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PG Select Baseball Festival  | General  | 1/9/2024

Year in Review: PGAAC & Festivals

Jheremy Brown      Tyler Russo     
West Wins a Thriller at PGAAC

The All-American Classic presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods was once again the premier event on the travel baseball circuit with 60 of the best rising seniors in the world competing in an all-star game format against one another. This year’s level of talent was no different as we saw 18 different arms bring high-level stuff, guys like Samuel Richardson hit a ball 105 off the wall at Chase Field, and Ty Southisene make one of the best plays we have ever seen in the Classic. The East made some noise in the middle innings, looking to win their first Classic in some time, but after the West re-took the lead, they wouldn’t give it up as the West pitchers struck out 9 East hitters in a row at one point before Cam Caminiti closed things out on an exciting 4-3 West win. We should once again see a significant number of players from this game have their name called in the 2024 MLB Draft, but for now we look to follow their talents across the high school season. -Tyler Russo



11u & 12u Combine for Epic Weekend
 
For the first time since we started the 11u and 12u Select Festivals, the games were played on back-to-back days, making the East Cobb Baseball complex the epicenter for youth baseball as 60 (28 at 11u/32 at 12u) made the voyage for their respective games. Combining the games into a single weekend allowed baseball fans alike a real glimpse at things to come with full practice days, a home run derby, and high-energy, back-and-forth action amongst both groups. 
 
In the 11u iteration, it was the East who came out on top with a late inning 13-9 victory, though there were plenty of highlights throughout the game. The East starter, lefty Tyler Early, was electric on the mound as he ran his fastball up to 75mph while showing his two-way prowess with a double and two RBI on the day. Both Zaylon Johnson and Christopher Cabrera contributed with the sticks as Johnson went 2-for-3 with two RBI while Cabrera collected a double and struck out a pair on the mound in his inning of work. That said, it was Bryan Johnson Jr. who took home MVP honors as he went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, 2 RBI, 3 bags and a scoreless frame on the bump.
 
The West had plenty to write home about as well, beginning with Kingston George who hit a big two-run home run to put his club up 6-4 early on and also punched out 2, showing off the game’s best heater as he bumped 78 mph on 4 different occasions. Jacob Miller’s double in the bottom of the second plated 3 to knot things back up 4 apiece, though ultimately the East offense proved too much, taking the 11u title back to the East Coast.
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There’s a chance the 2023 12u Select Festival goes down as one of the most electric games in the history of the event as it was a true back-and-forth affair, culminating in a walk-off three-run home run by Co-MVP Trent O'Malley. The Virginia native also worked a 1-2-3 inning to open the game while running his fastball up to an eye opening 81 mph before jumping all over a hanging curveball, sending a no-doubter over the left-center field fence for the game’s 10th home run, securing an 18-16 victory for the East in dramatic fashion. 
 
Joining O’Malley in Co-MVP honors was the West’s Payton Lopez who finished the game going 2-for-3 with two no-doubters, collecting 7 RBI in the process. Dylan Mercado added a nuke of his own while Daveon Elder tallied a pair of knocks on the day. With a final score of 18-16 and high-octane offenses clashing, Cameron Hockett turned in one of the top pitching performances of the game as he struck out the side and did so on just 14 pitches. 
 
As for the East, Noah Jarolimek, the 12u Offensive Player of the Year, continued to exceed expectations as he went a perfect 3-for-3 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI while striking out a pair in his inning of work. Tre' Lawrence was another bright spot in the offense as his double and home run helped drive in another 3 runs for the East while Peyton Conley was nails out of the bullpen in the extra inning tie break, striking out three in 1.2 innings of work to help set up O’Malley’s heroics.
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Landry Goes Yard, West Wins Big
Full DiamondKast scoring of the 13u Select Festival

The 2023 13u Select Festival marked the 5th year of the games existence and for the first time ever, we had a home run in game courtesy of Washington’s Brayden Landry. Given how the ball was flying out of Lindsey Nelson Stadium both during BP and the Home Run Derby, you could have figured something was up as players from both clubs were connecting on some shots that would be impressive at the 17u level. 

Well known for his defensive prowess in the dirt at shortstop, Landry jumped all over a 1-1 fastball in the top of the 7th that caught too much of the plate, sending a laser out to left field, just clearing the wall while making Select Festival history in the process. Landry’s home run was just one of many West highlights as their 20 runs scored was also a Festival record, scoring early and often. Landry was joined alongside Luke Esquivel as Co-MVPs as the future LSU Tiger collected both a double and triple on the day while also getting the start on the mound where he needed just 5 pitches to secure his 3 outs.  
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Grindlinger Clutches Up, Green Throws Flames
Full DiamondKast scoring of the 14u Select Festival
 
The offensive firepower in Fort Myers wasn’t quite what we saw in Knoxville, but the West team was able to flex its muscle late and put up 6 runs in the final 3 frames, essentially snatching the game away from the East. While both teams had a handful of extra base hits, it was the late inning heroics on the mound from the youngest player in attendance, Jared Grindlinger, what helped secure the victory. 

Following a 1-2-3 inning from the 14u Pitcher of the Year Will Hayes, East sent out two-time Select Festivaler Landon Green and he immediately silenced the crowd, and both dugouts, with a fastball that SAT in the low-90s at 14 years old and bumped 93 mph a pair of times, good for another spot in the record books. In fact, every arm that was schedule to throw bumped at least 86 mph with the fastball and five arms (Green, Michael Teasley, Carson Liedel, Tucker Long and George Ferguson) all bumped at least 90 mph. 

Eventual MVP Jared Grindlinger didn’t quite click that 90 mph mark (topped 89 mph), but he did come up clutch for the West as he posted a 0 in the 9th and took the hill again in the 10th where he again posted a 0 on the Monster, though the extra inning rule dictates a bases loaded, 1 out situation. After navigating around a two out double in the 9th, Grindlinger continued to pound the strike zone with upper-80s bullets, punching out both hitters he faced in the 10th to give his team all the momentum and set up the walk-off win. 
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Big Night at the Draft

In the opening round of the 2023 MLB Draft, seven different Select Festival alum heard their names called, starting with Dylan Crews at No. 2 to the Nationals and ending with Thomas White who went to the Marlins with the 35th overall pick. In total, 20 former Select Festivalers were selected and sandwiched in between Crews and White, with the 23rd overall pick, the Cleveland Guardians helped make some Festival history with the selection of Raffaele Velazquez out of Huntington Beach, California. 

A two-time alum of the Festival, Velazquez became the first ever player to play in the 13u game and get drafted by an MLB club, a number that’ll surely climb this year as the Californian backstop was young for the grade, meaning he was able to play amongst a majority of 2024 graduates back in 2019. Even at a young age the left-handed juice was evident as he took home the Derby title, a part of his game that continued to shine throughout his prep career, eventually claiming another Derby crown at the PG All-American Classic leading into his senior year. 

Way back in 2016, playing alongside Crews, Jacob Gonzalez, Calvin Harris and Colby Halter also heard their names called, adding to a list from the inaugural game to get drafted by an MLB club (Gonzalez was also a first rounder). While he wasn’t drafted, Aaron Nixon, another 2016er, signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees and as it currently stands, 12 players have been drafted and three have signed via free agency, including Starlyn Castillo and Estanli Castillo Abad. 
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Big League Dreams, Big League Debuts

For any player, the ultimate goal is making the MLB and why not continue with the theme of the 2016 game? For the first time since the Festival was launched, an alum got that phone call every player dreams of; the call telling them they’re going to the show.

The first ever Festivaler to make the big leagues was none other than Miami native Victor Mederos, a long-time standout thanks to his powerful right arm, as the Los Angeles Angels called him up, put him in the bullpen and immediately had him make his debut where he logged 2 innings and struck out a pair.

Following Mederos’s debut against the Diamondbacks, the DBacks called up top prospect Jordan Lawlar, an alum of the 2017 Festival, on September 7th and he collected his first career hit in game No. 1, making for the first MLB hit from a former Festivaler. 
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Rodriguez Shines for Nicaragua in WBC

Back in 2017 Carlos Rodriguez took the hill for the East team during the 14u Select Festival where he ran his heater up to 90 mph following an eye-opening summer circuit. Jump forward to 2023, following a year stint at Florida Southwestern State and a 6th round select by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021 and Rodriguez had steadily climbed up the prospect ranks to his current No. 6 spot in the org. 

That said, Rodriguez, a Nicaragua native who moved to the Miami area early in his life, made the Nicaragua club for the 2023 World Baseball Classic and toed the rubber for the team’s first game against a stacked Puerto Rico offense. Throwing at loanDepot Park, just down the road from where he went to high school, Rodriguez became the first Festival alum to make a WBC roster, adding to what proved to be a year of firsts for the game. The Brewers’2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year logged four innings in the tourney opener, allowing just a run on two hits while punching out 4, putting his name on the prospect map even more than it already had been. 
-Jheremy Brown
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