Diaz Crowned Champ! Long Shots Light Up 2025 Prospect League Home Run Derby!

Springfield, Ill. – The 2025 Prospect League All-Star Fest activities kicked off Monday night at Robin Roberts Field with the Prospect League Alumni game and the 2025 Home Run Derby. The Prospect League Alumni team defeated the US War Dogs in a four-inning exhibition game.  

Following the game, the top sluggers from the Prospect League swung for the fences in the Home Run Derby. This year's competitors consisted of Wally Diaz (Rex), Baden Hackworth (O'Fallon), Caleb Clealand (Alton), Hunter Snow (Lafayette), Brady Lester (Champion City), Cole Nathan (Dubois County), Kooper Schulte (Burlington), and Louie Barletti (Springfield). 

In the first round, #8 Barletti got things started as he launched nine long shots. #7 Schulte followed up by going deep five times. The third to bat was #6 Nathan, who sent out seven deep balls of his own. #5 Lester finished the first half of the round with five big flies. #4 Snow had two dingers to start the top half of seeded hitters. #3 Clealand slugged one bomb out of the park. One ball was blasted out by #2 Hackworth. The league-leading home-run hitter #1 Diaz moved on with seven no-doubters, including six in the last 20 seconds. To wrap up the first round, Lester and Schulte had a three-pitch swing off. In the first round of the swing off, both players had one blast. After Lester had one long ball in the second round, Schulte blasted two over the scoreboard to move on to round two. Moving on to round two are #8 Barletti (9), #1 Diaz (7), #6 Nathan (7), and #7 Schulte (5). 

The home team hero Barletti led off the second round by sending out nine four-baggers for the second round in a row. Diaz continued the fun by knocking out eight round trippers. Nathan drove five balls out of the park. After winning the swing-off in round one, Schulte followed up by saying goodbye to seven baseballs. Heading to the final round are Barletti and Diaz. 

In the championship round, it is the home team, Springfield Lucky Horseshoes #8 seed Louie Barletti, going up against #1 seed Wally Diaz of REX baseball. Barletti got the first swing, blasting out seven moon shots. Wally Diaz sent out his walk-off eighth home run with a long shot over the street to win the 2025 Prospect League Home Run Derby and the silver bat. 

In the end, the #1 seed Wally Diaz keeps his title as the Home Run champion of the Prospect League for 2025. In total, 86 baseballs were launched over the fences of Robin Roberts Stadium on this thrilling night, honoring the best sluggers in the league this season. 

Catch these sluggers and the rest of the 2025 Prospect League All-Stars in action Tuesday night, July 8th at 6:30 pm for the 2025 All-Star Game at Robin Roberts Stadium, home of the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes. Gates open at 5:30 pm. The game will air live on the Prospect League Network with Lucas Burris, Greg Halbleib, and Andrés Tejeda on the call.

About the Prospect League
The Prospect League is a premier, Midwestern, wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league with 18 teams spanning Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. The League provides college players with a professional setting, featuring excellent competition and high-quality facilities. More than 1.2 million fans attended Prospect League games in the past two seasons, achieving record-breaking attendance figures in both 2023 and 2024.

Formerly known as the Central Illinois Collegiate League (1963-2008), the Prospect League boasts over 60 years of tradition as one of the nation's original and most recognizable summer leagues. Its distinguished history includes Hall of Famers, NCAA and World Series Champions, over 200 Major League Baseball alumni, and more than 800 professional players worldwide. For more information, visit prospectleague.com and follow @prospectleague on social media.

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