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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/7/2022

Big Year Begins Again in Jupiter for Nimmala

Blake Dowson     
Photo: Arjun Nimmala (Perfect Game)
JUPITER, Fla. – The 2021 WWBA World Championship title game was a knock-down, drag-out fight, as it should be.

Dirtbags Scout Team entered bracket play as the No. 23 seed, Ostingers Baseball Academy the No. 4 seed. That didn’t matter when the two met in the championship tilt, though, and the two seemed equals when after seven innings they were locked in a 1-1 tie.



Arjun Nimmala, a 2023 grad playing in the event as an underclassman, untied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with a base hit back up the middle to crown Ostingers champions of the biggest and best amateur baseball tournament in the world.



Nimmala revisits that game in his head still, but not necessarily that last hit.

“Definitely not the walkoff,” he said. “I more just think about how we won, all the hard work we put in. We’re local kids and we use teamwork, that’s all I think about.”

A year later, Nimmala is back in Jupiter for the 2022 WWBA World Championship. And what a year it’s been for the Valrico, Fla. native, who is committed to play at Florida State University if he makes it to campus after his high school career is completed.

Back to last year’s Jupiter, Nimmala was named to the all-tournament team thanks to his .300 average and slick play in the infield. He then went on a run any high-end prospect would be jealous of.

The next big tournament he played in was the 2022 17u WWBA National Championship at the East Cobb Complex in Atlanta, again with the Ostingers. Again, his squad brought home a championship, ending the grueling week with an 11-1 record and running past Georgia Bombers 17u Marucci 11-3 in the title game. Again, Nimmala hit .300 at the event and was named to the all-tournament team.

The subsequent trip for Nimmala was to Tropicana Field for Perfect Game’s National Showcase, in which he wowed scouts with all five of his tools – the 6.54 60-yard dash, his lateral agility and range at shortstop, his barrel accuracy, and more than anything else, the explosiveness in that barrel.

For a prospect Nimmala’s size – he’s about 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, with still plenty of room to fill out – his power at the plate is one of those characteristics that makes you stop what you’re doing to watch his batting practice. At an event populated by all of the best hitters in the country, Nimmala’s 103 mph recorded exit velocity was tops at the entire event.



It’s a swing that makes scouts just smile and shake their head. Where does all that power come from?

“I don’t know,” Nimmala said. “That’s something I actually can’t answer. I just swing the bat, and the ball goes.”

A jump in the 2023 prospect rankings came for Nimmala after his performance at PG National, up from No. 15 overall into the top-10, right at No. 10. An invite to the Perfect Game All-American Classic came with it, and he was off for the desert to play at Chase Field in Phoenix.

With the All-American Classic came more triple-digit exit velocities for Nimmala, another round of fluidity at shortstop, and overall just a performance fit for one of the best prospects in attendance.



The rankings update after the Classic reflected that, with him making a jump all the way up to No. 3 overall, the top-ranked infielder in the class behind outfielders Maxwell Clark and Walker Jenkins.

“This past year has been so much fun,” Nimmala said. “PG All-American and everything like that, just meeting new people. Competing was the best thing, because I got better as a player. That’s what it’s all about, just doing the best we can.”

With that whirlwind trip around the sun completed, he starts again in a familiar place, Jupiter, with a familiar goal, to take home a tournament title.

This next year will be just as exciting for Nimmala, whether he hears his name called early in the 2023 MLB Draft or if he chooses to enroll at Florida State and become a Seminole.

That can wait, though. His feet are in Jupiter, so that’s where his head’s at, too.

“We’re trying to come back and repeat,” Nimmala said. “It’s no pressure though, because I’m just here to play the sport I love.”
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