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High School  | General  | 2/7/2023

Florida Region Preview

David Rawnsley     
Photo: Charlee Soto (Perfect Game)
The Florida Region is absolutely loaded in 2023 with both top players and top teams.  The state features 13 Perfect Game All-Americans, including seven players in the top 25 in the senior class.  The infield talent is so deep that PG All-American George Lombard, the 43rd ranked player in the class, couldn’t find a place on the team.

Calvary Christian High School finished the 2022 season with a 26-2 record and a 22nd national ranking and come back even stronger this year as the pre-season number one team in the country.  They feature three PG All-American pitchers in Hunter Dietz, Landon Maroudis and Liam Peterson.  IMG Academy (third nationally) and 2022 national runner up Stoneman Douglas HS (fifth) give the state three teams in the Top 5.



Florida Region Dream Team

C --  Zion Rose (Sr., IMG Academy, Fla.)
Rose transferred from Brother Rice HS in Illinois for is senior season after hitting .496-4-39 with 31 steals as a junior.  The Perfect Game All-American is currently the fourth ranked catcher in the 2023 class, although he is so athletic that it’s easy to see him playing any number of other positions in the future

1B  --  Daniel Cuvet (Sr. ESB Academy, Fla.)
Cuvet plays more third base than first base at present, with a strong arm that has registered 94 mph across the infield, but the 6-foot-4, 225-pound right handed hitter has already shown very good quickness and agility at first defensively.  He’s hit .370-8-57 in 68 games in PG play over the last two years.

MIF --  Arjun Nimmala (Sr., Strawberry Crest HS, Fla.)
Nimmala is the top ranked Florida player in the PG class rankings, checking in at third overall.  A very young senior who won’t turn 18 until late next fall, Nimmala has exceptional raw bat speed and surprising power for a 6-foot-1, 170-pound athlete.  He projects to stay at shortstop defensively.

MIF --  Braden Holcomb (Sr., Foundation Academy, Fla.)
One of the standout performers at the 2022 PG All-American Classic, Holcomb is an elite all-around athlete who is a three-sport star at Foundation Academy and also throws 95 mph off the mound.  He hit .537-8-26 with 18 steals as a junior last spring and has hit .404-7-48 with 31 steals in 66 PG games over the last two years.

3B --  Aidan Miller (Sr., J.W. Mitchell HS, Fla.)
Miller enters the spring as the fourth ranked player in the PG class rankings and was presented with the Jackie Robinson Award at the 2022 PG All-American Classic.  He has high level two-way ability with tools that stand out on defense as well as offense.

OF --  Andrew Duncan (Sr., A3 Academy, Fla.)
Duncan is one of the best defensive outfielders in the country, with blazing 6.23 speed to cover huge amounts of ground and a 95 mph throwing arm to take care of baserunners.  He hit .344-2-18 in 30 PG games last year and showed much improved raw bat speed and jump off his bat as he continues to add strength to his 6-foot-1, 190-pound build.

OF --  Fabio Peralta (Jr, SLAM Charter HS, Fla.)
Peralta is a tooled-up left-handed centerfielder with 6.5 speed and big left-handed bat speed that is just beginning to show it’s power.  The 24th ranked player in the 2024 class, Peralta hit .382-2-18 as a sophomore and is geared to take a big jump in 2023.

OF -- Michael Torres (Jr. Doral Charter Academy, Fla.)
Torres recently re-classified from the 2025 class into the 2024 class and was immediately dropped into the 22nd slot nationally in the PG class rankings.  A veteran of the 2020 13U and 2021 14U Select Festivals, Torres is a very polished player on both sides of the ball, with a smooth left-handed swing and a 90 mph fastball on the mound.

RHP Garrett Baumann (Sr., Hagerty HS, Fla.)
The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Baumann has a power pitcher’s body and the raw stuff to go with it but the command, mound presence and off-speed pitches to take the finesse route as well.  Baumann’s fastball has topped out at 96 mph but his change up is one of the best in the country and his slider creates swing and miss.  Baumann has gone 14-3, 1.21 with 178 strikeouts and only 44 walks in 144 innings over the past two springs.

LHP Hunter Dietz (Sr., Calvary Christian HS, Fla.)
Dietz completely reshaped his body between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, dropping 25 pounds to his present 6-foot-6, 230-pounds and taking a big step forward in his stuff.  He now works at 91-94 mph to go with a slider and change up, all from a silky smooth low effort delivery.  Dietz struck out 73 hitters in 43 innings as a junior while only walking 13 hitters, going 8-1, 0.49.

LHP Cameron Johnson (Sr., IMG Academy, Fla.)
Johnson lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, but is attending IMG Academy as a senior.  He’s the second ranked left-handed pitcher in the country and is ranked 21st overall.  An intimidating presence on the mound at 6-foot-5, 245-pounds with deceptive lower arm slot, Johnson’s fastball was 93-95 mph at the PG All-American Classic to go with a 2800+ spin rate slider.

RHP Liam Peterson (Sr., Calvary Christian HS, Fla.)
Peterson came on strong late last summer, bumping his fastball up into the mid-90’s while maintaining the plus curveball/slider combination and command he’s always shown.  He was unhittable as a junior at Calvary Christian, allowing only 9 hits in 37 innings while striking out 68 hitters.

RHP Charlee Soto (Sr., Reborn Christian Academy, Fla.)
Soto was a switch-hitting shortstop in 2021 but a growth spurt to his current 6-foot-5, 200-pounds jumped his velocity to its present 94-97 mph to go with a plus change up and solid slider.  Soto’s high-level athleticism (he still hit .419 in PG play in 2022) gives him a very advanced ability to throw strikes for a 17-year old and he only walked one hitter in 21 PG innings in 2022.

Utility  -- Landen Maroudis (Sr., Calvary Christian HS, Fla.)
Maroudis is one of the most accomplished two-way players in the country and both pitched and hit at the 2022 PG All-American Classic.  He went 7-1, 0.67 on the mound for Calvary Christian as a junior, working in the 90-94 range with his fastball, while also hitting .356 as the team’s primary shortstop.  He probably has a higher ceiling on the mound at present.

Florida Region Top Tools

Best Hitter for Average:  Aidan Miller (Sr., J.W. Mitchell HS, Fla.)
Miller is the definition of a professional hitter, with a very mature approach that combines patience with power and high contact rates.  He’s hit .391-18-157 in his 164 game PG career with 88 walks and only 59 strikeouts.

Best Hitter for Power:  Arjun Nimmala (Sr., Strawberry Crest HS, Fla.)
Nimmala likely weighs less than any other player on this Florida All-Region team but that doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to the lightning in his hands.  He made Chase Field look small during batting practice at the All-American Classic and has lots of similar characteristics to former big league shortstop Alfonso Soriano (412 career home runs).

Best Runner:   Adrian Santana (Sr., Doral Charter Academy, Fla.)
Santana ran a 6.16 sixty at the 2022 PG National Showcase and that speed and quickness really stands out on defense with his range and ability to make plays that most shortstops can’t get to.  Santana’s speed also comes into play on offense, as he stole 22 bases last spring to go with a .433-4-26 hitting line.

Best Defensive Catcher:  Alex Sosa (Sr., Viera HS, Fla.)
Sosa has outstanding lower half actions behind the plate and is one of the best catchers in the country at coming out of his crouch with quickness and balance.  He took big steps with his left-handed bat in 2022 as well, hitting .360-2-21 in 41 PG games.

Best Defensive Infielder:  Adrian Santana (Sr., Doral Charter Academy, Fla.)
Most of the top Florida infielders are mashers with big power arms but Santana is the opposite, a speedy athlete with plus-plus range and great hands.  It’s easy to see him at either shortstop or second base in the future.

Best Defensive Outfielder:  Andrew Duncan (Sr., A3 Academy, Fla.)
This is an easy choice in a state that is surprisingly shallow in top level outfielders at present.  Duncan is a pure centerfielder with all the tools to stay at the position at the highest levels of the game.

Best Defensive Arm:  Antonio Jimenez (Sr., Archbishop McCarthy HS, Fla.)
There is no shortage of strong arms in the state of Florida but when you throw 100 mph during infield drills at the PG National Showcase, as Jimenez did to set a Perfect Game record, then you can claim this honor.  Jimenez isn’t just a big arm on defense, as he has pure middle infield athleticism and speed as well.

Best Fastball:  Charlee Soto (Sr., Reborn Christian Academy, Fla.)
Soto regularly works in the mid-90’s with his fastball and tops out at 98 mph and it’s not hard to imagine the 17-year-old adding more velocity as he gets older.  Soto’s February matchup against hard throwing Garrett Baumann will be one of the biggest scout draws of the spring in Florida.

Best Off-Speed Stuff:  Liam Peterson (Sr., Calvary Christian HS, Fla.)
Peterson has great feel for changing to shape and speed on his breaking ball and throws it anywhere from 74 mph to 82 mph, often with 2,700+ spin at the higher velocities.  His low 80’s change ups is one of the best examples of that pitch in the 2023 class.

Best Pitchability:  Talan Bell (Jr., Hagerty HS, Fla.)
Bell and his Hagerty HS teammate Baumann are both three-pitch hurlers with outstanding control but Bell gets the nod here as more the crafty lefty type.  He tops out at 90 mph a mid-70’s breaking ball and a low 80’s change up, tools that he used to be named the Most Valuable Pitcher at the WWBA Underclass World Championships.

Best Multi-Sport Athlete:  Carter Smith (So., Bishop Verot HS, Fla.)
Smith was the PG 13U Player of the Year and was ranked 3rd in the 2025 class when the first rankings for that class came out in late 2020.  He’s dropped to 20th in the class now as his time on the baseball field has dropped due to football.  Smith has already amassed over 5,000 yards in two seasons as the Bishop Verot quarterback and threw for 29 touchdowns as a sophomore along with running for 19 more.
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