Rylee Sumner left no doubt who the 2024 POWER SHOWCASE 12U champion is.

The big-swinging seventh-grader from Melbourne, Florida, cruised his way through the 12U championship round at Globe Life Field, and then kept going to deliver an unforgettable display of power. Sumner eclipsed the three homers he needed to win the title early in, and then he continued swinging to complete his full round and finish with 17 total homers.

“It feels amazing to be the World Champion. It just feels great. I’m a little shocked right now,” Sumner said. “The atmosphere is great here. Getting to play somewhere nice like this is just amazing!”

Newly-crowned the 12U champion, Rylee closed with a total of 41 home runs during the event. He also hit 24 long balls during the 12U Preliminary Round, which led the group. With dimensions of 235 feet all around, Sumner sent most of his homers well past that threshold.

“During the beginning of the round, you have those butterflies. I kind of figured the nervousness would set in, but it went a lot better than I truly expected,” Sumner admitted. “Of course there is that little hope in everybody’s mind that you are going to hit a lot of home runs and you’re going to do really well, but, at the same time, you’ve got to be humble. You can’t expect anything. You’ve got to set your expectations where you think you can go.”

After starting off the day as one of the very first participants to hit during the opening prelims, Sumner set the bar very high with his 24 jacks. That total stood atop the leaderboard the rest of the day and the rest of the way through the 12U field.

“Yesterday, the game plan was to just go in and take a few pitches and get the timing down,” Sumner said. “Then, everytime that you go off and have a few outs in-a-row, just start taking more pitches and make sure you are on time. You can’t be missing none. If you are missing them, you can’t get into a bad mindset early in the round.”

Connecticut’s Ryan Schnider also delivered a strong showing in the Preliminary Round to advance against Sumner in the 12 championship. Schnider hit 17 total home runs to close ahead of the remaining players, with Texas’ Mason Deleon coming the next closest at 15 total home runs.

Following a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem that was sung by Abby Nabors to kick off the 2024 POWER SHOWCASE Finals, the two 12U finalists squared off to get the action started. But Schnider closed with just two home runs, and that was a mark that Sumner surpassed fairly quickly in his swings.

Sumner crushed his first pitch for a 368-foot homer that set the tone. After four straight outs followed, he reset and got back on the board with three consecutive blasts. That flurry of power was already enough to clinch the title, but he kept going to complete the round, and the home runs kept flying. He connected for a 379-foot shot on his seventh bomb, which was the longest of his outing. He also hit four straight and kept homering in bunches, with a 259-foot shot that was immediately followed by a 370-foot banger that was his final home run.

“I’ve put in so much effort and so much work to get here,” Sumner said.

All that determination paid off, as Rylee Sumner has forever earned himself the title of World Champion.