FORT MYERS, Fla. – Before the first pitch was thrown at last year’s Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship, long-time MLB scout and current PG Vice President of Player Personnel David Rawnsley made note of how much the nation’s preeminent underclass tournament had changed in recent years.
“This was an event that might have had 48 teams at it or 64 teams at it, and it wasn’t nearly as heavily recruited by the college coaches,” Rawnsley said a year ago this week while seated in the center pavilion at the historic Terry Park Complex.
“That whole dynamic – along with the whole dynamic of travel ball – has changed in the last eight to 10 years to where colleges are recruiting so much earlier in the process,” he said. “You’re seeing sophomores commit and most juniors are committing, and this becomes such an important event to them.”
And so it goes …
The 14th annual PG WWBA Underclass World Championship kicks off here Thursday afternoon and concludes its five-day run on Monday. The championship game is scheduled for early Monday afternoon at Hammond Stadium at the CenturyLink Sports Complex, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins.
In all, the 246 top underclass teams entered in the event will utilize 20 venues in Lee and Charlotte counties, including CenturyLink, Terry Park, the JetBlue Player Development Complex, the Player Development 5-Plex and the Charlotte County Complex, all current or former MLB spring training facilities.
Hundreds of college coaches and recruiting coordinators – along with more than a respectable number of professional scouts – will converge on those venues as many of the top high school juniors, sophomores and a smattering of freshmen turn out in an attempt to build their resumes and climb the PG national prospect rankings.
As a collective, those same prospects will take the field with the idea of helping their teams bring home a Perfect Game national championship trophy.
Last year’s championship game pairing was a bit of a surprise to almost everyone except the participants. A pair of teams from the Virginia – the Virginia Cardinals and the Richmond Braves National – squared-off with the Cardinals winning the title. Both organizations have teams in the field again this year.
More than 4,200 players will suit up for the 246 squads, with dozens of those players ranked in the top-100 of Perfect Game’s national prospect rankings in the 2017 and 2018 classes. And not surprisingly, many of these top prospects will be teammates over the next four or five days.
The Elite Squad Underclass Prime from Pembroke Pines, Fla., features the highest-ranked 2017 in the tournament, No. 4 shortstop/third baseman Mark Vientos (Pembroke Pines; U. of Miami). No. 51 corner-infielder Joseph Perez (Pembroke Pines; South Florida) is also on the Underclass Prime roster.
The EvoShield Canes out of Fredericksburg, Va., are led by four 2017s ranked in the top-63 nationally, including No. 6 outfielder/right-hander Jordan Adell (Louisville, Ky.; U. of Louisville) and No. 16 outfielder/corner-infielder JeVon Ward (Long Beach, Calif.; Southern Cal).
One of the most impressive rosters in the field belongs to FTB Black out of Kissimmee, Fla. The Black features six 2017s ranked in the top-79 nationally, including No. 21 shortstop Francis Villaman (Orlando; Florida State), No. 27 right-hander/first baseman Altoon Coleman (Sanford, Fla.; Florida State) and No. 32 catcher/middle-infielder Mervyl “MJ” Melendez (Montgomery, Ala.; Alabama State). No. 4-ranked 2018 Alec Sanchez (Jacksonville, Florida State) is also the Black’s roster.
Team Elite Prime 17u from Winder, Ga., has five 2017s ranked in the top-74, including right-hander Nicholas Storz (Brooklyn, N.Y.; LSU); Team Elite Prime 16u enjoys the services of 2018 right-hander/corner-infielder Kumar Rocker (Watkinsville, Ga.; uncommitted), the No. 1-ranked national prospect in his class.
An intriguing entrant is Chain National 16u from Warner Robins, Ga. The roster boasts seven prospects from the class of 2018 ranked in the top-100, including No. 41 first baseman Chase Sanguinetti (Tampa; Florida State).
There are at least five other prospects ranked in the top-10 of either the 2017 or 2018 classes that will be in attendance:
No. 8 2017 left-hander/outfielder D.L. Hall (Warner Robins, Ga.; Florida State) will be with the Tri-State Arsenal 2017s; No. 5 2018 outfielder/third baseman Elijah Cabell (Winter Park, Fla.; uncommitted), Central Florida Gators; No. 6 2018 shortstop Kendall Simmons (Macon, Ga.; uncommitted), East Cobb Astros 16u; No. 9 2018 outfielder/left-hander Christian Robinson (Melbourne, Fla.; U. of Florida); No. 10 2018 outfielder/left-hander Jarred Kelenic (Waukesha, Wis.; Louisville.)
Other teams that feature at least four top-100 prospects include Florida Burn 2017 Pennant (Sarasota, Fla.), Georgia Bombers 16u Rynders (Alpharetta, Ga.), Marucci Elite (Baton Rouge, La.) and Phenom Signature (Riverside, Calif.).
In the event’s 13-year history – keeping in mind that its most recent alumni eligible for the MLB Amateur Draft were here in 2013 – 1,250 prospects have been drafted and already 109 have made their big-league debuts.
Among those are 2010 PG WWBA Underclass World alumni and current Houston Astros Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers, both of whom were in uniform Tuesday night for the Astros’ American League Wild Card game victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
The 2009 event featured the Cleveland Indians’ Francisco Lindor – who is sure to take some AL Rookie of the Year votes away from Correa in this year’s balloting – the Chicago Cubs’ Addison Russell and the Los Angeles Dodgers Corey Seager. McCullers and Lindor were undercards in 2008 when the Baltimore Orioles’ Manny Machado was an attention-grabber.
Drifting back another year, the 2007 tournament included reigning AL Most Valuable Player Mike Trout from the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays’ standout starter Marcus Stroman. Other notable alumni include the San Diego Padres’ Justin Upton, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen, the Kansas City Royals’ Eric Hosmer and the Tampa Rays’ Tim Beckham.