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PG Select Baseball Festival  | General  | 8/26/2018

Trio returns to PG Festival

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: Christian Little (Perfect Game)

14u PG Select Roster Reveal | 14u PG Select Event Page
FORT MYERS, Fla. – For 14u eligible players an invite to the Perfect Game Select Baseball Festival that takes place Labor Day weekend has become a sought-after ticket to Fort Myers to take part in one of the biggest events on the Perfect Game calendar.

In its third year, the Festival will have three players making the trip to Florida for the second year in a row. Christian Little (2021, St. Louis, Mo.), Jeffery Waters (2021, Mableton, Ga.) and Brady House (2021, Winder, Ga.) will all suit up for Team Gordon, under the direction of three-time All-Star and 21-year MLB pitcher Tom “Flash” Gordon.



The competition to get to the Festival has never been stronger as the 14u age group has become an area of youth baseball that has been transformed with modern practices of training, conditioning and nutrition, producing players with advanced skill-sets. The 2018 Festival features players from 17 different states, along with three players from Puerto Rico, two from the Dominican Republic and one each from the Bahamas and Canada, showing how widespread talent is in the youth baseball ranks.

The 44 players in this year’s Festival all have bright futures ahead for what they have shown on the field in their young careers, as 15 have committed to Division I programs already. The trio coming back to the Festival are all committed to high-profile programs as Little is a Vanderbilt commit, Waters has pledged to Maryland and House is committed to Tennessee.

All three are members of the Team Elite program and played together during this past summer, while Little and House were both key pieces of the winning Team USA U-15 World Cup in Panama on Aug. 20. Little and House were joined by fellow members of the 2018 Festival in Ryan Clifford (2022, Raleigh, N.C.), Justin Colon (2021, Carolina, Puerto Rico), Samuel Dutton (2021, Rainbow City, Ala.) and Charlie Saum (2021, Ventura, Ca.).

House has been a stalwart at Perfect Game events throughout the past few summers, and currently sits as the No. 11-ranked player in the Class of 2021. He was an instrumental part of Team Elite Prime 16u’s WWBA National Championship, being named to the All-Tournament Team. In the World Cup win for Team USA, House was named to the All-World Team and led the tournament in RBI with 14 in nine games and finished with a .448 average (13-for-29).

Look no further than House’s trophy room and you’ll see how many accolades he has piled up already during his young baseball career at PG events. He has been part of tournament-winning teams at WWBA, BCS and PG Super25 events. He has received All-Tournament honors 12 times and has been named the MVP or MV-Pitcher at four of those events.

Over the last few summers, Little rose to be the No. 17-ranked player in the Class of 2021 and part of that rise included his selection to the Festival after a big summer in 2017. His excitement of being picked to return to the event for a second year in a row shows how much it means to players at this age level.

“I am truly honored and blessed to be coming back to the Festival, I can’t wait to compete with the best again,” Little said. “Last year was an amazing experience and this year I hope it’s even better.”

Little has had prior experience being around Gordon, as the two have linked up before with Gordon coaching Little at MLB development camps. With the familiarity of playing with a group that includes his Team Elite teammates and getting to be around Gordon, Little can’t wait to get back down to Fort Myers.

“I’m glad I have people I’m comfortable with surrounding me, it’s awesome honestly because I am so familiar with Jeff, Brady and as well as Coach Gordon.”

Waters, the No. 77 in the Class of 2020, knows how deep the pool of players are to be in consideration to be selected to the Festival and was thrilled to be chosen again to play amongst the best of the best amongst his peers.

“The talent for this age group is incredible and to compete with and against that talent is what you want to make you work harder,” Waters said.

One of the worthwhile experiences players get to partake in is to visit the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida as the event was created to benefit the children and their families with fundraising efforts going towards care and treatment. Waters and Little are looking forward to returning to the hospital to again meet with the children and soak in everything that the Festival provides throughout the week.

“I want to try and learn the most from guys like Tom Gordon who have had success in their career, meet more top players and get to interact with the kids at Golisano’s,” Waters added. “Getting to stay down at the Hyatt (Coconut Point) is a nice plus for us too.”

Tune in to the PG 14u Select Festival, airing on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, September 2 with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 p.m. ET.
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