EMERSON, Ga. – Week four of the WWBA kicks off with the 16u WWBA National Championship at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint in Emerson, GA. The event starts on Friday, July 11th and ends on Friday, July 18th. The event will also take place at the surrounding high schools and local parks in the Atlanta-metropolitan area.
This is the 11th edition of this event. Last year’s event saw 280 teams, and this year the number has risen to 296 teams. 26 states will be represented including Georgia, New Jersey, Texas, South Carolina, Delaware, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, New York, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Also, Puerto Rico and Ontario, Canada will be represented in this tournament.
Last year’s championship game saw the Evoshield Canes 16u beat the Evoshield Canes North 16u 9-7. Both teams are in this year’s event.
The defending champions come in with the most ranked players in the tournament with six. They are led by 2015 Logan Allen (No. 80, South Carolina commit). Also, they have a strong 2016 class. Those players include Reid Schaller (No. 25, Vanderbilt commit), Grant Bodison (No. 27, South Carolina commit), Rian Haire (No. 50, South Carolina commit), Brad Debo (No. 55, South Carolina commit), and Jalen Harrison (No. 60, Virginia commit).
CBA Marucci also has some great talent with five ranked players. They have a great 2016 class as well. They are led by Blake Rutherford (No. 3, UCLA commit), Blake Sabol (No. 19, uncommitted), Josh Stephen (No. 33, Southern California commit), Reggie Lawson (No. 38, uncommitted), and Shane Martinez (No. 98, Arizona commit).
The Scorpions 2016 Prime is back this week after competing in the 17u WWBA National Championship last week. They are very strong in the 2016 class. Those players include Cole Ragans (No. 6, FSU commit), Drew Mendoza (No. 11, FSU commit), Joe Skinner (No. 31, UCF commit), and Chase Cheek (No. 66, Duke commit).
A team from the Midland organization is back in Georgia. The Midland Tomahawks are keeping up with the organization’s tradition of producing top talent. They are led by 2016s Spencer Steer (No. 43, Oregon commit), Austin McNicholas (No. 45, Texas commit), and Dion Henderson (No. 74, Kentucky commit).
The Dallas Patriots 16u Stout and the Marucci 16u Johnson hail from Texas and Louisiana respectively. These two teams come from neighboring states and have a ton of talent on their rosters. The Patriots are led by 2016s Michael Neustifter (No. 59, uncommitted), Jonathan Heasley (No. 61, uncommitted), and Hunter Seay (No. 64, uncommitted). Marucci is led by 2016s Mason Templet (No. 44, uncommitted), Easton McGee (No. 52, uncommitted), and Zachary Watson (No. 72, LSU commit).
Two teams from the southeast look to keep the title local. The Team Elite Roadrunners from Alpharetta, GA and the South Charlotte Panthers 2016 from Charlotte, North Carolina has great talent. Team Elite is led by 2015 standout Jahmai Jones (No. 6, UNC). Also, they have two talents in the 2016 class in Jonathan Gettys (No. 13, uncommitted) and Cam Shepherd (No. 34, uncommitted). South Charlotte comes in with three top 2016 players all committed to the same school in Evan Odum (No. 53, UNC commit), Luke Robinson (No. 76, UNC commit), and Jake Holtzapple (No. 100, UNC commit).
Three teams from the state of Florida that have faired well in past Perfect Game events come to Georgia with hopes to bring the title home. Chet Lemons Juice has two top 2016 players in Andrew Baker (No. 41, Florida commit) and Garrett Milchin (No. 93, Florida commit). The Elite Squad 16u Prime comes in with two top five players in the 2016 class. Those players include Anthony Molina (No. 2, Miami commit) and Gregory Veliz (No. 4, Miami commit). The Florida Burn 2016 Pennant also has two top 2016 talents. They are by high-profile player Austin Bergner (No. 1, uncommitted) and Rylan Thomas (No. 57, UCF commit).
The Houston Banditos Black and the San Diego Show look to add another WWBA title for their organization. Andres P. Sosa (No. 56, Texas commit) and Conner Capel (No. 94, uncommitted) are 2016 players who lead Houston. San Diego has top talent in two classes. They are led by 2015 Dillon Paulson (No. 96, uncommitted) and 2016 Mickey Moniak (No. 22, UCLA commit).
Two teams from different ends of the east coast have talent on their rosters. Baseball U Tucci Lumber from West Long Branch, NJ has two top 2016 talents. Those players include Jeff Belge (No. 16, St. John’s commit) and Max Kranick (No. 36, Virginia commit). Mizuno Team GA Baseball Academy 16u Blue from Marietta, GA also has two players ranked highly in the 2016 class. Those players are Tucker Maxwell (No. 69, uncommitted) and Kyle McCann (No. 77, uncommitted).
Some other top 2016 players that will be at this event include Thomas Dillard (No. 10, Mississippi commit) from the Dulin Dodgers, Jason Groome (No. 14, uncommitted) from Tri-State Arsenal Showcase 1, Bobby Nicholson (No. 17, Virginia commit) from USA Elite Baseball 2016’s Blue, Joey Polak (No. 32, uncommitted) from the St. Louis Pirates, Greer Holston (No. 35, Mississippi commit) from the East Coast Baseball Select, Noah Murdock (No. 49, Virginia commit) from the Virginia Cardinals, Mason Studstill (No. 54, Miami commit) from the Beyel Brothers Bulldogs, Brian Brown (No. 58, uncommitted) from the Florida Burn 2016 Navy, Tyler Keysor (No. 62, uncommitted) from FTB Black, Bo Weiss (No. 65, uncommitted) from Slammers Black, Garrett Gooden (No. 67, uncommitted) from the Ninth Inning Royals 16s, Jack Weisenburger (No. 68, Michigan commit) from the Midwest Athletics, Dalton Leighty (No. 75, uncommitted) form the Indiana Nitro 16u, Hudson Sanchez (No. 78, Texas A&M commit) from DBAT-Bonesio, Ryan Mejia (No. 80, uncommitted) from SCORE International 16u, Tristan Duncan (No. 82, uncommitted) from No Fear, Michael McAvene (No. 83, Purdue commit) from the Indiana Outlaws, Jake Jessell (No. 84, Pittsburgh commit) from Team All American, Jaxon Williams (No. 87, Arkansas commit) from the South Texas Sliders, Josh Smith (No. 89, LSU commit) from Team Mississippi, Daniel Seres (No. 92, uncommitted) from the Astros TECB, and Austin Langworthy (No. 95, Florida commit) from Gatorball Baseball Academy.