two-run double that gave Intensity the win.

“I looked back and the Columbia coach gave me a thumbs up,” Martin laughed. “It’s looking pretty good for her to go to one of those schools.”

Another reason to like Bonnie is her feisty attitude. She told Martin, “I hate base runners.” Gotta love a player that competitive!

So think about that—in the course of two weekends, this senior who didn’t really have a lot going on in the recruiting process may end up at in the Ivy League.   If that’s not her dream come true, it very probably is her parents!

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Carolina Elite was one of the surprises of summer ball and at the Team New Jersey Classic they made it to the finals where they lost to the OC Batbusters – Haning/Stith team.

I had a chance to watch them quite a bit on Sunday and they could do some damage again over the next year. Here’s a rundown of some players who impressed:

— OK, I’ll admit it: pitcher Matty Moss is a senior who should have made the Hot 100 team. She left early today, but I saw enough of her to be very impressed with the Tennessee commit. She attacks the batters and has impressive velocity and movement. Matty is very, very good and she should be dominant this year. Sidenote: South Carolina commit Cayla Drotar, a 2016 Hot 100 player, is out with an injury, so Moss got a lot more pitching in this weekend than normal. Those two together will win the Elite a lot of games in 2015.

— Abbey Cheek, the 2015 third baseman going to Kentucky, is another player who coulda/shoulda made the Hot 100. Shelooks much more confident than when I saw her at Nationals and she’s really become a vocal team leader. She’s got quick hands and offensively she is hitting the change-up better than I’ve ever seen. She’s got All-SEC potential because of her power.

— Speaking of power, one of the top 2017’s at this point appears to be catcher Mia Davidson, who’s committed to Mississippi State but I heard that many elite schools are still trying to recruit her. Mia has a great arm and blocks well, but she’s another masher who had 24 home runs over the summer for Carolina Elite which was one better than Abbey Cheek and she hit about five points higher (in the .400 range) than her too.

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Speaking of great grades, Alexis Bazos of Jersey Intensity – KOD has a 4.0 GPA and a 2010 and the 2016 junior is starting to get some serious looks, not surprising after she did well at the West Coast National Elite Camp in October and continues to improve.

I hear she’s taking a visit to Northwestern this week and has several top programs after her including Ivy League schools.

She’s a player I’ve liked for over a year and I’m admittedly partial because she’s written for Full Count Softball including a really well done blog after the West Coast Elite Camp.

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Last year at the Sun Classic I was just learning about a pitcher/infielder named Lele Ocasio who was really emerging after playing for Wagner’s Gold – Dunn and some travel ball tourneys with other clubs.

Lele, of course, went on to have a 1^st Team Full Count Softball All-American year in 2014 and signed with Florida. She was at the Sun Classic on Saturday and I got to catch up with her and talk about the transition to college life.

There are a couple of young talented players on the Wagner’s Gold – Dunn team –including 2016 pitcher Kenzie Longanecker, who wasn’t there this weekend – but one that was and was impressive was 2017 outfielder Shanika Klett.

The lefty hitter has power and speed and will run through a fence if that’s what it takes. Also interesting and impressive: Shanika was third in the state in girls wrestling! You know she’s athletic, quick and tough…

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A relatively new club team to the softball scene is OC United based in Orange County, Calif. (thus the “OC”) and it’s coached by Kaitlin Cochran, the former Arizona State great. I had a chance to talk to her about her young team which is made up of 2019’s and 2020 players.

There are several on the team who jumped out when I saw them play… keep an eye on these players:

— Brooke Johnson (2019) is already 5-foot-10 and can pitch and play first base. She’s an impressive hitter and already looks and plays like someone years older than she is. Expect her to have heavy interest in the next year.

— Taylor Pack (2019) is a shortstop/catcher and Coach Cochran says she’s been her most consistent player. Taylor is another one who passes the eyeball test and I saw her have a very productive at-bat where she worked the count and took a pitch she wanted and lined it up the middle.

— Miranda Stoddard (2019) is an impressive pitcher/infielder who is already hitting 60 mph and has a curve and change-up.   She has definite D1 potential and talent.

— Shelby Macias (2019) is another good-looking pitcher who is in the high 50’s but has a good change and screwball that Kaitlin was talking highly about.

— Lauryn Garewal (2019) is an athletic outfielder who is skilled on offense and defense and has a high ceiling. I like her future as well…

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Don’t know what it is about the Miami Stingrays 18U Gold team, but that team just continually cranks out great infielders including a pair of top 100 picks the last two years.

In the 2014 class we had Caitlin Charlton, a shortstop who’s now at Baylor, and in this year’s senior crop there’s Carsyn Gordan, a third baseman/shortstop who’s going to sign with Florida State.

Note: Carsyn wasn’t with the team this fall—I was told she’s playing with the Gold Coast Hurricanes but is expected back with the Stingrays in 2015 for the summer.

So this current team, which has another excellent major college talent in Kylan Becker, the lefty slapper who can play the outfield and infield and is committed to Ole Miss, has three more talented infielders to watch.

I watched all three Sunday and they each have good mechanics, footwork and glove skills.

They are:

— Kiley Kross (2018), who was playing second when I watched her. She’s vocal and showed good instincts.

— Ally Mena (2017) played shortstop and I liked her range and how she looked focused and into the game.

— Mayte Lezcano (2017) was at third and showed good athletic ability when she came in on slaps and bunts.

By the way… all three have GPAs of at least a 3.97.

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Speaking of Florida, the Windermere Wildfire organization has a lot of talent and it was fun watching them later in the day and talking to Coach Steve Stutsman and other coaches and parents.

Here’s some notes from what I saw and heard:

— Jade Caraway, a 2016 outfielder who’s a tall lefty slapper, really impressed me. She has excellent bat control and is a triple threat who has power and good speed. Jade is committed to North Carolina State and she will be an impact player there.

— Last year at the Sun Classic I remember sitting next to Tennessee Coach Ralph Weekly as we both watched 2015 pitcher/infielder/outfielder Kelsey Morrison pitch.

I liked her then and like her a more now. Forgot how tall and athletic she is and she can hit too. Can’t predict how Kelsey will shake out as a pitcher in Knoxville, but she is athletic and skilled enough to make it somewhere on the field.

— A young player in the Wildfire program to watch is 2017 pitcher Lauren Mathis, who now plays on the 16U team coached by her father and last year carried the team on her back and took them to the ASA 14U championship game. She had 21 K’s in a semifinal game.

Lauren has good spins and is getting heavy interest from Florida—which could be the team to beat—along with programs like Notre Dame, South Carolina and Ohio State.

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Finally, as I sat waiting in the Orlando International Airport to get on my flight from Orlando to Phoenix Monday afternoon, I heard a young player—obviously excited – talking on the phone with who was apparently a college coach.

I began talking to her and her father and found out she has set up a call Thursday afternoon with the college coach,  her parents and her to talk about accepting a scholarship.

I can’t say who it was but I gave them my info and if/when it happens they said they’d let me know.

Kinda cool to be a fly on the wall and hear another girl’s dreams about to come true.

And a great way to wrap-up this year’s Sun Classic.