For the ninth straight year, the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series is set to put on one of the most anticipated stretches of baseball on the amateur circuit.
Let’s take a quick look at at the upcoming schedule for both the national tournaments and combine events, which will lead to determining the rosters for the upcoming signature events like the Fresh 50, Underclass Premier, Underclass Elite and Main Event. Returning international events like the Caribbean Classic and World Combine are now also in play for player selection through this summer’s games.
| EVENT / CLASS | DATES | VENUE |
|---|---|---|
| National Tournament -- 2028 | July 8-13 | Houston Christian, SanJac, Episcopal HS |
| National Tournament -- 2029 | July 8-13 | Houston Christian, SanJac, Episcopal HS |
| Underclass Combine -- 2028 | July 14-16 | San Jacinto College |
| Underclass Combine -- 2029-30 | July 14-16 | San Jacinto College |
| National Tournament -- 2026 | July 15-20 | Houston Christian, SanJac, Episcopal HS |
| National Combine -- 2026 | July 21-24 | San Jacinto College |
| National Tourrnament -- 2027 | July 22-24 | Houston Christian, SanJac, Episcopal HS |
| Underclass Combine -- 2027 | July 28-30 | San Jacinto College |
This summer’s events return to the Houston area after some time in Lake Charles, Louisiana and Nashville, Tennessee.
We’ll kick things off the National Tournaments for our youngest groups, the grad classes of 2028 and 2029, between July 8 and 13. For all three weeks of tournaments, available venues are: St. Thomas HS, Houston Christian, University of Houston, San Jac CC, and Episcopal HS.
For each week of tournament games, this one included, Tuesday is an optional workout day for participating teams, with games set to begin on Wednesday and conclude on Sunday when a true national champion is determined.
The action really starts to pick up after our first week. Monday, July 14, the 2028 and 2029-30 grad class Underclass Combines will begin to run concurrently at San Jacinto College in Houston. One day later, the 2026 grad class National Tournaments will begin, following the format listed above for the 2028/29 event.
The events will overlap for two days — meaning a ton of FSS action all over the Houston area — on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the tournament becomes the sole focus from Thursday, July 17 to Sunday, July 20, when one 2026 class team will walk away with the trophy.
Arguably the most anticipated event of the summer gets starts one day later, when the National Combine gets started at San Jacinto Community College on Monday, July 21. This event has historically been the selection combine for the Main Event — with some exceptions from the tournament or standouts from Underclass Combines — and has been loaded with players who have gone on to become some of the top prospects in all of baseball moving forward.
This year, there’s a bit of a twist, as the event has been extended to a fourth day to accommodate a July 24 workout for players coming off of suiting up for Team USA.
While that’s getting started, our final National Tournament of the year, featuring the 2027 grad class, gets going, once again opening up with optional team workouts on Tuesday, July 22. The 2027 event and National Combine will overlap for three days before the tournament takes the main stage for the final three days from Friday-Sunday, when we’ll see a 2027 grad class national champion be crowned.
That’s not all, however.
San Jacinto College is set to host the 2027 grad class Underclass Combine from July 28-30, an event that will see the FSS staff converge as a whole to cover for the final three days of our stay in Texas, concluding three-plus weeks of some of the most-watched, most-discussed and most-shared events in all of amateur ball.
Again, further schedule and roster details will be made available as each event gets closer, and can always be viewed at each respective event’s page on our schedule.
Notable National Tournament & Combine Alums & 2025 Attendees
| PLAYER | POS | CURRENT |
|---|---|---|
| Dylan Crews | OF | Nationals |
| Cooper Pratt | SS | Brewers |
| Cam Collier | 3B | Reds |
| Braden Montgomery | OF | White Sox |
| Zac Veen | OF | Rockies |
| Konnor Griffin | SS/CF | Pirates |
| Blake Burke | 1B | Brewers |
| Luke Hill | IF | Ole Miss |
| Tre Phelps | OF | Georgia |
| Slade Caldwell | OF | Diamondbacks |
| Henry Bolte | OF | Athletics |
| Theo Gillen | OF | Rays |
| Nolan McLean | RHP | Mets |
| Jonathon Long | 1B | Cubs |
| Brandon Clarke | LHP | Red Sox |
| RJ Cope | LHP/OF | Vanderbilt* |
| Roc Riggio | 2B | Yankees |
| Devin Simonton | SS | San Diego* |
| Collin Priest | OF | Clemson |
| Zane Adams | LHP | Alabama |
| Quincy Pratt | C/RHP | Ole Miss* |
| Tink Hence | RHP | Cardinals |
| Anthony Solometo | LHP | Pirates |
| Alex Hernandez | 3B/RHP | Georgia Tech |
| Drew Gilbert | OF | Mets |
| Landon Brown | 3B/RHP | Mississippi State* |
| Quinn Lightfoot | OF | HPP Tigers |
| Jenker Romero | RHP | Georgia Premier |
*Commit
Since 2003, he has covered multiple World Series and has worked high-profile events ranging from the MLB All-Star Game to the World Baseball Classic. In addition to his role working for the Future Stars Series that he's held since 2017, Ashmore currently serves as the beat writer of the Double-A New York Yankees affiliate, the Somerset Patriots, as well as national hockey writer and New York Jets game day beat reporter for The Trentonian.
A regular contributor to Baseball America, Ashmore has worked seven Super Bowls, 11 Stanley Cup Finals, the 4 Nations Face-Off, the NBA Playoffs, College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Frozen Four, Daytona 500, major UFC events and much more as he approaches 3,200 games covered in his career.
An avid card collector and sim racer, he lives with his wife, Sarah, their son William, and their beloved dog, Bailey, and cat, Smokey.
