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All American Game  | Story  | 8/9/2022

Special Summer Ends at PGAAC for Lombard

Blake Dowson     
Photo: George Lombard (Perfect Game)
This summer has been good to George Lombard on the baseball field.

The Pinecrest, Florida native has been named to the All-Tournament Team at all three of the Perfect Game events he has played in – the 17u East Memorial Day Classic, 17u Ultimate Baseball Championship – East, and the 17u WWBA National Championship in the middle of July.



Lombard hit at an All-World level at the 17u WWBA, propelling him into the upper echelon of prospects in the 2023 class.

“It was a pretty special feeling,” Lombard said. “It’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before. I pretty much felt like I could do anything.”

For the tournament, Lombard hit .517 over 11 games, helping his Elite Squad team reach the semifinals. It was what he did at the plate during Day 2 of the playoffs that had people buzzing, and will have scouts reminiscing about for years.

Over a four-game stretch on July 13 covering the second round of the playoffs through the quarterfinal, Lombard was 10-for-12, facing the top 17u pitching talent in the country.

In his Round 2 matchup against Wow Factor, Lombard was 3-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored, and three driven in. In Round 3, he was 3-for-3 with a home run, double, and 4 RBI. In Round 4, he was 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. After starting his day 9-for-9, he was 1-for-3 in the quarterfinal with a run scored and an RBI to finish up an unforgettable day.

“It’s one of those moments and one of those days you remember for a long time, because in a sport like this it doesn’t happen very often,” Lombard said. “When it does happen, you’ve got to take it all in and enjoy it. It was an awesome day. I’m really grateful that I could help the team like I did, we really made a great run.”



Lombard only saw four pitches in that first game against Wow Factor. That’s when he said he knew he might be in for something special.

When the baseball starts to look more like a bowling ball on the way to the plate, you capitalize as much as you can, because like he said, those moments don’t come around too often in this sport. No point in messing around during an at-bat, might as well attack right away.

“First at-bat, it was a first-pitch single,” Lombard said. “Next at-bat, that was another first-pitch base hit. Last at-bat, that was a first-pitch ball. And then the next pitch I hit the home run. After those three at-bats, I was feeling confident. I’ve never seen the ball that well.”

That momentum carried into the Perfect Game National Showcase later that month, where Lombard had another impressive showing and cemented to scouts that he’s one of the best shortstops in the class.

After running a 6.53 60-yard dash, showing off his arm across the diamond in infield drills, and producing a top exit velocity of 101 mph at the plate, in addition to his performance at the 17u WWBA which was still extremely fresh in scouts’ minds, Lombard earned a bump in the 2023 rankings. Sitting at No. 227 overall and the No. 49 shortstop in the class before the 2023 re-rank, he now sits at No. 33 overall and is the No. 11 shortstop in the class.



His recent performance has also earned Lombard an invitation to the Perfect Game All-American Classic later this month in Phoenix, a fitting end to an unforgettable summer.

“You grow up watching all these games,” Lombard said. “You see it every year aired on TV, you see all these guys and you kind of look up to them and want to be like them. And finally, when the time comes around, actually being able to be a part of it, it’s a special experience.”

Lombard is from a baseball family. The sport is in his blood. His younger brother, Jacob Lombard, will play in the 14u Perfect Game Select Festival later this summer. His dad, George, spent six years playing Major League Baseball and is now the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers. Because baseball has he and his dad traveling all over the country all summer, it’s mostly phone calls between the two each day.

Lombard’s mother, Judy, is with him all summer, getting him from tournament to tournament and watching her son get base hit after base hit.

She was the first person George told after he got the text that he was an All-American.

“She’s the one that’s really, since my dad is away pretty much all summer, she’s the one taking me everywhere,” Lombard said. “It takes a lot of her time to make sure I’m at the right place at the right time. So she’s the first person I called. She was pretty excited.”
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