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PG Select Baseball Festival  | General  | 8/14/2022

12u Select Festival Preview

Jheremy Brown     
Who: 32 of the best 12u players in the country
What: 3rd annual 12u Perfect Game Select Festival
When: August 14th, 12:00 pm EST, live on CBS Sport
Where: East Cobb Baseball Complex; Marietta, Ga.

For the third year in a row, 32 of the best 12u players will take the field at the East Cobb Baseball Complex in Marietta, Georgia for the 12u Perfect Game Select Festival and provide fans with a glimpse into the not-so-distant future of who’s coming through the PG pipeline. Eleven players return to the Festival after playing in the inaugural 11u game last summer, meaning 21 players will be making their Festival debuts and looking to leave their mark on the prestigious event. In total, the East and West rosters are composed of 13 different states, from Washington and California all the way over to New Jersey and Florida and everywhere in between, as well as both Puerto Rico and Venezuela with Pablo Martinez and Camilo Gutierrez coming stateside. 



Before diving into some of the standouts, it's important to again mention the weekend is about more than just baseball as the 32 players combined to raise more than $35,000 with the proceeds benefitting the Perfect Game Cares Foundation Grow the Game Fund for underserved youth across America.

Amongst the 11 returnees, 6 reside on the East roster led by the duo of Jael Santos and Carter Moon, the reigning Player of the Year after taking home the award at last year’s 11u game. While these players are still at the 12u level, Santos has already made a name for himself on the national scene, though possessing a mid-80s fastball and light tower power will tend to do that. A Georgia native, Moon once again put up video name numbers and can impact the game in a variety of ways, from his left-handed swing to his fluid actions in the middle infield.

Of course you need more than just two players to win a game like this and while all 16 players on both teams are amongst the best in the country, make sure to check in on Yomar Infante, son of long-time big leaguer Omar, who already shows a big arm and easy juice at the plate. Julian Martinez is another returnee and spent some time this summer playing up on the big diamond and shows some of the best barrel skills and hand-eye coordination in the game, not to mention the advanced catch-and-throw skills behind the plate. One of the arms Martinez will be receiving in today's game is left-hander Ethan Stewart who's already up to 80 mph with feel to spin a breaker and shows big time juice at the plate as well.

California native Dru Wilson will be a pivotal piece to the West club as they look to defend their title after taking down the East in 2021. If there's something you're looking for in a player, odds are Wilson has it as the barrel skills and strength at impact already stand out, as does the arm on the mound as he has been up to 82 mph, meaning he's a real two-way threat on the diamond. Speaking of two-way types, Luke Esquivel is another left-hander who has already been up to 80 mph on the mound and shows a smooth lefty stroke with the type of pop that can quickly change the score. 

The combination of Lucas Smith and Luis Olmeda did nothing but show off their refined bat-to-ball skills this summer as Smith proved to be one of the more complete hitters in this group while Olmeda hit .550 at the gauntlet that is the Perfect Game Invitational and then an eye-opening .722 at the 12u World Series. The West's answer to Ethan Stewart is Californian Logan Pascarella, who's similarly built to Stewart and shows a smooth, low effort operation of his own with real pitchability and a fastball that has already bumped 80 mph. 

Prior to the first pitch, four players will vie for the Home Run Derby crown, though they'll have to dethrone Jael Santos who put on a show at last year's 11u Select Festival and showed no signs of slowing down through the preliminaries, losing baseballs by the handful. Jared Rivera, Anthony Badillo and Aaron Garcia are the three challengers and all possess the type of strength to bring some pre-game fireworks to the East Cobb Complex.

East
Player Pos Travel Team Hometown
Yomar Infante RHP, 1B Florida Jays Scout Team Orlando, FL
Dexter McCleon Jr LF, RHP TG Dbacks National Suwanee, GA
Chase Gockenbach C, RHP TG Dbacks National Dandridge, TN
Jael Santos 3B, RHP ZT National Prospects Paterson, NJ
Jared Rivera CF, RF Florida Jays Scout Team Sanford, FL
Anthony Badillo SS, 2B NY Warriors Elite Elkridge, MD
Hunter Elmore 1B, 3B TG Dbacks National Moundville, AL
Koltyn Watters CF, LHP Motor City Hit Dogs Rochester Hills, MI
Camilo Gutierrez CF, LHP Jersey Storm Barcelona, AN
Ethan Stewart 1B, LHP Dirtbags Winterville, NC
Carter Moon SS, 2B TG Dbacks National Bogart, GA
Julian Martinez C, 3B SBA Marucci National 12U New York, NY
Caden Borcherding C, 2B SBA Marucci National 12U McDonough, GA
Caden Scott 3B, RHP Dirtbags Princeton, NC
Trendyn Motley CF, LHP SBA Marucci National 12U Huntersville, NC
Robert Mascia C, 3B Rebels Commack, NY


West
Player Pos Travel Team Hometown
Luke Esquivel 1B, LHP ZT National Prospects Grapevine, TX
Logan Pascarella 1B, LHP RJBA Corona, CA
Brayden Landry SS, 2B New Level Baseball Puyallup, WA
Sammy Garcia SS, 2B Scottsdale Dirtbags Chandler, AZ
Pablo Martinez RF, RHP Wildcatters Fajardo, PR
Lucas Smith C, 1B Backyard Ballers Black McKinney, TX
Hudson Brown 1B, RF ZT National Prospects Iola, TX
Kaleb Foster SS, 2B Backyard Ballers Black Montgomery, TX
Adrian Villela LF, RHP SBA Marucci National 12U Tucson, AZ
Richard Avina C, RHP Armory Whittier, CA
Aaron Garcia C, SS ZT National Prospects Pico Rivera, CA
Caleb Alexander SS, RHP Wildcatters Houston, TX
Angel Gonzalez CF, LHP ZT National Prospects Los Angeles, CA
Dru Wilson CF, RHP SBA Marucci National 12U Porter Ranch, CA
Luis Olmeda CF, 1B Wildcatters Spring, TX
Tripp Riley 3B, RHP Backyard Ballers Black Spring, TX

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