Legends MVP

⚾ LEGENDS HAWKS 12U TRYOUTS! ⚾

The Legends Hawks 12U are looking to add players to their roster!

📅 Saturday, August 22
⏰ 1:00 PM
📍 Legends Sports & Entertainment
3202 Military Road, Benton, AR 72015

The Hawks will be led by veteran coach Nathan Nalley, who brings the experience, baseball knowledge, and steady leadership needed to develop young players and build a competitive team. Coach Nalley understands that successful teams are built by teaching the game the right way, holding players accountable, and creating a culture where kids can compete, improve, and enjoy playing together.

Being a Legend also means having a true home for development. Our players have access to indoor batting cages, pitching and hitting instruction, speed and agility training, outdoor turf fields, team-practice space, and year-round opportunities to put in the work. When the weather turns bad, the work doesn’t have to stop!

If you’re looking for experienced coaching, a strong team environment, and a facility committed to helping players reach their potential, come see what the Legends Hawks 12U are building!

🦅 Come earn your wings and become a Legend!

Please message us with any questions or to let us know your player will be attending.

Go check out one of our great sponsors gameday attire!

🏆 LEGEND OF THE YEAR: BROOKS BURROUGH 🏆

Being named Legend of the Year is about much more than talent. It means representing everything we want a Legend to be: a hard worker, a great teammate, a leader, a coachable player, and someone who genuinely loves the game.

Brooks Burrough is all of those things and he has developed into one heck of a baseball player!

Here is a fun story: Two years ago, Brooks was actually being considered to be let go from a not-so-good, up-and-coming 8U team. And if we are being completely honest, he was not exactly great at that point. 😂

Two years later, he is one of the best players on a high-caliber team and helping lead that team to championships.

Brooks has become an absolute defensive juggernaut at shortstop. His range, quick hands, arm strength, and ability to make difficult plays look routine set him apart. There are not many balls hit to his side of the field that he cannot get to. He may not be doing backflips yet, but with the way he flashes the leather at shortstop, he is almost ready to borrow Ozzie Smith’s nickname “The Wizard.”

He is also becoming one of the most dangerous and fastest-improving hitters around. Brooks has an advanced eye at the plate, understands the strike zone, and rarely gives away an at-bat. His disciplined approach, bat-to-ball ability, and growing confidence make him an extremely tough out. He does not just swing, he has a plan.

Brooks is a difference-maker on both sides of the ball, but what makes him truly special is that he remains a team-first player. He does whatever is asked of him, competes every pitch, and puts winning ahead of personal recognition. He does all of this despite the fact that he only has Josh Burrough as a father. Talk about overcoming!

This kind of improvement does not happen by accident. It comes from countless hours of work, tremendous discipline, coachability, and a genuine love for baseball. Brooks has earned every bit of the player he has become, and the exciting part is that he is still getting better.

He is a star in the making, and we could not be prouder that he puts in all this work while representing Legends the right way.

Congratulations to our Legend of the Year, Brooks Burrough!

🎵 This is how Legends are made. 🎵

🏆 2025/2026 LEGENDS COACH OF THE YEAR: DANIEL THOMPSON 🏆

This whole thing is built around great coaching.

I believed that when we started Legends, but after watching these teams grow, compete, struggle, improve, win, and become families, I KNOW it now.

And great coaching is not just the guy whose name is at the top of the roster. It has to run from the top down.

Great assistant coaches are imperative. They teach. They encourage. They hold kids accountable. They notice the little things. They pick a kid up when he needs it and push him when he needs that instead. And one of the marks of a great head coach is knowing how to surround himself with great people.

Daniel Thompson has done exactly that.

I love watching this staff coach these boys. They know how to motivate them, demand something from them, and still love on them when that is what the moment calls for.

Now, with that being said, not everybody is built for ALLLLLL the stuff that comes with being the Head Coach.

Ryan. 😉

Today, though, is about honoring the guy who I think has done an absolutely phenomenal job from top to bottom.

Daniel has been a spiritual leader.

He has been a motivator.

He has assembled a great coaching staff.

He has handled tough situations head-on instead of running from them.

He has built relationships with these kids and families.

And somewhere along the way, he turned a group of boys into some straight-up DAWGS on the baseball field.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP? CHECK. ✅

I started Legends believing that coaches were the key to building great teams. Now I believe it to be an absolute certainty.

A team can only go as far as its leadership can take it.

Heck, the coach is driving the bus.

And with Daniel, everything starts with something much more important than baseball.

He is a good man.

When I recruited him, I knew two things: the guy knew ball, and he was a good dude.

What did I get?

Exactly that.

He has not disappointed.

There is an old lesson that says when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. Daniel has shown us over and over again exactly who he is.

And here's another one:

If the trajectory is going up, BUY STOCK. 📈

Because I am buying all the stock I can get in Legends Select 9U.

The talent is there.
The coaching is there.
The culture is there.
The work is there.
And now the results are starting to show everybody else what some of us already knew.

The sky is the limit for this group, and I, for one, believe the ascent to the very top of this sport starts NOW.

Congratulations to our 2025/2026 Legends Coach of the Year, Daniel Thompson.

You earned it, Coach. Keep driving. 🔥⚾️

🏆 COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR — PEYTON BURGET 🏆

Calling Peyton Burget’s journey a “comeback” almost doesn’t do it justice.

In the fall of 2025, Peyton suffered a severe tibia-fibula break in Murfreesboro and had to be med-flighted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. He endured two hours without pain medication before undergoing the first of multiple surgeries, where two rods were inserted into his leg to hold everything in place while the bones healed.

What followed was an incredibly difficult road:

• Two months confined to a recliner before he could return to school
• Three months in a full-leg cast
• Two months in a short-leg cast
• Two more months in a walking boot

Then—just TWO WEEKS after the boot came off—Peyton was back on the diamond!

He didn’t simply return, either. Peyton made an impact while still playing with the rods in his leg. On July 10, he underwent his final surgery to have that hardware removed, and now he is looking forward to a full season of work with no restrictions.

The Comeback Player of the Year Award is about resilience, courage, determination and refusing to allow difficult circumstances to define you. Peyton displayed every one of those qualities.

After everything this young man endured, just seeing him step back onto the field would have been a victory. Watching him compete and contribute made it something truly special.

Congratulations to our Comeback Player of the Year, Peyton Burget! Your toughness and determination are what being a Legend is all about!

🚨 LEGEND OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

After an incredible Fall ’25 / Spring ’26 season, it’s finally time.

We’ve handed out awards for work ethic, leadership, character, hustle, being a great teammate, building our culture and so much more…

But this one is different.

This is the big one.

The Legend of the Year represents what we want a Legend to be on the field, off the field, in the facility and everywhere.

And this year’s Legend of the Year is…







NOT GETTING ANNOUNCED TODAY. 😂

Come on, you didn’t think I was giving away the grand finale that easy, did you?

Tomorrow.

We crown the **Fall 2025 / Spring 2026 Legend of the Year. 🏆⚾

And I promise, this one means a whole lot to me.

HOW LEGENDS ARE MADE.

🏆 THE ALL-OUT HUSTLE AWARD 🏆
Austin Fullington & Kam Kendrick

Austin Fullington is starting to rack up the hardware! 😂 Home Run Derby Champ and now an All-Out Hustle Award winner!

This award is about the way you play the game. Running hard. Getting on and off the field. Backing up plays. Taking the extra base. Competing every pitch. Bringing an energy that teammates can feed off of. Hustle is a choice, and these two choose it over and over again.

I have only gotten to watch Austin and Kam play a handful of times, but one thing jumped out immediately with both of them: THEY FLY AROUND THE FIELD. They play the game with speed, energy and urgency, and that is exactly what this award is supposed to recognize.

And with Kam, that speed certainly isn't happening by accident. Kam & Kevin Kendrick have been huge leaders in our Speed & Agility class with Coach Craig, and all that work shows when Kam gets on a baseball field. (Class due back next week!:)

Hustle is contagious. When one kid is flying around the field, it raises the standard for everybody around him. These two are great examples of what it looks like to play the game ALL OUT.

Congratulations Austin Fullington & Kam Kendrick, your Fall 2025/Spring 2026 All-Out Hustle Award winners! 🔥⚾

HOW LEGENDS ARE MADE.

🏆 MOST IMPROVED LEGEND AWARD 🏆
Jameson Shelton

This award drew a lot of nominations, and that says something pretty awesome about the year we had. A lot of kids put in a lot of really good work and made huge strides.

But when it came down to it, Jameson Shelton earned this one.

I have to give Coach Craig a lot of the credit here. He has an eye for talent, and after working with Jameson, he came to me and said, “You need to see this kid.” He couldn't believe how much improvement Jameson had made in just one lesson.

Boy, am I glad he did.

If I didn't have to put up with his mom, this kid might be the perfect ballplayer. 😉

Jameson is as smart as they come on the diamond. He understands the game, he wants to learn, he works, and he continues to get better at a pace that is really fun to watch. I absolutely love coaching him.

This is the only Legends award we give out that really has anything to do with skill, but I don't think improvement is just about talent.

Improving the way Jameson has improved takes work ethic. It takes humility. It takes character. It takes heart.

That's what this award is really about.

Jameson, if you keep working the way you've been working, the sky is the limit.

Congratulations to our Fall 2025/Spring 2026 Most Improved Legend, Jameson Shelton! ⚾🏆

Keep climbing, kid. OMAHA(you had to be there)!!!

🏆 LEGENDS CULTURE BUILDERS AWARD 🏆

Congratulations to the Carter Family—our Fall 2025/Spring 2026 Legends Culture Builders Award winners!

I have personally heard multiple people say, “I heard about this place from the Carters,” or ask, “Do you know them?”

Boy, do I! 😂

I had the joy of coaching alongside Justin, and he is absolutely doing right by the boys on his team. He invests in their development, cares about them beyond baseball and works tirelessly to help them improve.

I had the joy of coaching Lachlan—what an incredibly talented and excitable kid! His energy and love for the game are impossible to miss.

And I had the “joy” of having Melissa as a mom on my team. We worked through that, and we are both better for it. Too soon? 😂 I appreciate how much you love on these boys and how you look for opportunities to make them feel special!

In all seriousness, the Carters are so much fun to be around and are always incredible ambassadors for Legends. They believe in what we are building, tell others about it and represent our facility exactly the way you would hope.

I could not ask for a better family to represent Legends—or a more enjoyable family to share this journey with.

I appreciate you SOOO much, Carter Family! Congratulations on a very well-deserved award!