THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 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 | 11/6/2026

National All State Preview: Week 1
Hannah Jo Groves
Article Image
This weekend, teams from all around the country in the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions will converge on the Houston area for the 2026 PG National All-State Select Championships. The 10U division will have 22 teams, 12U will have 23 and 14U will have 22. All ages have many different states represented - from Hawaii, to the Pacific Northwest, to Arizona, to New England, to Carolina to Florida and many more. “National All-State brings together the best players in the country across Houston,” national crosschecker and northeast scouting director, John McAdams, said. “It’s a fun atmosphere for ultimate bragging rights amongst all the regions the PG platform reaches domestically while serving as a good litmus test for myself, Jheremy Brown and Tyler Russo to see the players. We get another glimpse at the end of the year as we start to formulate our initial thoughts on the...
Read More
General | General | 11/6/2026

Class of 2028 Rankings Update

Article Image
Read More
Draft | Rankings | 11/6/2026

2027 MLB Draft Board Update: Top 200

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
PG Draft Content Hub With the fall season winding down and the winter months approaching, it is time for another draft board update.  After getting more live looks and gathering information from the fall action across the country, we have expanded the board to a Top-200. The class continues to feature an intriguing mix of arms from both the prep and college ranks, along with an enticing position player pool.  There is still plenty of time for new names to emerge and established prospects to continue to improve their draft stock, but here is where things stand as we head into the winter.  * denotes draft eligible sophomore Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment 1 Dylan Seward H SS S-R Norco Eastvale CA Tennessee 2 Brendan Lawson C SS L-R Florida Toronto ON 3 Dax Whitney C RHP R-R Oregon State Blackfoot ID 4 Tomas Valincius C LHP L-L Mississippi State...
Read More
College | Story | 11/6/2026

College Fall Notebook: November 6

Craig Cozart
Article Image
Virginia Cavaliers  2026 In Review:  Under the leadership of first year Head Coach Chris Pollard, the Cavaliers won 37 games which was the second most victories by a first-year coach in program history.  Virginia went (37-23) finishing tied for 8th in the ACC and earned an at-large bid to the Hattiesburg Regional.  They fielded a talented offense that averaged over 8-runs per game, highlighted by AJ Gracia and Eric Becker who were both selected on Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft.  While the defensive squad wasn’t quite as elite as usual, they were ultra-competitive on the mound with a strong rotation and lock down bullpen.  With plenty of talent returning for Pollard and his staff in ’27, they should be a force on a national level once again.  Impact Returners:    Senior Antonio Perrotta (.266/.459/.431, 5 HR, 6 2B, 24 RBI) experienced...
Read More
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 70

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
That Off-Season Program Wasn't Built for Your Son. It Was Built for Nobody. The Harsh Reality of Skill Development · Part 2 of 5 Somewhere right now, a pitcher is starting a twelve-week off-season program. It came from his travel team. Or a trainer. Or a big leaguer's Instagram. It has phases and a logo, and every kid in the building got the same one. Here is the harsh reality. That program was written before anybody looked at your son. It doesn't know he exists. It was built for the average pitcher... and the average pitcher does not exist. A Template Fixes Somebody's Problem. Maybe Not His. Every pitcher who is stuck is stuck for a reason. We call that reason his constraint... the thing that is actually limiting him right now. For one kid it is strength. For the next it is mobility. For the next it is a mechanical inefficiency, or an arm that isn't recovering, or a body that...
Read More
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 69

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
Your Son's April Arm Injury is Being Scheduled Right Now   The Harsh Reality of Skill Development - Part 1 of 5 Let me start this series with something most people in baseball won't say out loud. In my experience, a great many of the arm problems we will see next April are being set up right now... in October, November and December. Not necessarily because a young pitcher is throwing too much. Often it's because of what happens when he stops. Here is the pattern. I have watched it for more than thirty years. The fall season ends. The arm is tired, so the family does what seems like the responsible thing.  They shut it down. No throwing. For a lot of kids, no anything. Weeks go by. The holidays come and go. Then somebody looks at a calendar in January and realizes tryouts are three weeks away. Suddenly, an arm that has done nothing since October is asked to go from zero to game...
Read More
High School | Rankings | 11/4/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Risers

Kyler Peterson
Article Image
Complete Class of 2027 Rankings With the end of the summer and fall seasons behind us, it was time for a quick refresh of the 2027 class rankings. Below you'll be able to read about some of the biggest risers up the board, led by North Carolina outfielder John Hucko who jumped more than 110 spots to now sit at No. 20 overall.  John Hucko, OF, Charlotte, N.C. Previous Rank: 132 | Current Rank: 20 Hucko makes a huge leap into the top-20 players in the class after a dominating showing in Jupiter. It’s as good of a left-handed swing as you’ll come across with pretty easy impact to all parts. He’s a supreme athlete with all the tools to play center long term and is a present plus runner. Hucko is a name that cemented his prospect status in Jupiter and will be a name to follow for next year’s MLB Draft. Elyjah Mason, SS, Lake Forest, Calif. Previous Rank: 71 |...
Read More
General | General | 11/3/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Update

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 11/2/2026

PG Partners Up with Minority Prospects

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME ANNOUNCES MEDIA RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP WITH MINORITY PROSPECTS   Sanford, Florida (Monday, November 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a media rights partnership with Minority Prospects, the Atlanta-based organization that has become the largest platform in the world for minority baseball and softball prospects. The partnership kicked off last month at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Perfect Game's premier fall event, where Minority Prospects produced content featuring some of the nation's top amateur players in front of college coaches, professional scouts and MLB legends. Under the agreement, Minority...
Read More
Draft | Story | 10/30/2026

2027 Draft Preview: Prep Middle Infielders

Ryan Miller
Article Image
2027 MLB Draft Profile Preview: Collegiate Right-Handed Pitchers | Collegiate Left-Handed Pitchers The premium profile in each class often are prep middle infielders, a sought-after group with the athletic ability to stick on the dirt or land throughout the diamond long term. This demographic has produced the superstars of today’s game and therefore are selected in prime spots while demanding high-end signing bonuses. This group features a mix of loud tools, high level projection, and impact defenders. Below we break down at the top prep middle infielder in the 2027 cycle.  ‘27 SS Dylan Seward (CA)- liftoff from the No. 1 player in the class. A solo blast to RCF to extend the lead for @TheCanesBB #WWBA @California_PG @Vol_Baseball commit https://t.co/lJjNg6T7PS — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 27, 2026 SS Dylan Seward, Norco (CA)  The Southern...
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.