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PG Select Baseball Festival  | General | 8/29/2018

Select Festival rolls into Year 3

Photo: Maurice Hampton Jr. (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Two years ago this Labor Day weekend, while standing near a dugout on one of the back-practice fields at the jetBlue Park Player Development Complex, Estero (Fla.) High School head coach Gary White took a look around while 40 of the top 14u age-eligible players from across the country went through a practice session; he was liking what he saw.

“I think, as usual, Perfect Game has knocked it out of the park. (PG) has done an incredible job in a short amount of time setting everything up,” White said. “It goes beyond the baseball game itself. I know they’ve raised a bunch of money for the children’s hospital, which really should be on the forefront, because it’s the most important thing.”

White was speaking a day before the inaugural Perfect Game 14u Select Baseball Festival was played on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, at jetBlue Park. That first Festival brought together top prospects from the classes of 2019 and 2020 to perform in the all-star game event that was televised live nationally.

The momentum generated by the inaugural Festival in 2016 carried over into last year’s Select Festival weekend and continues to build steam heading into this weekend’s 3rd annual PG 14u Select Baseball Festival.

Forty-four of the top players from the national classes of 2021 and 2022 will congregate at the jetBlue Park complex and at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs for a third straight year. The game itself will air on CBS Sports Network this Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 p.m. (EDT).

Proceeds from the event will once again benefit the Golisano Children’s Hospital, where the players will visit for two hours on Friday afternoon. They have been involved in fund-raising for the hospital since receiving their invitations to the Festival; past players raised more than $53,000 the first two years.

Rosters at the first two Festivals were divided geographically into an “East” team and a “West” team, but that changes this year. The two 22-man teams will be guided by former big-league pitchers Tom Gordon and Scott Erickson and will be named Team Gordon and Team Erickson, respectively.

The West won the 2016 Festival game, 3-1, with nine of their pitchers combining on a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts and four walks; eight East pitchers combined on a seven-hitter, striking out 13 but walking seven.

The West’s Calvin Harris, a 2020 left-handed hitting catcher from Peosta, Iowa, delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning to give his team all the runs they ultimately would need, and he was named the inaugural Most Valuable Player.

“The atmosphere out here was something else,” Harris told PG postgame. “The talent of everyone out here was amazing and this has definitely been a great experience. It’s definitely something that I’ll never forget.”

Another prominent player on the West roster in 2016 was Maurice Hampton Jr., a 2019 outfielder and baseball/football Louisiana State commit from Arlington, Tenn. Hampton made history this summer when he became the first PG Select Baseball Festival alumnus to be invited to the PG All-American Classic in San Diego, and event he performed at on Aug. 12.

“Playing in the Select Festival in 2016 was a great experience because I got to play with and against the best players in my age group,” Hampton told PG this summer. “After that experience, whether or not I would play in the All-American game was always in the back of my head. Feeling what it was like to be an All-American at the 14u level really drove me to work hard over the next two or three years.”

2019 third baseman Liam Deegan from Richmond, Va., won the Festival’s inaugural Home Run Challenge.

The East team bounced back to win last year’s Festival, 5-1, a game that once again featured some standout pitching performances, especially from the members of the East staff. Those nine pitchers combined on a nine-inning, 14-strikeout one-hitter, with 2020 right-hander Alex Edmondson from Simpsonville, S.C., striking out the side in the fourth; nine West pitchers combined on a nine-strikeout five-hitter.

The East’s Joel Perez Jr., a dynamic 2020 infielder from Miramar, Fla., singled twice, drove in a run, scored a run, stole a base and made a highlight-reel defensive play while playing third base, and was named the Most Valuable Player.

“This experience was great,” Perez Jr. said postgame. “I was very happy when they selected me for (the PG Select Baseball Festival) because I usually don’t get picked for all this stuff, but now I’m getting (my name) out there. Playing with these boys, it was a great time. And I had a lot of fun going to the hospital and playing with the kids and making their day.”

Blaze Jordan, a 2021 first baseman from Southaven, Miss.,and the No. 1-ranked national prospect in his class, won the 2017 PG Select Baseball Festival Home Run Challenge.




PG Select Baseball Festival | General | 8/28/2025

14u Select Festival Turns Ten

Jheremy Brown
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You want to talk about something surreal? Back in 2016, we put together a roster of 40 players, divided to 20 apiece between East and West, with no qualification other than "play in one Perfect Game event" and all players must be born after May 1 of 2001. On top of that, there were significantly less national events at the 14u level, consisting almost exclusively of the 14u WWBA and the 14u World Series, with some other events sprinkled in and players who were eligible, playing up at 15u and 16u events. On top of all that, we turned around rosters in a super short time frame, a far cry from the year long process it's become now, never mind the fact that you can find a 14u event somewhere in the country on any given weekend.  Do the quick math and you realize the 2025 14u Select Festival marks year 10 of the event and since that first pitch in 2016, things have continued to evolve,...
High School | General | 12/19/2025

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Steve Fiorindo
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MVPitcher: Duncan McLeod The uncommitted junior toed the slab in three of the four games for Team Mick, tossing 3 2/3 innings.  Zero walks, zero hits and 6 punchouts for the lefty who was used both as a starter in the series clinching game 4 and he closed out game 3 on Friday in quick fashion.  McLeod was very efficient as well, needing just 42 pitches over all his outings.  In the game 4 start, over two innings he punched out 3, with one strikeout with all of his offerings.  The mid 80’s fastball regularly played up, set up with efficient use of the secondaries, with the breaking ball 73/74 and fading change-up 72-74.   Owen Bone (2026) at it again... Solo shot in the 5th to tie things up. Back to back days with a home run for Bone. #PGHS pic.twitter.com/2JC9qETI5h — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) December 13, 2025 MV Hitter: ...
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Jheremy Brown
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What a year it was in 2025 on the national landscape at the 13u level as Perfect Game continues to expand its reach around the country, providing an even bigger schedule of events coast-to-coast which has allowed players all over show out and gain their deserved recognition. Whether in Texas for the Houston 1000 or the 13u WWBA in West Palm Beach, we saw huge, eye opening performances from the players placed below, knowing that we could EASILY build a third team and likely a fourth without much effort.  As we do every year with this exercise, it's worth pointing out the trickiness of this age group and putting the teams together with the 13u group. While the players are all members of the Class of 2030, some are younger for the grade, which allowed them to play at the 12u level where's it's a smaller field, shorter mound distance and different bats, so we'll separate them out and...
Tournaments | Story | 12/18/2025

14u Tourney All-American Team

Tyler Russo
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Player of the Year: Asher Williams It was an incredible year for Williams that was rewarded with a trip to the 14U Select Fest, before some more impressive play in the fall. He came to the plate almost 250 times in PG tournaments throughout 2025 and reached base in well over half of them, hitting to a .500 AVG while slugging a 14U circuit best 12 bombs and driving in 113 runs. The numbers on the surface are ridiculous, but when you look at the high-level events he put them up in, it makes it even more impressive. Pitcher of the Year: Tristan Blalock Blalock earns this honor after a dominant 2025 where he struck out 85 batters in just 48.2 innings of work with a minuscule 1.58 ERA. This included several strong performances at many national level tournaments and showcases where he was able to bully some of the best hitters in the country. It’s hard not to fall in love with...
Draft | Story | 12/18/2025

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Tyler Henninger
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While we are nearing the turn of the calendar to the 2026 year, that means we are just inching closer to the beginning of the season for many high school players and college baseball is on the horizon. We are prepping for a reshuffle of the 2026 MLB Draft Board as well here amongst the PG Draft staff. But before we get to that, we sat down and have each picked a couple of players who are in the mix to get selected in a couple of different buckets.  We have prospects who could go into the Top 30 picks or so, prospects who could be selected in the Top 5 rounds, and prospects who could go inside of the Top 10 rounds. With the draft quite far down the road and a lot of re-shuffling to be done as these players play themselves into certain spots on the draft board, our scouts picked some players who fit into these “buckets” who are gut-feel guys. These are the guys that our PG...
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Jason Phillips
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Hitter of the Year: Landon Bonner The 2028 class saw many players from across the country take the next step in their development as they entered the High School ranks. There were huge performances from highly ranked players on the PG circuit as well as some under-the-radar guys who burst onto the scene. Landon Bonner came into Sophomore National as a Top 500 ranked player and after an impressive showing, left with all eyes on him as a rankings riser in the class. The left-handed hitting shortstop from The Colony, Texas, had a summer to remember with All-Tournament Team selections in three of his next four events culminating with a historic performance at the 2025 PG 15U WWBA National Championship. The Hebron High School prep went 20-for-24 in nine games for 5 Star Mafia 15U Black with four homeruns and 12 runs batted in. He also scored 17 runs and finished with a mind-boggling 2.500...
Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

16u Tourney All-American Team

AJ Denny
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Hitter of the Year: Koa Romero is the Hitter of the Year for the 16u group, as he would come to every premier event of the summer and earn All-Tournament honors (Beast of the East, 16/17u WWBA, Jupiter) in every single one. Over 82 plate appearances, Romero would pump ten homeruns with forty two RBI and sixteen walks, good for a .378 average and 1.339 OPS. The performance on volume at the best events of the year pushed Romero over the edge here, as he’d hit a pair of homeruns in Jupiter (one of them at 112 EV) as an underclassmen and collect double digit hits in BOTH WWBA events with a combined six jacks over the two tournaments. It was a summer that combined performance and winning on the biggest stages for Romero. It’s a quiet left-handed swing that packs a punch. He would reap the benefits of his performances, earning a commitment to LSU and jumping to the #74 prospect in...
College | Recruiting | 12/15/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 15

John McAdams
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Tucker Rice (27 MS) bumping up to 91; living hi-80s from real fast arm. Good SL @ 77-79 w/ depth & sold w/ intent. Loads of traits & strikes. #WWBA @PG_Uncommitted @PG_DeepSouth pic.twitter.com/DEjFqRcsIY — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 6, 2025 Tucker Rice, RHP, Class of 2027 Commitment: Alabama Alabama has continued to stay red hot in the recruiting trail ever since August 1st rolled around on the calendar and have continued to stack major pieces in their ’27 class. They dip into Mississippi to land one of the premier arms and one that’s stood out on the circuit for quite some time. It’s a fast arm and the athleticism certainly shines working down the slope. The velocity has continued to tick up over the last calendar year and reached into the low-90s towards the end of the summer. He’s confident in his changeup and the breaking ball is...
Tournaments | Story | 12/15/2025

17u Tourney All-American Team

Vincent Cervino
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There’s a lot of talent throughout this 2026 class, filled with the big-name stars, to talent that spreads across the nation. It’s been a lot of fun seeing these prospects grow and develop over the years, from the days of watching some of these guys at the 13/14u days at events on the circuit, to now where they are all graduating seniors in 2026. There’s been new faces who have popped along the way over the years, even in 2026, where some players who were relatively undiscovered, have come out and made a name for themselves with a statement performance. Between the familiar and the new, there’s a lot of names on this list that are going to be quite regularly talked about on the circuit, and for good reason.  Whether it’s PG All-Americans or not, there’s a lot of names with superstar potential at the next level. We’ve got 14 PG All-Americans...
Tournaments | Story | 12/13/2025

Finest in the Field: Class of 2029

Tyler Russo
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Finest in the Field: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2028 These guys might just be entering high school, but they've certainly already made a name for themselves on the national circuit, especially with their abilities on the defensive side of things.  C: Xavier Rodriguez (Logansville, GA) Rodriguez is a polished defender with real arm strength behind the dish, while showcasing the ability to impact the baseball with authority to all fields evident by thirty of his sixty-five hits going for extra-bases including seven bombs. He handles high-level pitching extremely well, commands his staff and his offensive prowess makes him a true two-way asset. 1B: Cooper Knight (Buda, TX) Knight is a smooth operator at first base with plenty of range, fluidity and agility in his footwork around the bag. Add-in a rocket for an arm, the ability to change slots and to...
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Scout Stories: Part 5

AJ Denny
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Best Game I Saw: The Dream NTL 18U vs. MBA Scout Team Murphy Jupiter always brings out the best, and we got fireworks from the jump. Turner Marshall gave The Dream an outstanding 4+ innings of work on the mound, holding a lethal MBA team at bay with Chance Dixon, Derrick Carter, and Ellis Appling providing an offensive spark out of the gate for the Georgia based boys. However, it was only a matter of time before the talent on the other side got going, as MBA erased a 3-run deficit in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead led by a Parker Loew HR. The Dream then took command again in the Top of the 6th, before MBA punched right back with a huge 5-run inning in the bottom half capped off by a clutch RBI single from Matthew Kerrigan, ending a wild sequence with tons of notable performances from two very competitive rosters. Best Tournament Performance I Saw: Surely someone has already brought this...
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