THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,576 MLB PLAYERS | 16,376 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,576 MLB PLAYERS | 16,376 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Summer Collegiate  | Story | 8/23/2017

Tom Sox top summer team

Bryan Cooney
Photo: Humphrey Liu

2017 PG/Rawlings Summer Collegiate Player of the Year: James Outman

Traditionally, college summer leagues are very tight-knit with the communities the teams reside in. Providing locals a chance to see some of the top college baseball players in their backyard can offer a glimpse of the next wave of potential big leaguers.

The Charlottesville Tom Sox of the Valley League had a first-year manager with hometown roots. Dating back to his days as a high school standout at Monticello High School, and playing a key role in two College World Series trips for his hometown Virginia Cavaliers, 30-year old Corey Hunt seemed like the perfect fit to steer the ship.

Now the head coach at his former high school, Hunt led the Tom Sox to a 32-10 regular season mark, and Charlottesville marched through the Valley League postseason, defeating Strasburg 2-1 in the third and deciding game of the league championship series for the organization’s first Valley League crown.

That honor went a long way into Perfect Game’s decision to name the Tom Sox the Summer Collegiate Team of the Year in just their third year of existence on the summer baseball landscape.

“The chemistry the kids had from the start along with the tight ship that our manager Corey Hunt conducted went a long, long way,” Tom Sox general manager Mike Paduano said. “This is a huge honor for our organization and everyone played a part in it from the temporary players we had that turned into full-time guys all the way up ladder. It was the best summer we could have imagined.”

Hunt’s extensive ties to Charlottesville played a large part in the approach he took with managing college players for the first time. Embracing what the team did on and off the field, and the impacts it had on the community, was something Hunt really wanted to impart on his players.

“Kids sometimes don’t realize the type of impact they can have in the local community when playing summer baseball,” Hunt said. “Being from the area, I have seen how much it can mean.

“When little kids got to watch our team, I tried hard to get them to pay the right way. I went in with the philosophy of letting the guys play and not get in their way too much, and from day one I saw that we were just one team that played for each other. That’s what pleased me the most with this group.”

The balancing act for any players competing in summer leagues is for the organizations to get as many opportunities to play as possible, something Hunt did a great job of providing for his club.

“It’s hard to balance the expectations one player may have of himself along with the emotions of maybe not getting the playing time they would like,” Hunt added. “You want to make sure the guys get the reps they need out there, and I think we did a good job on that front, particularly with our pitching staff.”

On the mound is where the Tom Sox excelled the most, and incorporating a pitching system that suited the toughest questions of managing arms off of a long season in a summer league paid huge dividends for all parties.

“Our Vice President Jeff Burton came up with the idea of what he called ‘The Pitching Caring System,’ which would utilize two starting pitchers and one reliever to work through the entire game,” Paduano explained. “We would have a bridge guy in case one of the starters didn’t have his best on a given night.

“It worked out really well obviously. We want to build relationships with the colleges that send their kids to us, knowing that we are going to take care of their arms and be treated right.”

Hunt had not worked with a system for pitchers like that before, and was more than pleased with the end result.

“I really enjoyed how the system panned out,” Hunt said. “Our pitching coach Sam Bashioum did an outstanding job managing the staff; we wouldn’t have had the success on the mound if it wasn’t for him. Our guys could really go out and focus on their jobs, from the starters to the relievers and work on what they needed to.”

The Charlottesville team ERA checked in at 2.96, a full run better than the next closest team. The Tom Sox posted five shutouts and the entire pitching staff allowed just seven home runs in 42 games.

One righthander put up eye-popping numbers from the Charlottesville bullpen in University of Richmond junior Layne Looney. The Dallas, Texas native struck out 41 batters in 24 1/3 innings for the summer and allowed a mere eight hits. In Looney’s first two outings, he allowed six runs, but the final 10 outings saw him toss 19 scoreless innings to end the season.

“Layne doesn’t leave much in the bag when he’s out there on the mound,” Hunt said. “He’s a shorter guy at 5-foot-10, but has an extremely live arm. He really made a difference in the bullpen role with his three-pitch mix and controlled the running game with his tempo.”

The catalyst for the Tom Sox for the duration of the summer was a player not from the Power 5 conferences in which many Charlottesville players came from. Division III College of Wooster’s Michael Wielansky was always an underlooked prospect even coming through the high school ranks, but has turned himself into an All-American caliber player at the Division III level and jumped right into the Valley League and kept on hitting.

“Mike showed up with the right mindset from the onset, and we just plugged him into the lineup and let him go,” Hunt said of his star player. “He did what he was supposed to do. The game rewarded his hard work that he puts in, and he is deserving of all of the accolades he gets.”

Wielansky hit a blistering .432 in 37 regular season games, with 18 doubles, four triples and four home runs, and he also drove in 34 runs. In seven postseason games, Wielansky went 13-for-32 (.406 average), and scored the game-winning run in the deciding game in the championship series against Strasburg. Wielansky earned the Valley League MVP for his efforts.

Vinnie Pasqualino, coming off of a strong freshman campaign at Old Dominion in which he batted .321 with 17 doubles and 38 RBI, picked up where he left off in the spring by batting .336 in 31 games. The Moseley, Va. native went 10-for-29 (.345) in the seven postseason games for Charlottesville.

The versatility of another standout from the D-III ranks would impact the Tom Sox on the mound and at the plate in Randolph-Macon College’s Rick Spiers. The Chesterfield, Va. native batted .333 in 30 games, but was outstanding as a righthanded pitcher as he registered a 0.74 ERA in 36 2/3 innings for the summer. Similar to Wielansky and Pasqualino, Spiers took his game to another level in the postseason, going 2-0 on the mound while closing out the championship game by firing 2 2/3 scoreless frames in the Tom Sox’ 2-1 victory against Strasburg.

“Rick’s one of those sleeper, fantasy draft type of guys you love to have,” Hunt said. “He was incredibly versatile for us. We had a two-game stretch in which he tossed five or six innings on the mound and threw him out to play shortstop the next game and picked up a few hits. He’s got the poise you want in a player and was a clutch performer all summer.”

Given the organization’s situation being an up-and-coming team, Paduano has seen what bringing higher quality players did to not only his Tom Sox, but the Valley League as a whole in 2017.

“I think the goal for the Valley League is to get to that next level to become the best league outside of the Cape Cod League for colleges to send their players to,” Paduano said. “The general managers in the league have upped their recruiting efforts to bring kids from the bigger conferences in. For our club, the first two years were tough sledding.

“Winning helps a ton to bring people out to the ballpark. We want to make this a long-term effort to make the city of Charlottesville a baseball town.”

With a hometown man at the helm in Hunt and a breakthrough season under their belts, the Tom Sox may have the perfect mix to become a mainstay among the college summer ranks for years to come.

2017 PG/Rawlings Summer Collegiate Team of the Year Finalists:

• Bethesda Big Train (Cal Ripken)
• Corvallis Knights (West Coast)
• Top Speed Baseball (Golden State)


Previous PG/Rawlings Summer Collegiate Teams of the Year:

2006: Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (Cape Cod)
2007: Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (Cape Cod)
2008: Santa Barbara Foresters (California)
2009: Forest City Owls (Coastal Plain)
2010: Eau Claire Express (Northwoods)
2011: Bethesda Big Train (Cal Ripken)
2012: Newport Gulls (New England)
2013: Brazos Valley Bombers (Texas)
2014: Lakeshore Chinooks (Northwoods)
2015: Edenton Steamers (Coastal Plain)
2016: Yarmouth-Dennis (Cape Cod)
Give us your feedback
Summer Collegiate | Story | 9/26/2023

Cape Cod: Best of the Rest
Vincent Cervino
Article Image
Cape Cod Top 100 Prospect List | Cape Cod Top 2025 Prospects * indicates draft eligible sophomore ^ indicates incoming transfer Name Pos. Team School Hometown State Andrew Sundean C Hyannis UCF Lakeland FL Bradke Lohry^ IF Hyannis Tennessee Trinity FL Cam Schuelke^ RHP Hyannis Mississippi State Dorr MI Carter Lovasz RHP Hyannis William & Mary Midlothian VA Colby Shelton*^ IF Falmouth Florida Lithia FL Colin Tuft^ OF Orleans Tulane Vienna VA Daniel Corona^ IF Cotuit Missouri Brooklyn NY Derek Clark^ LHP Orleans West Virginia Petersburg MI Duce Gourson IF Falmouth UCLA San Diego CA Eddie Micheletti OF Orleans George Washington Wilmington DE Enzo Apodada^ OF YD Baylor Scottsdale CA Evan Truitt RHP Orleans Charleston Southern Berlin MD Finnegan Wall RHP YD UC Irvine Hesperia CA Garrett Coe RHP Falmouth Uconn Lakeside CT Ian Petrutz OF Bourne Maryland Mantua NJ Jakob Christian^ 1B YD...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/22/2026

15u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 5

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
15u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Noah Rumley (‘29 NC) has been up to 90 so far in this start w/ 8 Ks in 4 innings of work. Really jumps out of the hand at foot strike w/ some ride to it; has also mixed in a SL w/ horizontal action. #WWBA @PG_Coastal pic.twitter.com/OcU57a3Syl — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 21, 2026 Noah Rumley (2029, Summerfield, N.C.) got the ball for GBC Lopez 2029 15u in their final game of pool play and dominated, going up against a tough lineup in the East Cobb Astros. The 6-foot-2 left-handed pitcher ended up going five innings, allowing only one hit and one run, while striking out nine. It’s premium stuff at the 15u level as he worked easily in the upper-80s, topping at 90 mph in the first. The breaking ball showed two-plane shape in the upper-70s as well. There’s a ton of things to like already and even...
Read More
Tournaments | Championship | 7/22/2026

Champions Named at Southwest Select

Emily Hicks
Article Image
Another week of Perfect Game baseball concluded as champions were crowned in the 15U, 16U, and 18U divisions of the Southwest Select Championship. After several days of pool play and championship bracket action, three teams rose above the competition to capture tournament titles following a week of high-level baseball. Throughout the tournament, teams from across the Southwest and beyond competed in closely contested matchups, producing standout pitching performances, timely offense, and memorable defensive plays. As the bracket narrowed, each division featured championship-caliber baseball before the final trophies were awarded. 15U Championship The 15U division title was claimed by AZ Prodigy, who defeated Nomadic 14U Premier by a score of 2-1 in the championship game. After putting together a strong tournament run, AZ Prodigy continued its momentum in the title game with contributions...
Read More
All American Game | Story | 7/22/2026

PGAAC Roster Reveal

Article Image
  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME ANNOUNCES TEAM ROSTERS FOR 2026 DICK'S ALL-AMERICAN CLASSIC AT CITIZENS BANK PARK   The rosters span 20 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Canada, with California leading the way Jersey City's Finnian O'Loughlin gives the host region a player in the spotlight Field includes sons of Hall of Famer Frank Thomas & MLB All-Star Brad Hawpe   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Wednesday, July 22, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the Team East and Team West rosters for the 2026 DICK'S All-American Classic, set for Sunday, August 16 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. The 60-player field represents the top...
Read More
Tournaments | Championship | 7/22/2026

Florida Burn Cruise to 17U BCS Crown

Alyssa Golden
Article Image
Ranked fifth nationally entering the tournament, Florida Burn 2027 Scout left no doubt who the best team was at the 17U BCS National Championship. Burn finished a perfect 9-0 tournament, earning an 11-1 semifinal victory before defeating No. 86-ranked Original Florida Pokers 2027 National, 9-1, Tuesday afternoon at JetBlue Park. Burn seized control early and never looked back in a game that ended after the fifth inning per Perfect Game’s mercy rule. Burn carried its explosive offense into the championship game as Braedon Mackay launched a two-run home run in the first inning, giving his team an early 2-0 lead. Mackay’s home run sparked a five-run opening inning, setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon. The Florida commit later earned tournament MVP honors after helping lead Burn to an unbeaten championship run. “I was just trying to get something started,”...
Read More
PG Select Baseball Festival | General | 7/21/2026

13u Select Festival Roster Reveal

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
With the completion of the 2026 13u National Showcase, an event that featured some of the best talent the age group has to offer, 42 players came out with the label of "Festivaler" as they received a phone call shortly after the event concluded. Moving back to the University of Tennessee after a two year stay at the University of Virginia, Ole Rocky Top will see a mixed bag of returners; three-timers, new faces and a couple who bridged the gap from the 11u game into the 13u iteration.  Of the 42 players, 9 players call Florida their home base which is the most of any state while Texas (8), California (7) and Georgia (5) are all close behind nearly three-quarters of the players selected. In total 17 different states are represented, from Hawaii to Arkansas, Washington to Maryland and everywhere in between.  Quick roster breakdown: Three-time Select Festival: 13 players ...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/21/2026

UBC Midwest X Atlantic Notes: Part 1

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
Jack Postma (2028, Barrington, IL) made an impression in Chicago this week. A 6-foot-5 right hander with a starter pitch mix. Topped out at 93 in his outing at UBC Midwest and pitched at 88-93 for 2 innings on the mound. Slider showed late horizontal bite at its best when finished out front. Change up is a usable third pitch with fading action and ability to miss bats. Clean overall operation in the delivery. Upside with added stability in the arm action. Chance to be one of the top prospects in Illinois and potentially the country with necessary adjustments moving forward.  Connor Basinski (2028, Columbia, IL) an athletic player with 2-way potential. Physicality stands out for a player in the 2028 class. Swung the bat impressively well in Chicago. Hits from a wide stance and stays balanced using strength and leverage to drive the baseball to all fields. Launched a long pull side...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/21/2026

15u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 4

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
15u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 Mason Conner (2029, Palestine, Texas) was a force in the middle-of-the-order for Gold Culture. The right-handed hitter starts from a medium stance with in-line feet and a low handset with a low back elbow, utilizes a negative leg lift stride. Strides through and uncoils the lower half well and creates separation in the back shoulder. Solid hand speed with a flat bat plane and feel to leverage and lift. Impacts the ball well with feel to impact and drive. The shortstop showed the power upside belting a two-run homer over the fence in left field and added a two-RBI knock later in the game. Medium 6-foot, 175-pound frame that was consistently on the barrel and showed a good approach at the plate working two walks. Lennon Dunn (2029, Mansfield, Texas) competed and showed the upside on the mound for Stix 2029 Scout. The right-handed pitcher...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/21/2026

16U BCS Rolls into Fort Myers

Alyssa Golden
Article Image
The 21st annual 16U BCS National Championship returns to Fort Myers, Florida from July 23-27, bringing together many of the nation’s top 2028 graduates. The tournament features 44 teams, including six nationally ranked clubs, competing for a national title across five days of high-level competition. Year after year, the event has served as a proving ground for elite talent. Defending champion Showtime Select National 16U returns after capturing last year’s championship, while a talented field from across the country will look to add its name to the event’s prestigious history. One of the premier prospects in the field, shortstop Gabriel Coupet enters as the highest-ranked player in attendance, checking in at No. 49 overall in the Class of 2028 and No. 8 player in Florida. The Boynton Beach, Fla., native has established himself as one of the country’s most talented...
Read More
College | Story | 7/21/2026

Coppy's Corner: July 21 Summer Edition

John Coppolella
Article Image
The amateur players in the Cape Cod Baseball League are the future stars of the 2027 MLB Draft. The league runs from June 13th through August 2nd. Games are played at historic stadiums in Old New England towns. It’s beautiful and charming. Hollywood even made a movie about the Cape Cod League ~25 years ago called Summer Catch. It scored an 8% (!) on Rotten Tomatoes, but, on the plus side, it featured 2001 Jessica Biel in a starring role.  It was so much fun writing Coppy’s Column this spring. My hope is to highlight a pitcher and position player each week from the Cape. And, who knows, maybe somewhere out there Jessica Biel is reading it.    Player of the Week: Coen Niclai – Wareham Gatemen  The Internet tells me that 12 MLB players have come from Alaska, 10 of whom were from Anchorage, and the best of which is Curt Schilling. Niclai, who is also...
Read More
Tournaments | Championship | 7/20/2026

FTB National Completes Elite Run

Kinley Kitchens
Article Image
Championships are never won in a single game. For FTB National 2027, this one has been in the making for years. An 8-0 victory over Team Elite 17U Scout capped off an unforgettable week at the 2026 Perfect Game 17U National Elite Championship, but according to those inside the dugout, the championship was a product of friendships formed long before the tournament ever began. FTB took their first national elite win in team history, giving one of the nation’s top 2027 teams an elite ending to their 17U summer. “This is a homegrown group,” head coach Will Haynie said. “This team has been together for the last four or five years, and I think a lot of them have been together since the Little League World Series when they were 12. It’s been fun, and a nice little cap off to their 17U summer, especially after winning a big event like this.” That chemistry...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.