2,072 MLB PLAYERS | 14,476 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
PG Select Baseball Festival  | General  | 8/29/2018

Select Festival rolls into Year 3

Jeff Dahn     
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 Special Events
Travel, Lodging, Entertainment
PG Partners
Recommended
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2024 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.