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College  | Story | 5/7/2026

Coppy's Corner: May 7 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart to discuss Top 25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.  

Player of the Week: Tyce Armstrong – Baylor University 

Armstrong is a big man with a big bat that produces big power. Just the second player in the history of Baylor to reach 20 HR in a single season – if you knew the other one was Charley Carter in 1998, you get the gold star – Armstrong brings an impact bat that can turn the game around with one swing. Listed at 6’4 / 228 he is Texas-strong and has been tearing up the Big 12 this season. Armstrong spent his first three season at the University of Texas – Arlington before transferring to Baylor for the 2026 season. He had a great week, but, really, it’s been a great season with a .330 AVG / .437 OBP / .760 SLG (!) / 1.196 OPS over 179 At-Bats this year. 



Armstrong reminds me a lot of Luke Voit. Both are big and strong right-handed power bats. Voit – who finished 9th overall in AL MVP voting in 2020 – played only 1B and DH and had a little thicker body at 6’2 / 260. Armstrong is more athletic and has played 1B and some Corner Outfield. As was the case with Voit, you are buying a bat with Armstrong, and a look inside the numbers reveals some interesting data. Armstrong has more than held his own against RHP with .367 AVG / 1.327 OPS, performed on Friday nights against top pitching with .390 AVG / 1.431 OPS, and hung in there against all breaking balls hitting .303 AVG and 1.150 OPS. Armstrong is a senior who will turn 23 years old just before the MLB Draft (DOB 7-3-03), but impact right-handed power like this is hard to find. Amid a breakout senior season, his draft stock is rising and the next couple of months should be exciting. 

Carry Tool: POWER!!! I wrote that in all capital letters with three exclamation points because it’s A LOT OF POWER!!! Hitters with .760 Slugging Percentages aren’t hanging out on every corner, and Armstrong has continued to improve throughout his college career. Whatever his professional future may be, it will be completely tied into his power. Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark is a balanced / neutral ballpark that doesn’t favor hitters or pitchers, but I would love to see what Armstrong could do in an organization like the Colorado Rockies or the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Pitcher of the Week: Isaiah Magdaleno – University of Hawaii  

The movie Encino Man is terrible. I’m not sure what compelled Brendan Fraser to be a part of this movie – probably money? – but it’s awful. Magdaleno, who is from Encino, but in no way affiliated with the movie, has been the opposite of awful this year pitching for the University of Hawaii at Manoa (the flagship university for the islands, but in no way affiliated with Alek Manoah). Magdaleno’s best outing of the season was Friday night, when he went CG SHO with 1 Hit, 1 BB, and 16 SO for the Rainbow Warriors. It’s the culmination of a breakthrough year that saw him pitch well in the Cape Cod League this past summer before dominating in 2026 by producing 5-4, 2.75 ERA with 89 SO vs. 29 BB and only 3 HR allowed over 72.0 IP.  

Magdaleno does it differently than most college pitchers that we profile. He’s got a five-pitch mix starting with an average FB 87-93 that is sometimes 87-91 and sometimes 90-93, and he only throws it 39% of the time. He mixes the FB with a killer CH (thrown 28% of the time), a good downer CB (17%), a CUT (8%), and a SL (7%). He is a good athlete with advanced feel to pitch, and he continues to get better. It’s not top-shelf stuff, and this isn’t a Day 1 selection, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t have a future at the highest level.  

Carry Tool: Changeup. It’s a real weapon, with a 59% Swing Rate, 49% Miss Rate, and 46% Chase Rate. Over the course of the season, hitters have only managed to hit .139 AVG / .392 OPS against the CH this season. Magdaleno reminds me of a little bit of Kris Medlen and Jair Jurrjens, two pitchers I saw a lot during my time in the Atlanta Braves front office. Medlen and Jurrjens were both very successful MLB starting pitchers using the CH as their out pitch, and both threw their CH roughly 25% of the time. I don’t know that Magdaleno has that type of ceiling – and I don’t know that he doesn’t, either – but using a similar approach will give this Encino man the best chance to thaw opposing hitters’ bats. 

Freshman of the Week: Christian Serrano – North Carolina State University 

Serrano comes from a baseball family. His father, Sammy, was a catcher who was selected in the 2nd Round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants out of Stetson University. Older brother, Eli, is an outfielder and was taken in the 4th Round of the 2024 MLB Draft by the New York Mets – and, like Christian, played for North Carolina State. Serrano was originally set to graduate high school in May 2026, but reclassified and came to Raleigh, North Carolina, a year early. Instead of getting ready for prom, he is terrorizing ACC pitching.  

Under the watchful eyes of our own Craig Cozart, following from scout seats this weekend, Serrano made the most of his first real opportunity to contribute for the Wolfpack. After a big weekend, he is sporting Landon Hairston-type numbers with a .455 AVG / .481 OBP / .682 SLG / 1.163 OPS albeit in only 27 PA’s. North Carolina State has been just as impressed with the defense – playing a perfect SS with zero errors at the time of this writing – as with the offense. It’s still early for Serrano but expect an expanded role for the remainder of the season and into 2027. This prospect is coming on at just the right time for NC State, and time will tell if his name is called before his father’s, and brothers were in the MLB Draft.  

Carry Tool: Power. Standing 6’4 / 185, Serrano is lean, athletic, and ultra-projectable with room to fill another 25-30 pounds of muscle. Serrano is an above average defender and a plus runner, who Perfect Game timed at 6.71 in the 60-Yard Dash last year, but his carry tool is Power. If you squint your eyes hard enough, you can see a little bit of a young Troy Tulowitzki build and power type upside. It’s still really early, but there is a lot to be excited about with Serrano – it will be fascinating to see how his Power develops, his career progresses, and where he is drafted. 

National Nuggets:

We celebrate performance in this column with our Players of the Week, but sometimes it’s instructive to profile a prospect after a tough outing or series … as I mentioned above, Craig Cozart was in Winston-Salem this past weekend and saw Wake Forest’s Friday Night Starter, Chris Levonas, saying he didn’t see a Fastball under 98 in the 1st inning and saw several 99’s along with strong off-speed stuff … Levonas went 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO at home against a resurgent Louisville lineup, but has been much better overall in the 2026 season at 8-3, 3.28 ERA with 60.1 IP, 41 BB, 27 BB, 96 SO … it’s a big step forward from an uneven freshman season (5.91 ERA) for the New Jersey prep product who has two plus-plus offerings with his FB and a wipeout hard CB … the CB has been his out pitch and, this year, hitters are only hitting .104 AVG / .424 OPS with 42 SO in 67 AB against the CB … the opportunity for Levonas is to develop a third pitch, as he has thrown his CH less than 5% of the time and has struggled more against LH hitters (.247 AVG / .885 OPS) than he has against RH hitters (.154 AVG / .493 OPS) … good organizations can help him neutralize LH hitters in pro ball by developing a CH, but it’s hard to teach 98-99 with a plus-plus hard CB … Levonas was the highest-drafted prep pitcher (#70 overall by the Milwaukee Brewers) not to sign in the 2024 MLB Draft … it makes sense the Brewers took a chance on Levonas because that plus-plus CB frequently exceeds 3,000 RPM and his pure stuff (if not his physical appearance) probably most closely resembles that of Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski – how scary would that starting pitching tandem be? … the only player not to sign taken ahead of Levonas was Tyler Bell (#66 overall by the Tampa Bay Rays), who has a chance to go in the top-half of the first round in the 2026 MLB Draft … watch for Levonas to be taken in a similar range, if not higher, in the 2027 MLB Draft, especially if he can continue his development and progression 
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College | Story | 6/11/2026

Collegiate Freshman All-Americans
Vincent Cervino
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Collegiate Postseason Awards | Collegiate All Americans First Team Hitters Pos. Name School Class AVG OBP SLG R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB C Alonzo Alvarez Miami FR 0.341 0.439 0.551 40 57 13 2 6 32 3 1B Ethin Bingaman Auburn FR 0.330 0.415 0.581 60 71 9 0 15 50 4 2B Ethan Ball Virginia Tech FR 0.310 0.420 0.660 43 63 18 1 17 52 3 3B Nico Partida Texas A&M FR 0.306 0.408 0.550 45 55 8 0 12 43 4 SS Jett Kenady California FR 0.320 0.350 0.573 36 66 17 1 11 34 1 IF Linkin Garcia Texas Tech FR 0.338 0.387 0.489 53 78 21 1 4 59 1 OF Angel Laya Oregon FR 0.296 0.396 0.538 49 66 10 1 14 47 5 OF Anthony Pack Jr. Texas FR 0.359 0.485 0.597 58 74 16 0 11 52 20 OF Jacob Parker* Mississippi State FR 0.339 0.449 0.732 51 57 10 1 18 62 7 OF Teddy Tokheim Stanford FR 0.352 0.414 0.704 40 70 19 0 17 47 0 UT Drew Grego Nebraska FR 0.326 0.417 0.531 33 57 13 1 7 44 5 DH Enzo Infelise Cincinnati FR 0.374...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/12/2026

AZ All-State Ready to Take Place

Emily Hicks
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This weekend, eight teams will head to Goodyear Ballpark for the 2026 PG Arizona All-State tournament, setting the stage for what should be an exciting few days of baseball. With teams traveling from across the city, the field will be packed with talent and plenty of championship contenders. Among the teams competing in 16U are AZ Select, Marucci Athletics 2028 Grannis, Overfly 2028, Phoenix Phillies, Team Dinger 2028, T-Rex East Valley, USA Scout Team AZ 16U, and West Coast Ghost AZ 16U. Each team enters the weekend with its own strengths and goals, creating several intriguing storylines to follow throughout pool play and bracket action. One of the biggest teams to watch this weekend will be 10-10, T-Rex East Valley. Whether it's dominant pitching, high-powered offenses, or strong defensive play, T-Rex East Valley has already shown they can compete at a high level this season. A few...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/11/2026

PG East WWBA to Get Underway

Kinley Kitchens
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One of the summer’s premier events returns to the Hoover area this week as the 2026 Perfect Game East WWBA Championship gets underway. Now in its seventh year, the event has become a staple on the summer travel baseball calendar, bringing together some of the top organizations and prospects from across the country. A total of 132 teams will compete across three age divisions, including 38 teams in the 15U division, 48 teams in the 16U division, and 46 teams in the 17U division. Past champions include organizations such as Top Gun Team Alabama, EBC, USA Prime Alabama, and defending champion USA Prime Southeast 15U. As always, the tournament field features some of the nation’s top-ranked players. In the 15U division, all eyes will be on Alabama right-hander Tristan Blalock, the No. 23 ranked player nationally in the 2029 class and the top ranked player in Alabama. Blalock...
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Tournaments | Championship | 6/11/2026

Team Elite Takes Another PG Elite

Kinley Kitchens
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After capturing last year’s championship, Team Elite Scout 14U returned to Hoover looking to prove their success was no fluke. Four days later, they accomplished exactly that. Behind strong pitching, timely hitting, and the confidence that has defined the team throughout the tournament, Team Elite Scout 14U defeated SBA Bolts National 14U to claim the 2026 PG 14U National Elite Championship and secure back-to-back titles. “It’s awesome,” Team Elite Coach Blankenship said. “This is our first event of the year, so it’s good to get it to start with them, and they won it last year, so I know they are excited to do that back-to-back, so it’s pretty awesome.” The championship game showcased many of the same qualities that carried Team Elite through the tournament. Ryan Johnson delivered 4.1 scoreless innings on the mound, allowing just two hits...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/11/2026

Lonestar Finds Success with the Beast

Will Dembo
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Following an exciting weekend filled with standout performances at the 17u Beast of the East Invitational, Lonestar Baseball Club National capped off its impressive run by earning co-champion honors after the championship game was cut short due to inclement weather with a 6-4 score in their favor. Lonestar's strong start to the summer was fueled by dominant pitching performances and an explosive offensive attack throughout the lineup.  “It was definitely fun to see our boys compete the way they did against solid competition and have the success they did,” Lonestar National head coach Brad Dydalewicz said. “It was a great team effort to start the summer season. This team is a special group of ball players and spectacular young men that play hard and compete their tails off. They enjoy playing together and have a ton of fun on the field. It makes it fun to coach for...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/11/2026

SE Summer Showdown Preview

Will Dembo
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East Cobb will host some of the top teams from near and far as over 100 different teams spanning the 13-18u age divisions will compete for a championship at the PG Southeast Summer Showdown to help their summer start strong. The highly anticipated premier Perfect Game event will commence with pool play on Thursday, June 11th while champions will be crowned on Monday, July 15th. The 13u Major division will be the youngest age group competing this weekend, but the talent will still be on full display. Doc Baseball American headlines the 11-team tournament, entering the weekend as the top ranked team in the Southeast Region, and the No. 7 team nationally. 14u will play as another major tournament and will feature three nationally ranked teams, including the No. 8 ranked 13u squad, East Cobb Astros 13u, who will compete in an older division for the second time this year. The No. 27 and No....
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Tournaments | Story | 6/11/2026

Midwest Elite Scout Notes

Perfect Game Staff
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Adan Rojas (2027, Streamwood, Ill.) turned in one of the more dominant pitching performances of the weekend, striking out 10 over 5 innings while consistently dictating at-bats. The fastball worked 77–80 mph, topping at 82, and he showed the ability to elevate and miss bats when needed. His slider at 67–70 mph played as a real separator pitch, generating uncomfortable swings and late decisions. Showed strong tempo on the mound and never allowed hitters to settle in rhythm. What stood out most was his ability to maintain attack mode while still showing feel for sequencing.   Cruz Jaramillo (2030, Mount Pleasant, Wisc.) brought consistent energy to the lineup all weekend and was a tough out from start to finish. Finished with 8 hits over the tournament. The swing is compact with a strong intent to impact, and he does a nice job staying on time with his stride. When he...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/10/2026

Top Prospects Set to Shine at Florida WS

Alyssa Golden
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The Florida World Series returns to Fort Myers this weekend, bringing together teams from across the state for one of Florida’s premier summer events. The four-day tournament will feature competition in the 14U through 18U age divisions as teams battle for a World Series championship. From June 11-14, some of Florida’s top prospects will take the field looking to lead their teams to a title. The 18U division features some of the tournament’s top talent, including five players ranked among the top 500 prospects nationally, three of whom play for Swamp Baseball. Outfielders Nicholas Raber and Austin Schoolcraft along with right-hand pitcher Tyler Reeder will play for Swamp Baseball. Raber is a Fort Myers native and is committed to John Melvin Christian College. He has been one of Swamp’s top offensive contributors this season. The outfielder owns a .873 OPS with...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/11/2026

Organizational Champ. Scout Notes

Quinton Hall
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Ernesto “AJ” Juarez (‘30 | AZ) Smooth LHH - Handles the bottom part of the zone, grabbing 2 doubles & 2RBI for Desert Ghost National ⚡️#OrgChamp pic.twitter.com/EF1qEET7yH — Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) June 5, 2026 Ernesto "AJ" Juarez (2030 | Chandler, AZ) The 6-foot-2, 185-pound left-handed hitter and pitcher put together a strong all-around weekend for Desert Ghost National, consistently producing at the plate while also showing value on the mound. He finished 7-for-13 with four RBI, six runs scored, and multiple extra-base hits, including three doubles, while maintaining steady contact throughout the event. Juarez showed a balanced offensive profile with gap-to-gap production and the ability to drive the baseball in key situations. On the mound, he also contributed innings with a solid left-handed look, attacking hitters and competing with...
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College | Story | 6/10/2026

Collegiate All-Americans

Vincent Cervino
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Collegiate Postseason Awards First Team Hitters Pos. Name School Class AVG OBP SLG R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB C Vahn Lackey Georgia Tech JR .397 .519 .772 85 87 16 3 20 78 15 1B Tague Davis Louisville SO .355 .443 .848 68 82 10 1 34 98 4 2B Jarren Advincula Georgia Tech JR .434 .503 .629 74 111 16 2 10 66 16 3B Ace Reese Mississippi State JR .336 .432 .721 73 83 23 0 24 74 1 SS Roch Cholowsky UCLA JR .320 .452 .636 73 74 10 0 20 60 1 IF Tyson Leblanc Kansas JR .341 .425 .706 64 87 12 3 25 69 11 OF Drew Burress Georgia Tech JR .358 .473 .657 82 91 22 3 16 60 10 OF Landon Hairston Arizona State SO .400 .509 .860 82 94 20 2 28 81 11 OF Caden Sorrell Texas A&M JR .341 .434 .743 67 77 20 1 23 76 11 UT Quinton Coats Cincinnati SO .339 .430 .738 62 84 13 1 28 79 10 DH Daniel Jackson* Georgia JR .389 .492 .809 86 100 13 1 31 86 29 TWP Evan Dempsey FGCU JR .333 .412 .536 57 79 18 0 10 46 15 First...
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