THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,422 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,422 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story | 10/8/2018

Co-champs wear Under crown

Jeff Dahn
Photo: WWBA Underclass World co-champs (Perfect Game)



FORT MYERS, Fla. – None of the top teams that arrived here five days ago for this year’s Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship wanted to leave with the word “co-champion” in front of their name. Please, can we just leave the "co" at the door as we're walking out.

But no one left jetBlue Park on Monday afternoon particularly disappointed or with a bone to pick when the Scorpions 2020 Founders Club and the East Cobb Astros 17u – the Nos. 1 and 2 playoff seeds, respectively – did in fact depart as co-champs. In a round-about way, perhaps, it felt like this outcome was the most appropriate way to recognize these two terrific teams without picking sides.

With the score tied 1-1 heading into the top of the eighth inning, the lightning warning siren wailed and the rain began to fall, and both coaching staffs and PG officials decided to bring the national championship event to a close; both teams finished with 7-0-1 records.

“It was a good week all-in-all, and obviously we would have liked to complete this game, but it’s raining pretty hard so it probably wouldn’t have worked,” the Scorpions 2020 Founders Club’s Matt Gerber said postgame.

No, it probably wouldn’t have, and this way players and coaches from both teams were able to be fitted for PG national championship rings down in jetBlue Park’s main concourse while the rain continued to fall; they are both deserving of those rings.

The championship game settled into a pitcher’s affair early on, but also one of missed opportunities on the Scorpions’ side. They left two runners on base in the first inning and the bases loaded in the second before finally breaking through in the bottom of the third when they were trailing 1-0.

Even then, the run they scored was unearned when Richie Morales led off by reaching on an error and eventually scored on a one-out fielder’s choice with CJ Kayfus doing the hitting. Seven 2020 Founders Club hitters singled in the game, and those were the only hits they had. The 3-through-5 batters in the Club’s order finished a combined 0-for-10 with three strikeouts, leaving numerous runners on base.

The Astros 17u had taken the lead in the top of the third when AJ Fiechter – who fielded his shortstop position with aplomb throughout the game – came up with a one-out single, Tiger Borom walked and Brad Grenkoski chased Fiechter home with a two-out double.

Astros 17u 2020 right-hander Zack Henderson worked the first 5 1/3 innings and surrendered only the one unearned run on seven hits.

One of the biggest turning points in the game came when Astros’ 17u head coach Josh Burrus handed the ball to 2020 right-hander Ethan Stamps with one-out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. Stamps promptly struck out the first two batters he faced, and worked 1 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings, striking out four and walking one.

The Scorpions’ Zac Veen, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound 2020 outfielder/utility from Port Orange, Fla., and a Central Florida commit ranked No. 478 nationally in his class, was named the Most Valuable Player. Veen hit just .273 (6-for-22) but those hits included a double and a monstrous walk-off home run in the semis; all seven of his RBI came in the Scorps’ quarterfinal and semifinal games.

Astros 17u 2020 right-hander Will Sanders was named the Most Valuable Pitcher. A 6-foot-6, 185-pounder from Atlanta, Sanders – a top-1,000 uncommitted prospect – worked 10 1/3 innings over two appearances without giving up a run on five hits, striking out three and walking two.

Lightning and rain may have brought the curtain down on the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship an inning or two early, but both of these teams played at the top of their game over the last five days.

“Our guys played really, really hard and had a great week,” Gerber said. “We played some really quality opponents and the pitching was very good for us all week.”

The East Cobb Astros 17u’s Burrus was all-in on his guys, as well: “We played well all weekend, and it was all of our guys,” he said. “We kind of came here short-handed … but I’ve got to give all our guys credit; everybody played well. We had somebody different every game that stepped up and performed.

“Again, every game we had somebody different … coming through with the big hit to keep rallies going,” he added. … “There was no selfish baseball and that was the biggest thing. Everybody played for one another and it was team-first.”

The Scorpions 2020 FC outscored their three pool-play opponents 26-0 en route to the No. 1 seed, and also won their second- and third-round playoff games by shutout. It got more interesting in the quarters and semis where the run differential was 14-11.

The Astros 17u were right there, too, earning the No. 2 seed by outscoring their pool-play foes by a combined 25-1 and then their first four playoff opponents by a combined 26-5.

“Those were the big things I thought we did very well,” Burrus said. “Pitching and defense, we played both lights-out, and we had some timely hitting.

Sanders pitched six innings of three-hit, shutout ball to help the Astros 17u to a 7-0 victory over the No. 11 Canes National (6-1-0) in one of the semifinals played Monday morning at the jetBlue Park complex. Stamps singled, doubled, drove in two runs and scored two others for East Cobb, while Andrew Bennett had a pair of singles and drove in a run.

Veen crushed a 1-out, walk-off solo home run – an absolute bomb, in the words of one PG observer – in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Scorpions 2020 FC to a thrilling 6-5 victory over never-say-die No. 12 Team Louisiana in the other semifinal.

Veen also singled and doubled and finished with four RBI, and pitched four innings of relief, allowing one run on five hits. CJ Kayfus singled four times, drove in a run and scored twice for the Scorps.

Connor Simon (3), Brody Drost (2) and Matthew Russo (2) combined for seven of Team Louisiana’s 10 singles in the loss; Drost drove in two runs and Simon scored three.

“Sheets Baseball Team Louisiana was an awesome opponent,” the Scorpions’ Gerber said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and hats off to those guys. They really play the game hard and in the right way.”

At the end of the day, yes, the Scorpions 2020 Founders Club and the East Cobb Astros 17u were the co-champions at the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship. And both coaches feel like their players have grown-up as a result of the experience.

“I hope they’ve gotten better this week,” Gerber said. “I was talking to the East Cobb coaches before the game, and this is how you get better; it’s about playing the game and playing the game at this level. If you look at the major leagues right now there are a lot of guys that went through Perfect Game and they’re young … and the fact of the matter is that I think these guys are getting prepared earlier and earlier to play the game at a high level.”

Burrus concurred: “Individually, they’re all good ballplayers but now they’ve really seen that playing together is much bigger,” he said. “When you play together big things and great things will happen to you and I hope that’s what they can take out of this weekend.”


2018 WWBA Underclass World Championship MVP: Zac Veen



2018 WWBA Underclass World Championship MV-Pitcher: Will Sanders
Give us your feedback
Tournaments | Story | 4/21/2026

Southeast Super NIT #2 Scout Notes
Jason Phillips
Article Image
Chase Jelks (‘30 GA)- with a long double to deep CF. Huge day from the primary SS, 5-for-6 w/ 4 doubles & 6 RBI. #SESuperNIT @TheDreamBall @PG_Georgia https://t.co/biFSzXCrUt pic.twitter.com/HCQMduedb5 — Perfect Game Youth (@PGYouthBB) April 20, 2026 Chase Jelks (’30, Atlanta, Ga.)- the left-handed hitting Jelks was all over the barrel on Sunday in a pair of games for The Dream 14U Black. He finished the day with five hits in six at-bats which included four doubles and six runs batted in. His two doubles and four runs batted in played a big part in the Gold Playoffs Round 1 victory over the talented BPA squad out of California. He backed up that performance with three more hits in a quarterfinal’s loss to the East Cobb Astros 14U Orange to finish the tournament with a .600 batting average and 1.636 on-base plus slugging percentage. A primary utility infielder,...
Read More
High School | General | 5/1/2026

Texas High School Notebook

Jay Vossler
Article Image
Cullen Scott (‘28 TX) strikes out 8 over 6 IP. 4-Seam 94-97 T98 carry up. 2-Seam 90-93 ASR. And it’s easy velo out the hand; held velo into 6th. Slider 78-81 (2400 RPM) short and tight tilter. Curve 76-79 (2400 RPM) power depth varies between 10-4 and 11-5. Change 82-83 rolls out… pic.twitter.com/aFCQ6m70Ax — Perfect Game Texas (@Texas_PG) April 18, 2026 Cullen Scott (2028, Melissa, Texas) was as advertised in this look as he went 6 innings while striking out 8 batters. Throws 2 different fastballs and holds velo well throughout outing. 4-seam works 94-97 and topped out at 98 with carry up just jumps out of hand. 2-seam works 90-93 with good arm side run. Held velocity into the 6th. Slider 78-81 plays short with tilt and late bite getting upwards of 2400 RPM. Curve 76-79 with power depth that varies between shape 10-4 to 11-5. Change 82-83 rolls out of hand with...
Read More
Draft | Mock Draft | 5/1/2026

MLB Mock Draft: May 1

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
Pick Team Player Position School 1 Chicago White Sox Roch Cholowsky SS UCLA 2 Tampa Bay Rays Grady Emerson SS Fort Worth Christian 3 Minnesota Twins Vahn Lackey C Georgia Tech 4 San Francisco Giants Jackson Flora RHP UC Santa Barbara 5 Pittsburgh Pirates AJ Gracia OF Virginia 6 Kansas City Royals Eric Booth Jr. OF Oak Grove 7 Baltimore Orioles Ace Reese 3B Mississippi State 8 Athletics Jacob Lombard SS Gulliver Schools 9 Atlanta Braves Ryder Helfrick C Arkansas 10 Colorado Rockies Drew Burress OF Georgia Tech 11 Washington Nationals Jared Grindlinger LHP/OF Huntington Beach 12 Los Angeles Angels Cameron Flukey RHP Coastal Carolina 13 St. Louis Cardinals Cole Carlon LHP Arizona State 14 Miami Marlins Gio Rojas LHP Marjory Stoneman Douglas 15 Arizona Diamondbacks Tyler Bell* SS Kentucky 16 Texas Rangers Justin Lebron SS Alabama 17 Houston Astros Chris Hacopian SS Texas A&M 18...
Read More
High School | General | 4/30/2026

High School Notebook: April 30

Jordan Gates
Article Image
Slo-mo look at the swing by Jordan Ransom (‘26, AZ) #PGHS @QCHS_Athletics @PG_Draft https://t.co/fyPaOimF5k pic.twitter.com/T7yH6a1qRI — Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) April 29, 2026 OF Ryan Harwood, Casteel (Ariz).  Harwood is one of the premier draft names in the state and showed why in the regular season finale. The Texas A&M commit collected a pair of hits and also threw a runner out at home from left field. Harwood possesses impressive physicality that can produce big impact at the plate. The profile has middle of the order upside. Defensively, Harwood profiles best for a corner outfield spot long term. The arm strength may allow him to slide over to right field, as he can produce strong on-line carry. Harwood showed off that arm strength on the mound, where he threw the last inning and ran the heater up to 91 mph. IF Jordan Ransom, Queen Creek...
Read More
High School | Rankings | 4/29/2026

High School Top 50 Update: April 29

Tyler Russo
Article Image
With another week in the books across the country in the high school baseball season, we have another update to the National Top 50. The southern states are rolling through the playoffs as the weeks unfold along with northern states starting to get to the back half of their schedule as the summer is quickly approaching. The top-10 holds firm in this update as Venice (FL) continues to hold onto the top spot after rattling off W’s since returning home to Florida. Barbe (LA) comes in at No. 2 this week after being ranked at No. 3 a week ago and sport a 37-1 record with 36 straight wins. Orange Lutheran (CA) drops one spot to No. 3 and a pair of Texas schools round out the top-5 as Tomball is at No. 4 and Aledo is at No. 5. 5-9 is the exact same this week as last as IMG Academy (FL) comes in at No. 6, Trinity (KY) is at No. 7, Harvard-Westlake (CA) is at No. 8 and Grapevine (TX) is at...
Read More
Juco | Rankings | 4/29/2026

JUCO Top 25: April 29

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
Two teams reached the 50 win mark this past week and both are in the top two spots of this weeks ranking. Pearl River continues to win and represents our top ranked D2 JUCO team. Welcome to the top 10 to Cloud County, who is putting together an outstanding season at 43-5. Fresno City, Palomar and Ohlone are the top teams in California. And welcome back to the top 25 to the NWAC and Lower Columbia. Check back next week as teams head into postseason play.  Rk. School Record 1 Johnson County (KS) 50-2 2 Gaston (NC) 50-3 3 Walters State (TN) 45-10 4 Blinn (TX) 37-12 5 Pearl River (MS) 43-9 6 Southern Nevada (NV) 35-10 7 Florence-Darlington (SC) 46-10 8 Florida Southwestern (FL) 35-15 9 Chipola (FL) 40-11 10 Cloud County (KS) 43-5 11 McLennan (TX) 39-11 12 John A Logan (IL) 44-8 13 Midland (TX) 44-6 14 Georgia Highlands (GA) 41-11 15 Fresno City (CA) 37-3 16 Cochise (AZ) 40-13 17 Harford...
Read More
College | Rankings | 4/29/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: April 29

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
Across all three divisions of college baseball, the teams making the most noise heading into the postseason share a common trait — they score runs, and they score them relentlessly. Along with the updated rankings, this week we take a look at the top run-producing programs in DII, DIII and NAIA baseball, spotlighting a trio of teams from each division whose offenses have separated themselves from the field. The numbers tell a compelling story. Whether it's the defending NAIA champion LSU Shreveport Pilots reloading with a new roster yet still posting 10+ runs per game, the Pittsburg State Gorillas hanging blowout after blowout on opponents, or the Lynchburg Hornets making a case as the most complete team in Division III baseball, the formula is largely the same — deep lineups, disciplined at-bats, and the ability to keep pressure on a pitching staff from the first pitch to...
Read More
College | Story | 4/30/2026

Coppy's Corner: April 30 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
Article Image
Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart to discuss Top-25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.   Player of the Week: Jarren Advincula – Georgia Tech  Last week, Fernando Mendoza was taken with the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Mendoza transferred from the University of California – Berkeley (Cal) to Indiana University in advance of his draft year. Upon transferring, he won the Heisman Trophy and led the Hoosiers to a national championship. Advincula also transferred from Cal in advance of his draft year, but he took his talents to Georgia Tech. And, while there is still time left in the season, Advincula has positioned himself to be in the conversation for College Baseball’s...
Read More
Leagues | Story | 4/28/2026

Iowa Spring League Notebook: Week 5

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Dawson Weller (2027, Ottumwa, IA) showcased his two-way potential with a strong performance this weekend. On the mound, worked two clean innings while striking out 3 consistently living in the zone and getting ahead with first-pitch strikes. Showed the ability to control tempo and attack hitters throughout the outing. At the plate made a big impact in the same game, collecting two doubles and a home run. Displays quick hands through the zone with the ability to connect on an uphill path and generate carry off the barrel. A well-rounded showing that highlighted impact on both sides of the ball. Will Frederiksen (2026, Bettendorf, IA) had a loud weekend at the plate, launching 2 home runs and showing real impact with the bat. Generates plenty of juice in the swing with a simple, controlled load that allows him to stay on time. The swing works clean through the zone and produces strong...
Read More
College | Story | 4/28/2026

College Players of the Week: April 28

Craig Cozart
Article Image
April 28th Perfect Game/Player of the Week:  Jarren Advincula, IF, Georgia Tech  It is well documented how good the Georgia Tech offense was in 2025, so when the Yellow Jackets added Jarren Advincula from the transfer portal in the off-season, the expectations went through the roof for ’26.  Somehow, the team and Advincula have not only met but exceeded those expectations in virtually every way.  Advincula, the 6-2/195 infielder from Santa Clara, CA, has been a fixture in the middle infield and is an elite defender with the leather.  He shows natural instincts for the game and as the season has progressed, he has found himself inserted into the 3-hole in their powerful lineup.  Hitting from the left-side of the plate, Advincula put together an impressive week as Tech took down Georgia in the mid-week and swept Wake Forest on the weekend.  He was...
Read More
College | Rankings | 4/26/2026

College Top 25: April 27

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
It was another weekend of upsets, upheaval and consequential series victories across the nation.  After the dust settled, the UCLA Bruins (39-4) remain the No. 1 team in the nation after their (3-1) week stepping outside Big Ten play, taking a series against Sacramento State.  Their perfect (21-0) start in conference play is still intact with three weekend series to go.  UNC (36-8) sticks at No. 2 this week after they went across town to take on archrival Duke, winning that series and finishing the week with a (3-1) record.  The No. 3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (36-7) showed their moxie by coming back from large deficits multiple times and swept conference foe Wake Forest, extending their lead in the ACC standings to 2-games.  The Texas Longhorns (32-9) are No. 4 in the poll this week after winning a tightly contested series on the road against Vanderbilt. ...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.