2017 17u Perfect Game World Series Event Page

The 17u Perfect Game World Series, which will start its five-day run with 30 teams competing at the Chicago Cubs Mesa, Arizona complex on Thursday morning, has quickly become one of the most talent-filled events on the Perfect Game calendar.

Even though this is only the sixth year of the event, an eye-opening 411 players have already been drafted who participated, including 2016 Most Valuable Player Jacob Gonzalez, a 2017 second round pick of the San Francisco Giants. Of those 411 players, 36 have gone on to be first round picks while another 32 heard their names selected in the second round.

Los Angeles Dodgers rookie All-Star sensation Cody Bellinger is the 17u PG World Series' first big leaguer, having played for the Arizona Diamondbacks Elite in 2012 before going on to be a third round pick the following June.

This year's talent tool looks to be consistent with past years, with 19 Perfect Game All-Americans rostered among the 30 teams. Those All-Americans and their teams include:

Banditos Scout Team: 3B Hunter Watson (Pottsboro, Texas)

Central Florida Gators: OF Elijah Cabell (Winter Park, Fla.), RHP/C Mason Denaburg (Merritt Island, Fla.), SS Nolan Gorman (Glendale, Ariz.), LHP Matthew Liberatore (Peoria, Ariz.), RHP Carter Stewart (Melbourne, Fla.)

Dark Knights: C Christopher Willis (Ruston, La.)

EvoShield Canes: RHP Austin Becker (Sunbury, Ohio), SS Xavier Edwards (Wellington, Fla.), OF Joe Gray Jr. (Hattiesburg, Miss.), 3B Nicholas Northcut (Mason, Ohio), C Anthony Seigler (Cartersville, Ga.)

NorCal Baseball: SS Osiris Johnson (Alameda, Calif.), OF Vinny Tosti (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

Playa Vista Orioles: SS Brice Turang (Corona, Calif.)

So Cal Birds: RHP Blake Burzell (Laguna Beach, Calif.)

Tri-State Arsenal 17u Prime: LHP Brandon Neeck (Chappaqua, N.Y.)

Coast Titans: SS Jeremiah Jackson (Mobile, Ala.)

CBA Marucci: SS Brandon Deiter (Covina, Calif.)

The list of former champions of the 17u PG World Series reads like a Who's Who of top national level travel teams: Elite Squad (2012), EvoShield Canes (2013), Houston Banditos (2014), Orlando Scorpions (2015) and T-Rex Baseball (2016). Two of those teams are in this year's field and are looking to become the first two-time title holders: the Evoshield Canes and the Banditos.

If any team should be considered the pre-event favorites, it has to be the Canes, who are fresh off winning the 396-team WWBA 17u National Championship earlier this month in Georgia and have one of their strongest rosters in their storied history. The 17u WWBA National Championship MVP Xavier Edwards along with center fielder Joe Gray, Jr. are two of the best defensive players in the country at key middle-of-the-field positions. In addition, the Canes pitching staff, featuring righthanders Landon Marceaux (Destrehan, La.) – the co-Most Valuable Pitcher of the 17u National Championship – and Brandon Birdsell (Willis, Texas) as well as southpaws Patrick Wickander (San Jose, Calif.) and Carter Lohman (Fishers, Ind.), in addition to All-American Austin Becker, is extremely deep.

The Central Florida Gators, who were the top-ranked 16u team in the Perfect Game travel team rankings in 2016, certainly have the talent to topple the Canes and their winning ways over the past two years and this roster will give them an edge. Ironically, the Florida Gators have four players from host Arizona, including the state's two top prospects in Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore. How well the team's pitching staff – which doesn't appear as deep on paper as the Canes’ – throws in pool play looks to be a key factor, as a Gators team that enters the playoffs with Mason Denaburg, Carter Stewart and Liberatore fresh would be a big mountain for any opposing team to climb.

One of the best parts about the 17u Perfect Game World Series historically has been the chance to see a number of talented West Coast teams take the field while playing close to home. Teams such as GBG Marucci, CBA Marucci, NorCal, CCB Elite and the San Diego Show all have rosters stacked with future Division I standouts and will be fun to watch in the desert summer sun.

That last note is not without significance. Last year's event was held in scalding temperatures that were regularly 114-117 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. This year's forecast calls for much more bearable temperatures, with daily highs around 102-104 and even a chance of a rain shower or two.

Check the PG website daily for scout notes from each day's action along with feature stories on the top players.