THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
College  | Story | 4/6/2017

Midseason College Honors

Photo: Louisville Sports Information




Perfect Game Top 25 | Player/Pitcher of the Week
College Spotlight | College Player Database

For as many legitimate options as there were for the 2017 Perfect Game/Rawlings Midseason Player, Pitcher, Freshman and Coach of the Year awards, the PG college staff pretty quickly and unanimously agreed on the four eventual winners.

The Player of the Year honor goes to Louisville's Brendan McKay, who has somewhat of an "unfair" advantage in that he hits and pitches at a high level, and up until a couple of weeks ago his batting average was higher than his ERA, which is hard to even conceive. However, that rare talent is the reason why he is the best player in all of college baseball, which we don't believe is an opinion but rather a statement of fact, and he has led the second-ranked Cardinals to an impressive start to open 2017 by dominating both on the mound and at the plate.

Luke Heimlich, the Midseason Pitcher of the Year, has been equally dominant as the staff ace for the top-ranked Beavers. He has delivered numerous key outings so far this season, mixing and matching between his low-90s fastball and the rest of his four-pitch repertoire to successfully navigate through dangerous lineups, including an impressive start to the Pac-12 schedule the past three weeks. The competitive lefthander has only allowed three runs in seven starts, as four of the games he started (none of which he finished) resulted in a shutout and he went the distance last Friday in a 3-1 win over Stanford.

The Midseason Freshman of the Year is Braden Shewmake, who stepped onto Texas A&M's campus in College Station with quite a bit of fanfare, and lived up to his promise with a strong showing in the fall. He opened this year as the starting second baseman for the Aggies and has continued to hit at a high level, picking up where SEC Player of the Year Boomer White left off from a season ago. With a lightning quick bat and rangy defensive skills that likely will allow him to slide across the second base bag to shortstop in the years to come, Shewmake could be a college baseball star in the making.

Dave Tollett of Florida Gulf Coast was one of the easiest choices as the PG/Rawlings Midseason Coach of the Year. Tollett has guided the Eagles, who opened the season unranked, to a 24-6 overall record and are ranked 16th as of Monday, April 3. FGCU went 17-1 in the month of March, which included series sweeps of UNC Wilmington, Rutgers and Jackson State, as well as midweek victories over Florida (twice), Florida State, South Florida and Miami. Tollett is the only coach FGCU has ever had (baseball began in 2002), and he has guided the Eagles to the Atlantic Sun Championship four times in 15 years.

The Midseason Team of the Year is the most obvious as Oregon State is currently ranked No. 1 with a near-flawless 25-1 record heading into their fourth Pac-12 series of the year as they host the reigning conference champion Utah Utes. Head Coach Pat Casey has kept his squad hungry (and probably a little bit mad) looking for redemption after missing the 2016 postseason despite positing a respectable 35-19 overall record. The Beavers loudest statement thus far came two weeks ago when they swept the 2016 College World Series runner-up Arizona Wildcats.


Midseason Perfect Game/Rawlings College Baseball Awards:

Player of the Year: Brendan McKay, lhp/1b, Louisville
Pitcher of the Year: Luke Heimlich, lhp, Oregon State
Freshman of the Year: Braden Shewmake, 2b, Texas A&M
Coach of the Year: Dave Tollett, Florida Gulf Coast
Team of the Year: Oregon State Beavers


Midseason Perfect Game/Rawlings College Baseball All-American Teams
Statistics for games played through Monday, April 3

First Team

Pos. Player School AVG OBP SLG R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
C Joey Bart Georgia Tech .345 .419 .727 24 38 9 0 11 31 2
1B Ben Fisher Eastern Kentucky .412 .500 .895 43 47 10 0 15 44 0
2B Jake Scheiner Houston .415 .467 .821 21 44 11 1 10 33 1
3B Jake Burger Missouri State .387 .473 .774 30 41 8 0 11 31 2
SS Kevin Merrell South Florida .427 .504 .641 29 44 7 3 3 18 16
OF Brent Rooker Mississippi State .422 .511 .890 24 46 18 3 9 43 14
OF Keston Hiura UC Irvine .391 .505 .759 23 34 14 0 6 21 1
OF Jared Oliva Arizona .349 .421 .613 30 37 12 2 4 35 6
DH Ryan Flick Tennessee Tech .393 .475 .718 36 46 17 0 7 32 1
UT Brendan McKay Louisville .417 .532 .679 24 35 5 1 5 20 0


Pos. Player School ERA W-L CG SV IP H SO BB BAA
SP Luke Hemlich Oregon State 0.52 5-0 1 0 52 26 55 10 .145
SP J.B. Bukauskas North Carolina 0.96 5-0 0 0 47 24 70 11 .151
SP Steven Gingery Texas Tech 0.92 6-0 0 0 48.2 26 54 13 .156
SP Jared Poche Louisiana State 1.15 6-1 1 0 47 29 31 10 .178
SP J.C. Cloney Arizona 1.75 6-0 0 0 46.1 33 34 9 .195
RP Nick Sandlin Southern Miss 0.00 5-0 0 3 24 9 37 10 .114
RP T.J. Sikkema Missouri 0.47 5-0 0 3 38 18 49 8 .143
UT Brendan McKay Louisville 1.18 4-1 0 0 38 25 57 9 .187


Second Team

Pos. Player School AVG OBP SLG R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
C Grant Koch Arkansas .319 .423 .604 20 29 6 1 6 27 3
1B Gavin Sheets Wake Forest .310 .387 .621 30 36 7 1 9 43 0
2B Braden Shewmake Texas A&M .365 .397 .563 24 46 12 2 3 34 8
3B Taylor Schwaner Southeastern Louisiana .390 .500 .740 27 39 6 4 7 39 8
SS Nick Madrigal Oregon State .406 .470 .574 25 41 8 0 3 17 8
OF Jeren Kendall Vanderbilt .325 .418 .667 33 39 5 3 10 29 10
OF Griffin Conine Duke .322 .430 .619 33 38 10 2 7 34 7
OF Tyler Adkison San Diego State .437 .544 .859 20 31 7 1 7 28 3
DH Charlie Madden Mercer .312 .445 .752 33 34 12 0 12 34 0
UT Adam Haseley Virginia .398 .500 .704 31 43 7 1 8 25 7


Pos. Player School ERA W-L CG SV IP H SO BB BAA
SP David Peterson Oregon 2.14 6-1 0 0 46.1 41 66 4 .233
SP Jake Irvin Oklahoma 1.16 5-0 0 0 31 21 42 8 .189
SP Kutter Crawford Florida Gulf Coast 1.04 5-0 0 1 34.2 20 49 11 .163
SP Jared Janczak Texas Christian 2.05 5-0 0 0 48.1 22 50 12 .135
SP Gunner Leger Louisiana 1.27 5-1 0 0 42.2 27 48 11 .186
RP Nate Harris Louisiana Tech 0.76 3-0 1 7 35.1 21 50 3 .163
RP Logan Salow Kentucky 0.41 0-2 0 6 22 11 31 6 .151
UT Adam Haseley Virginia 3.43 4-1 0 0 42 42 31 10 .264



College | Story | 11/6/2026

College Fall Notebook: November 6

Craig Cozart
Article Image
Virginia Cavaliers  2026 In Review:  Under the leadership of first year Head Coach Chris Pollard, the Cavaliers won 37 games which was the second most victories by a first-year coach in program history.  Virginia went (37-23) finishing tied for 8th in the ACC and earned an at-large bid to the Hattiesburg Regional.  They fielded a talented offense that averaged over 8-runs per game, highlighted by AJ Gracia and Eric Becker who were both selected on Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft.  While the defensive squad wasn’t quite as elite as usual, they were ultra-competitive on the mound with a strong rotation and lock down bullpen.  With plenty of talent returning for Pollard and his staff in ’27, they should be a force on a national level once again.  Impact Returners:    Senior Antonio Perrotta (.266/.459/.431, 5 HR, 6 2B, 24 RBI) experienced...
General | General | 11/6/2026

Class of 2028 Rankings Update

Article Image
Tournaments | Story | 11/6/2026

National All State Preview: Week 1

Hannah Jo Groves
Article Image
This weekend, teams from all around the country in the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions will converge on the Houston area for the 2026 PG National All-State Select Championships. The 10U division will have 22 teams, 12U will have 23 and 14U will have 22. All ages have many different states represented - from Hawaii, to the Pacific Northwest, to Arizona, to New England, to Carolina to Florida and many more. “National All-State brings together the best players in the country across Houston,” national crosschecker and northeast scouting director, John McAdams, said. “It’s a fun atmosphere for ultimate bragging rights amongst all the regions the PG platform reaches domestically while serving as a good litmus test for myself, Jheremy Brown and Tyler Russo to see the players. We get another glimpse at the end of the year as we start to formulate our initial thoughts on the...
Draft | Rankings | 11/6/2026

2027 MLB Draft Board Update: Top 200

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
PG Draft Content Hub With the fall season winding down and the winter months approaching, it is time for another draft board update.  After getting more live looks and gathering information from the fall action across the country, we have expanded the board to a Top-200. The class continues to feature an intriguing mix of arms from both the prep and college ranks, along with an enticing position player pool.  There is still plenty of time for new names to emerge and established prospects to continue to improve their draft stock, but here is where things stand as we head into the winter.  * denotes draft eligible sophomore Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment 1 Dylan Seward H SS S-R Norco Eastvale CA Tennessee 2 Brendan Lawson C SS L-R Florida Toronto ON 3 Dax Whitney C RHP R-R Oregon State Blackfoot ID 4 Tomas Valincius C LHP L-L Mississippi State...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 70

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
That Off-Season Program Wasn't Built for Your Son. It Was Built for Nobody. The Harsh Reality of Skill Development · Part 2 of 5 Somewhere right now, a pitcher is starting a twelve-week off-season program. It came from his travel team. Or a trainer. Or a big leaguer's Instagram. It has phases and a logo, and every kid in the building got the same one. Here is the harsh reality. That program was written before anybody looked at your son. It doesn't know he exists. It was built for the average pitcher... and the average pitcher does not exist. A Template Fixes Somebody's Problem. Maybe Not His. Every pitcher who is stuck is stuck for a reason. We call that reason his constraint... the thing that is actually limiting him right now. For one kid it is strength. For the next it is mobility. For the next it is a mechanical inefficiency, or an arm that isn't recovering, or a body that...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 69

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
Your Son's April Arm Injury is Being Scheduled Right Now   The Harsh Reality of Skill Development - Part 1 of 5 Let me start this series with something most people in baseball won't say out loud. In my experience, a great many of the arm problems we will see next April are being set up right now... in October, November and December. Not necessarily because a young pitcher is throwing too much. Often it's because of what happens when he stops. Here is the pattern. I have watched it for more than thirty years. The fall season ends. The arm is tired, so the family does what seems like the responsible thing.  They shut it down. No throwing. For a lot of kids, no anything. Weeks go by. The holidays come and go. Then somebody looks at a calendar in January and realizes tryouts are three weeks away. Suddenly, an arm that has done nothing since October is asked to go from zero to game...
High School | Rankings | 11/4/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Risers

Kyler Peterson
Article Image
Complete Class of 2027 Rankings With the end of the summer and fall seasons behind us, it was time for a quick refresh of the 2027 class rankings. Below you'll be able to read about some of the biggest risers up the board, led by North Carolina outfielder John Hucko who jumped more than 110 spots to now sit at No. 20 overall.  John Hucko, OF, Charlotte, N.C. Previous Rank: 132 | Current Rank: 20 Hucko makes a huge leap into the top-20 players in the class after a dominating showing in Jupiter. It’s as good of a left-handed swing as you’ll come across with pretty easy impact to all parts. He’s a supreme athlete with all the tools to play center long term and is a present plus runner. Hucko is a name that cemented his prospect status in Jupiter and will be a name to follow for next year’s MLB Draft. Elyjah Mason, SS, Lake Forest, Calif. Previous Rank: 71 |...
General | General | 11/3/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Update

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Press Release | Press Release | 11/2/2026

PG Partners Up with Minority Prospects

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME ANNOUNCES MEDIA RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP WITH MINORITY PROSPECTS   Sanford, Florida (Monday, November 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a media rights partnership with Minority Prospects, the Atlanta-based organization that has become the largest platform in the world for minority baseball and softball prospects. The partnership kicked off last month at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Perfect Game's premier fall event, where Minority Prospects produced content featuring some of the nation's top amateur players in front of college coaches, professional scouts and MLB legends. Under the agreement, Minority...
Draft | Story | 10/30/2026

2027 Draft Preview: Prep Middle Infielders

Ryan Miller
Article Image
2027 MLB Draft Profile Preview: Collegiate Right-Handed Pitchers | Collegiate Left-Handed Pitchers The premium profile in each class often are prep middle infielders, a sought-after group with the athletic ability to stick on the dirt or land throughout the diamond long term. This demographic has produced the superstars of today’s game and therefore are selected in prime spots while demanding high-end signing bonuses. This group features a mix of loud tools, high level projection, and impact defenders. Below we break down at the top prep middle infielder in the 2027 cycle.  ‘27 SS Dylan Seward (CA)- liftoff from the No. 1 player in the class. A solo blast to RCF to extend the lead for @TheCanesBB #WWBA @California_PG @Vol_Baseball commit https://t.co/lJjNg6T7PS — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 27, 2026 SS Dylan Seward, Norco (CA)  The Southern...
Loading more articles...