GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Fresh off a championship at last weekend’s Perfect Game/EvoShield Underclass National Championship, Garciaparra Baseball Group (GBG) Marucci Navy returns to the west Phoenix suburbs this weekend to see if it can grab a second Perfect Game national title in as many weeks at the 6th annual PG/EvoShield Upperclass National Championship.
There is a catch, however. Isn’t there always? This GBG Marucci Navy roster bears little resemblance to last week’s roster and even less resemblance to the one that won last year’s PG/EvoShield Upper national championship. And it is that turnover in talent that adds to the intrigue at every PG national championship event.
Eighty-four teams from 13 states and Canada will compete for the Upperclass championship with games being played Friday through Monday on the MLB spring training fields of the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear, and the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres in Peoria. The championship game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Monday at Goodyear Ballpark.
GBG Marucci Navy was surgically efficient in besting seven opponents at last weekend’s Underclass Championship – GBG won the 2012 PG/EvoShield Underclass championship in addition to its Upperclass Championship last year during pool-play a year ago – and should be riding a sizable wave of momentum.
Third baseman Spencer Steer, an Oregon commit from Long Beach, Calif., ranked No. 39 nationally in the class of 2016, was named to the Underclass all-tournament team last weekend and is back on Navy’s roster this weekend. Shortstop Will Proctor from Manhattan Beach, Calif., a Georgia commit ranked No. 236 in the 2016 class, also returns.
Right-handed pitcher Austin Rubick from Ventura, Calif., and shortstop/outfielder Jagger Rusconi, a Southern Cal commit from Valenica, Calif., lead GBG Navy’s class of 2015 prospects
GBG Marucci Navy will be tested early in what several tournament organizers feel might be the premier pool-play game at the tournament.
Southern Nevada Baseball out of Las Vegas brings in a solid group that features four premier Las Vegas right-handers in 2015 No. 446-ranked Alex Perron (U. of San Diego commit), and top-600 Grant Robbins.2016 Las Vegas righties Jack Little (No. 198, Stanford) and Marques Paige (top-600) are also on board. SNB and GBG Navy meet Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in Goodyear.
The Los Angeles-based GBG organization actually has four entrants in the event, with Marucci Blue, Orange County and the Renegades joining Navy. All four will be extended to the max by any number of teams with realistic chances of carting home championship gold.
Certainly one of the more tantalizing entrants is Temecula, Calif.-based California Baseball Academy (CBA) Marucci with a roster that includes 11 class of 2015 prospects with NCAA Division I commitments. Leading the way is third baseman Niko Navarro, a San Diego State recruit from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., ranked 160th nationally; middle-infielder David Maldonado from Winchester, Calif., is ranked 272nd and has also committed to SDSU.
Three CBA Marucci prospects – outfielder Steven Elliott, Alta Loma, Calif.; left-hander Bailey Falter, Chino Hills, Calif., and first baseman/outfielder Kyle Hatton, Norco, Calif. – have verbally committed to UC Santa Barbara. Other commitments are to St. Mary’s (Calif.), Fresno State, UCLA, California, UC Riverside and Oregon. Uncommitted 2017 right-hander/first baseman Charles Nies from Coto De Caza, Calif., is ranked No. 85 in his class.
The CBA Bulldogs are also in the field and feature 2015 No. 117-ranked Jordan Myrow, and outfielder a UCLA recruit out of Sherman Oaks, Calif. His Bulldog teammate William Aguilar, a middle-infielder from Fountain Valley, Calif., is ranked 360th and has committed to Long Beach State.
The hometown Dbacks Elite Scout Team out of Phoenix looks poised to challenge with four D-I commits from the class of 2015: middle-infielder Jeremy McCuin from Gilbert, Ariz. (Arizona State); middle-infielder Al Graffanino, Peoria, Ariz. (Washington); left-hander/outfielder Galvin Alston Jr., Phoenix (Arizona), and outfielder Luke Eigsti, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Alabama-Birmingham).
Dbacks Elite Scout Team 2016 catcher/right-hander Logan Boyer from Chandler, Ariz., is ranked No. 97 nationally and is uncommitted, as is 2015 outfielder Tyler Williams from Phoenix, who is ranked No. 141.
The Prospects National Team, based in Kyle, Texas, is led by 2014 Perfect Game All-American Nick Shumpert from Lone Tree, Colo. – a Kentucky commit ranked No. 13 in the class of 2015, the highest ranked prospect at the event. He is joined on the Prospects National Team roster by outfielder Daniel Jones, an Air Force commit from Coppell, Texas, and right-hander Robert Evans, a Wichita State commit from Frisco, Texas.
Englewood, Colo., entrant Slammers Black-Holzemer is led by three highly ranked prospects from the class of 2016 in No. 90 Bo Weiss from Castle Rock, Colo., No. 109 Maverick Handley from Lakewood, Colo., and No. 129 Wyatt Featherston, also from Lakewood. Weiss is the son of former National League Rookie of the Year (1988), National League All-Star (1998) and current Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss.
The Trombly Nighthawks out of Colton, Calif., come in with four class of 2015 D-I commits: shortstop Cadyn Greiner, the country’s No. 23-ranked prospect from Henderson, Nev., who has committed to Oregon State; No. 301-ranked outfielder Matt Hardy, Riverside, Calif., UC Riverside; shortstop/third baseman Branden Becker, San Bernardino, Calif., Oregon; first baseman/left-hander Austin Prichard, Riverside, Calif., UNLV.
Certainly one of the most intriguing storylines at the tournament will be provided by BPA DeMarini Elite from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., which by appearance looks like it showed up a week late.
The team – in all reality an underclass squad – is led by six prospects ranked in the top-162 in the national class of 2017: No. 2 right-hander Hagen Danner from Huntington Beach, Calif.; No. 10 left-hander/outfielder Nicholas Pratto, Huntington Beach, a Southern Cal commit; No. 37 right-hander Hans Crouse, Dana Point, Calif., Mississippi State; No. 48 catcher/utility Tyler Lasch, Lake Forest, Calif., Mississippi State; No. 66 shortstop Isaiah Parra, Stanton, Calif.; No. 162 left-hander Jack Owen, Coto de Caza, Calif., Mississippi State.
Among several other teams that are coming in with high expectations are the traditionally strong San Diego Show with highly ranked 2016 Mickey Moniak (No. 13, Encinitas, Calif., UCLA), and 2017s Ben Ramirez (No. 15, Chula Vista, Calif., Southern Cal), Kyle Hurt (No. 30, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Matthew Rudick (No. 72, San Diego).
Iowa Select Black, based in Cedar Rapids, has five D-I commits including No. 144-ranked Iowa commit Luke Farley from Denver, Iowa, and uncommitted 2016 left-hander/outfielder Spencer Van Scoyoc from Cedar Rapids is ranked No. 89 nationally.
And it would be foolish, of course, to ever discount the Southern California Bombers – either Black or Red. So Cal Bombers teams have finished runner-up at the PG/EvoShield Upperclass event each of the past two years and also recorded a runner-up finish at the 2011 PG/EvoShield Underclass event.
Finally, it might be fun checking out the San Diego-based So Cal SKLZ/TROSKY at some point this weekend. The team is led by triplets Chandler, Keaton and Zach Weisz, a class of 2015 catcher, outfielder and shortstop from Poway, Calif. Chandler has committed to St. Mary’s (Calif.) and Keaton to Arizona while Zach remains uncommitted.
After just five years, 18 alumni of this event have already made their Major League Baseball debuts, including Bryce Harper, Taijuan Walker and Garin Cecchini from the 2009 tournament.
Three-hundred and fourteen alumni have been drafted including five 2013 alumni who were picked in the first two rounds of the 2014 draft: Alex Jackson (1st round, Mariners), Jacob Gatewood (1st round comp, Brewers), Garrett Fulenchek (2nd round, Braves), Mitch Keller (2nd round, Pirates) and Alex Verdugo (2nd round, Dodgers).