CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2017 Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association (WWBA) tournament schedule officially reached its conclusion when the Canes Prospects grinded through 27 innings of work over about nine hours on Oct. 23, and won the title at the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla.
The Prospects’ 8-7, nine-inning victory over the FTB/SF Giants Scout Team in the championship game came a little over three hours after they needed 11 innings to beat the AZ D-Backs Scout Team, 3-1, in the semifinals; they beat the Dallas Tigers, 4-1, in a seven-inning quarterfinal to start the day.
It also came just hours after the North Carolina-based Dirtbags had beaten the Canes Black 2021, 6-5, to claim the title at the inaugural PG WWBA Freshman Championship, played in West Palm Beach, Fla., just a short drive down I-95 from Jupiter.
With those last two championships decided, PG officials could look back on a record-breaking calendar year during which thousands of players performed as members of thousands of teams in front of college coaches and recruiters of every stripe and, of course, Major League Baseball’s ever-present scouting community.
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The title captured by the underclass Prospects team in Jupiter and the runner-up finish by the Black 2021 in West Palm Beach, capped an impressive season of success by the Virginia-based Canes Baseball organization.
The Canes 17u climbed to the No. 1 spot in the PG 17u Summer Travel Team Rankings after winning the 17u PG WWBA National Championship in early July and reaching the playoffs at both the 17u PG World Series and the PG WWBA World Championship (using the Canes National name).
It was a team led by PG All-Americans Austin Becker, Xavier Edwards, Joe Gray Jr., Nicholas Northcut and Anthony Seigler; Edwards was the Most Valuable Player at the 17u PG WWBA National. The Canes American 17u added another feather to the organization’s cap by reaching the semifinals at the 17u PG WWBA National.
The Georgia-based Team Elite 17u Prime was another outfit loaded with PG All-Americans that made a lot of noise in 2017.
With PGAA’s Will Banfield, Ethan Hankins, John Malcom, Parker Meadows and Kumar Rocker on the roster, the Elite 17u Prime won a PG WWBA National Qualifier, was the runner-up at both the 17u BCS National Championship and the 17u PG Summer Showdown, advanced to the quarterfinals at the 17u PG WWBA National Championship and reached the playoffs at the 17u PG Invitational. (A squad also called the Team Elite 17u Prime but with a different roster won the PG WWBA Elite Underclass Championship).
The 14u age-group level was especially competitive over the last five months with any number of teams proving capable of coming out on top if they all happened to still be playing on championship day.
The Academy Select (Texas) won the 14u PG WWBA National Championship (semifinals at the 14u PGWS), the Dulin Dodgers (Tenn.) won the 14u PG World Series (quarterfinals 14u PG WWBA National) and the Team Elite Nation won the 14u BCS National Championship (runner-up 14u PG/East Cobb Invitational, semis at 14u PG WWBA National).
The Dodgers’ Blaze Jordan opened scouts’ eyes on a regular basis throughout a 2017 campaign in which he rose to the No. 1 spot in the class of 2021 national prospect rankings. A 6-foot, 215-pound, 14-year-old corner-infielder from Southaven, Miss., and a Mississippi State commit, Jordan was named the Most Valuable Player at the 14u PGWS.
He earned all-tournament recognition at 10 WWBA tournaments in 2017, and was all-tournament as both a batter and a pitcher at the PG WWBA World Championship, the 17u PG WWBA National Championship, the 14u PG WWBA National Championship and the 14u PGWS.
Jordan hit at least one home run at 17u, 16u, 15u and 14u events this year, and was named the 14u Player of the Year at the PG Select Baseball Festival in Fort Myers, Fla., over the Labor Day Weekend.
Team Elite Nation’s Brady House – another participant at the PG Select Baseball Festival – was named the MV Player at the 14u PG BCS National and at the PG Super25 14u Georgia Super Qualifier; he was the MV Pitcher at the 14u PG/EC Invitational.
Georgia-based Team GA Baseball Gold 16u reached the top-spot in the 16u Travel Team Rankings by winning the 16u PG World Series and the 16u PG Invitational, finishing as runner-up at the 16u PG WWBA National Qualifier and reaching the round-of-16 at the 16u PG WWBA National; top 2019s Jerrion Ealy (No. 4-ranked) and Michael Polk (No. 107) led the Gold 16u.
The Texas-based Banditos Scout Team won the 16u WWBA National Championship, and Georgia-based 5 Star National Burress won the 16u BCS National Championship and reached the final-four at the 16u PG WWBA National. The Elite Squad won the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship after a 9-0 run-rule victory over the Florida Burn 2020 Platinum in the championship game.
Another Team Elite Prime squad excelled on some of the biggest stages at the 15u level, taking titles at both the PG World Series and BCS National Championship.
The team was led by top 2019 Alex McFarlane (No. 55), and Austin Hendrick – the MVP at the 15u PGWS – and Trejyn Fletcher, the Nos. 1 and 2-ranked prospects in the national class of 2020. The Tennessee-based East Coast Sox Select won the 15u PG WWBA National Championship.
The East Cobb Astros (Ga.) won gold at the 18u PG WWBA National Championship, North East Baseball National (Mass.) won titles at the 18u PG WWBA West MLK Championship and the 18u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic, and Next Level Baseball 18u (Fla.) won the 18u BCS National Championship and the 18u Southeast Championship to highlight play in the 18u age-group. Next Level 2017 right-hander Nicky Agosto was named the MV Pitcher at the two events his team won.