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General  | Top Ten | 10/23/2008

Braves Favored To Repeat As Champions

David Rawnsley
JUPITER, Fla.—It’s apparent that there are only a handful of teams that come to the World Wood Bat Association fall championship with a realistic expectation of winning. A majority of the 80 teams that are entered are thrilled just to win one of the 16 pools and make the playoffs. Most will do their best to achieve that, but winning 7-8 games in four days is beyond the capability of most rosters.

While winning is important, the primary motivating factor for most teams in Jupiter is the opportunity for their players to be seen and scouted by the hundreds of scouts and college recruiters that are drawn to the event. No tournament anywhere will impact future baseball drafts more than the WWBA fall classic, and a vast majority of the top high school prospects in the draft classes of 2009 and 2010 are in attendance.

There is more high-end talent concentrated on some rosters than others, and perhaps 15-20 teams come to Florida in October thinking that they can win the entire thing. The approach of those teams is a bit different when it comes to setting lineups and pitching rotations.

There are two basic types of teams that compete in Jupiter.

One is the top-level, select team which has a core of players who play together all summer and in many cases during the fall, too. When it is extended an invitation to play in Jupiter or earns a spot by winning a qualifying tournament, almost all these teams supplement their roster of established players with talented players from their geographic area. Invariably, most of these teams add pitching whenever possible in order to be competitive at this high level.

The other type of team in Jupiter is the All-Star Team or Scout Team. These teams are assembled specifically for high-profile events like Jupiter and the players are brought in from all different locations. They have the advantage of being a fantasy-like roster of top prospects whose individual talents are impressive, but such teams are often at a disadvantage because most of the players have never played together before and baseball is, after all, a team game. It often takes these teams a game or two to mesh, and with a roster of diverse players a team also runs the risk of having players who might not be in the best of baseball shape—particularly for a highly-competitive event like this.

History shows that both types of teams have won in Jupiter. All-Star assembled teams have won five Jupiter titles, including the last two (Reds Scout Team in 2006, Braves Scout Team in 2007). More conventional travel teams have won four Jupiter titles, including in 2005 when the two-time champion East Cobb Astros and Chet Lemon’s Juice shared the title when rain washed out the championship game. The Braves Scout Team defeated the Orlando Scorpions, a club team, in the final a year ago.

In handicapping the top 10 teams for this year’s tournament, which begins Thursday and continues through Monday, the pre-championship favorite is the Braves Scout Team—a loose extension of the same organizing center that put together the last two Jupiter champions.

But the Braves are by no means the prohibitive favorites they arguably were the past two seasons. Those who might be rooting for a more conventional travel/select team to win the tournament can pin their highest hopes on such team as California’s ABD Bulldogs, North Carolina’s Dirtbags and East Cobb Astros.

Here’s how we see the 10 teams that have the best chance to win this year’s tournament (full team rosters can be found elsewhere on the Perfect Game/PG Crosschecker site):

1. Braves Scout Team
Top Players: C Bryce Harper, LHP Tyler Matzek, SS Deven Marrero, RHP Shelby Miller, 1B-RHP Matt Hobgood, LHP Chad James, RHP Peter Tago, C Cameron Garfield, C Andrew Susac, SS Christian Lopes.
Strengths: The Braves have 16 pitchers on their roster and all are potential draft-type prospects, including several possible first-rounders. With multiple pitchers throwing every game, they’ll be fresh and will give opponents multiple looks. The position players are almost secondary by comparison, but scoring runs shouldn’t be an issue either. The Braves four catchers are so talented that will play all over the field when not catching, but all can hit, especially Harper and Garfield.
Potential Weakness: When you’re throwing three pitchers in every game, you never know when one might come up short and put your team at a disadvantage—particularly when wood bats are used and low-scoring games are common. The Braves roster is very thin in position players, especially outfielders.

2. Texas Scout Team Yankees
Top Players: C Luke Bailey, OF Everett Williams, OF Randal Grichuk, SS J.J. Albobelli, 3B Jake Miller, 2B Stephen Bruno, OF Todd Glaesmann, RHP Jackson Taillon, RHP Garrett Gould.
Strengths: The TST starting lineup measures up with any team in Jupiter and an argument can easily be made that it’s the most complete, from top to bottom. And while the Yankees are a true scout team that was assembled for this event, the roster features a core of Texas-based prospects who know each other well and have played together on other teams at times in the past.
Potential Weakness: Like putting together a fantasy team, you decide what your priorities are. The Texas Scout Team has depth in position players, while the Braves Scout Team has depth in pitching. If form holds and the two teams reach the final, it may come down to Pitching vs. Hitting winning out.

3. ABD Bulldogs (Riverside, Calif.)
Top Players: 3B Matt Davidson, RHP-1B Brooks Pounders, 2B David Nick, SS Jiovanni Miers, RHP Chad Thompson, 1B-LHP K.C. Hobson, RHP Gabe Encinas, C Jake Hernandez.
Strengths: The Bulldogs are going to score runs and have the offensive potential to score a lot of runs. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them lead the event in home runs, with the powerful Davidson and Pounders leading the way. There are a number of 2010 pitchers who have the talent to excel—if they can handle the pressure of facing deep lineups of older, more experienced hitters.
Potential Weakness: Does ABD have the pitching depth to keep running out quality starters in each round of the playoffs? The team’s lineup is also very righthanded and the big power guys are all long swing/get-the-hands extended types.

4. Dirtbags (North Carolina)
Top Players: OF Brian Goodwin, 3B Wil Myers, SS Levi Michaels, C Michael Ohlman, C Matt Roberts, RHP Nick McBride, RHP Chris Munnally, RHP Ryan Heuler.
Strengths: This should be the Dirtbags’ top offensive team ever. The team has a good balance of on-base and power types, and two studs in the middle of the order in Goodwin and Myers. The pitching staff is very deep and should have fresh arms all the way through to a potential championship-game appearance.
Potential Weakness: The Dirtbags are in a very difficult pool and will have to play well just to get to the playoffs on Sunday afternoon. Will that derail or emotionally-tax them, or just toughen their confidence?

5. East Cobb Astros (Marietta, Ga.)
Top Players: C-RHP Austin Maddox, OF Drew Steckenrider, 3B Miles Head, RHP-3B Stetson Allie, RHP-SS Kaleb Cowart, OF Trey Griffin, 2B Zach Alvord, SS Michael Broad.
Strengths: The Astros will have ultra-fast outfielders at the top of the batting order, outstanding defensive players in the middle of the field and big power on the corners. They will score runs in bunches and their defense will be top-notch.
Potential Weakness: In the past, you could scan the East Cobb roster and see first-rounders like Brett DeVall, Zeke Spruill and Josh Smoker lined up to start games in the playoffs. Those kind of arms aren’t so obvious this year.

6. Kansas City Royals Scout Team
Top Players: OF Levon Washington, OF Brian Ragira, SS Jacoby Jones, SS Matt Lipka, RHP Robert Aviles, LHP Jake Eliopoulos, RHP Madison Younginer.
Key Strengths: The Royals are very athletic in the middle of the field and have well above-average team speed, especially with Washington and Ragira at the top of the order. Pitching depth will not be a problem at all, as well.
Potential Weakness: The Royals are young, with most of their top players being 2010 prospects who will be appearing on the big stage for the first time. That may be an even bigger negative, given their lack of experience playing together.

7. Ohio Warhawks
Top Players: 1B Jeff Malm, 3B Kris Bryant, SS Marcus Littlewood, 3B-RHP Brooks Hall, C Stefen Sabol, RHP Mike Dedrick, LHP Tyler Skaggs.
Key Strengths: Malm and Bryant, two top Nevada products, give the Warhawks a middle-of-the-order power presence that has the potential to match any team in the event. Though both are 2010 products, Sabol and Littlewood also give the Warhawks a strong middle-of-the-field presence at the two most important defensive positions.
Potential Weakness: The Warhawks roster includes players from 12 states and just getting them to Jupiter, and to the right field at the right time may be a logistical challenge. They will have to jell quickly.

8. Dallas Tigers
Top Players: SS Chad Kettler, C Jonathan Walsh, OF Jacob Morris, 1B-LHP Colton Cain, OF Chase Durham.
Key Strengths: The Tigers play together as a team year around, so should be more fluid and cohesive than some of the all-star squads assembled just for the event. Kettler and Cain are two of the top “performance” players in the country and the Tigers middle-of-the-field players are all top defenders.
Potential Weakness: The Tigers don’t have any big-name pitchers, although they appear to have sufficient depth to win their pool and move into the playoffs. They could be susceptible to good righthanded pitchers as all their top hitters are switch-hitters who are much better from the right side.

9. Diamond Devils (South Carolina)
Top Players: OF Daniel Aldrich, SS Chris Owings, RHP Drew Cisco, RHP Greg Harrison.
Key Strengths: The Diamond Devils always seem to overachieve as a team, playing above their individual-tool/skill levels. They play outstanding defense and their pitchers pound the strike zone. They easily led the WWBA 17-and-under summer championship in scoring in July, led by Aldrich, the tournament MVP.
Potential Weakness: Do the Devils have the raw talent to match up against the bigger, higher-profile teams and their Aflac-dominated lineups?

10. All-American Prospects (Florida)
Top Players: SS-RHP Yordy Cabrera, 3B Nick Castellanos, 2B Cody Dent, LHP Austin Perez, C Cody Ross.
Key Strengths: All-American Prospects are coming off a convincing sweep of the WWBA Underclass Championship two weeks ago in Fort Myers, Fla., where their pitching staff allowed two runs in eight games, including none in four playoff games. Cabrera and Castellanos are high-talent/high-performance players who should excel against the higher level of competition.
Potential Weakness: The pitching staff that was so impressive against younger hitters may not have the quality stuff to do the same against the top teams in this championship.
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General | Blog | 6/16/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 66
Ron Wolforth
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  The Number That Just Killed MLB Expansion: 1,217   USA Today's Bob Nightengale dropped a bomb shell recently that the baseball world is still digesting. Major League Baseball wants to expand to 32 teams. Team executives are quietly opposing it and the reason has nothing to do with cities or money.   They cannot find enough healthy pitchers.   Between 2020 and 2024, professional baseball performed 1,026 Tommy John surgeries at the minor-league level alone. Another 191 at the Major League level. More than twelve hundred elbow reconstructions in five years on the best young pitchers in the world.   That is not bad luck. That is a system reporting a verdict on itself.   For fifteen years, the youth-baseball industry has chased one number: velocity significantly more than projectability and arm care.    Recruiters scout by it.    Social...
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Perfect Game Staff
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Draft | Mock Draft | 7/13/2026

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Vincent Cervino
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With the 2026 MLB Draft officially complete, let's quickly turn our eyes to the 2027 group and do a way too early mock draft. Leading the way is shortstop Brendan Lawson out of the University of Florida, setting the trend as three of the top four names all call shortstop home with Dylan Seward and Carter Hadnot. If shortstops aren't your thing for any which reason, maybe hard throwing left-handers tickle your fancy whether it be prep Connor Salerno, Tomas Valincius from Mississippi State or Dylan Volantis, a dominant arm from the University of Texas.  Pick Team Name Pos. School 1 Los Angeles Angels Brendan Lawson SS Florida 2 Kansas City Royals Dylan Seward SS Norco (Calif.) 3 Colorado Rockies Landon Hairston OF Arizona State 4 New York Mets Carter Hadnot SS Aquinas (Calif.) 5 Athletics Connor Salerno LHP Sun Valley (N.C.) 6 Cincinnati Reds Tomas Valincius LHP Mississippi State 7...
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Vincent Cervino
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With the 2026 MLB Draft in the books, our focus now shifts to a new group of players ready to take center stage as the 2027 draft cycle begins. Our initial 2027 Follow List serves as an early snapshot of the players who should draw plenty of attention over the next year. This new crop of talent features collegiate players coming off loud spring seasons, alongside prep prospects who have already flashed big upside as underclassman.  As always, this list will evolve throughout the year. Some players will continue to elevate their stock, while others will jump onto the radar and force their way into the conversation. So, without further ado, let the fun begin.  The road to the 2027 MLB Draft starts now. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment Adrian Rodriguez C 3B/OF S-R Texas Flower Mound TX Aidan King C RHP L-R Florida Bryceville FL Bino Watters C OF L-L LSU...
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Perfect Game Staff
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Tyler Henninger
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2026 MLB Draft: Best Available for Day Two  A total of 135 players heard their name called on Saturday. As always, signability, bonus pool strategy, and organizational preferences play a major role in how the board unfolds. With that being said, we saw a majority of the top half off the board get selected, but there are a number of players ranked inside our Top 150 that remain available. From high-upside prep talent to polished college performers, these are the top names still available according to our Final Top 500 Draft Board.  Top Prep Bats Available (with Top-500 Board Rankings) 38. Archer Horn, SS/RHP, St. Ignatius College Prep (CA) 58. Blake Bowen, OF, JSerra Catholic (CA) 64. James Tronstein, SS/OF, Harvard-Westlake (CA) 66. Noah Wilson, OF, McCallie School (TN) 71. Cole Koeninger, SS/RHP, Keller (TX) 77. Sean Dunlap, C, Crown Point (IN) 82. Alex Weingartner, OF//RHP,...
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Tournaments | Story | 7/11/2026

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Kinley Kitchens
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Another week, another big tournament makes its way to Hoover.  This week, 104 of the nation’s top 17U teams will make their way to Hoover for the 2026 Perfect Game 17U National Elite Championship.  Featuring nationally ranked teams, Division I commits, and many of the country’s top 2027 players, the tournament promises another week of elite competition as teams battle for one of the biggest championships of the summer.  With many players already committed to some of the nation’s top college programs, every game in Hoover this week offers a glimpse into the future of college baseball.  Now entering its eighth year, the National Elite Championship continues to bring in the nation’s best. Past champions include Team Elite Scout Team, Canes National, USA Prime National, Scorpions/Giants Scout Team, 5 Star Performance National, Knights Knation Scout...
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2026 MLB Draft: Day One Recap

Tyler Henninger
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Storylines Heavy College Run Early We came into the day knowing that there were a lot of talented college players at the top of the board, more specifically college bats. That came to light very early in the day, as we saw just two prep players selected within the first ten picks. The college preference lasted throughout most of the entire first round. Nearly 75% of the first 40 selections were college players. It is clear teams want players at the top of the draft that can quickly get through the system and help the big league club as soon as possible. Underslot Strategy Throughout this cycle, we knew that once you get past the first handful of picks the difference in value you were getting for let say pick ten was not that difference compared to pick 30. Because there was a large collection of players that are relatively close in value, teams were looking to get creative. We saw this...
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Vincent Cervino
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Perfect Game Staff
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‘28 INF Christian Ramirez (OH) WALKS IT OFF for @CincyDBulls2028 to win the chip! Has shown impressive tools throughout the weekend and in this AB showed the ability to adjust to the offspeed and win the game. #OVElite pic.twitter.com/J3MXJXFnbM — Perfect Game Ohio Valley (@PG_OhioValley) July 5, 2026 Christian Ramirez (2028, Mason, Ohio) helped his team win the championship batting out of the two-hole. Though he didn’t win tournament MVP, Ramirez was my favorite player to watch take a plate appearance. He has an advanced feel for the zone and sees the ball out of the pitcher’s hand quicker than most. Ramirez led the tournament with eight walks, batting .375 with a .583 on-base percentage. Much more than just the approach, the swing is efficient with little wasted movement, creates quality separation, and puts him in an excellent position at contact. With such an...
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Cape Cod Notebook No. 1

Perfect Game Staff
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Cape Cod League Scouting Notebook  Maverick Rizy | Ole Miss | RHP | Brewster Whitecaps  The towering 6-foot-9, 250-pound right-hander continues to stand out with one of the more unique looks on the Cape, pairing a massive frame with a low three-quarter slot that creates difficult angles for hitters. While his fastball velocity was down from its typical mid-90s range during this look, working mostly 90-92 mph, it still generated plenty of swing-and-miss. He paired the heater with an 81-83 mph gyro slider featuring tight bullet-spin action and mixed in an 85-mph changeup with quality separation. Rizy battled his command early in the outing I saw, before settling in to strike out five over three innings, showing the ability to adjust as the game progressed. Through 12.2 Cape League innings, he has recorded 18 strikeouts, and his combination of size, deception, and projectability...
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