2018 WWBA World Championship Event Page | Jupiter Pool Preview
Each and every year as the Major League Baseball season winds down, players, coaches, scout, recruiters, friends and family members all converge to Jupiter, Florida for the annual WWBA World Championship. This year Perfect Game celebrates 20 years of champions, and the names of the players that have played in Jupiter is a list full of stars.
Over 700 players that have participated at the WWBA World Championship have already played in the big leagues. Scan the rosters of the teams that reached the MLB playoffs and you'll find notable Jupiter alumni including Christian Yelich, Jackie Bradley Jr., Nolan Arenado, Carlos Correa, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Andrew Benintendi, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Corey Seager, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez and Freddie Freeman.
With much of the focus being on how the players, and their talents, relate to the MLB Draft, most of the players end up playing in college and go on to make an impact at that level, often as a stepping stone to professional baseball. Every year we take a look back at some of the current college players that starred on the Jupiter stage within the past 2-4 years, assembling a different kind of College All-American team in the process.
To
visit the past features, year-by-year, click on the following links:
Catcher
Shea Langeliers, Baylor
Texas Scout Team Yankees, 2015
Langeliers followed up a big freshman campaign with an uptick in power numbers, and has now crushed 21 home runs with 82 combined RBI over his first two seasons at Baylor. He is widely considered to be a sum-of-his-parts catcher, with promising skills both at the plate and behind it, with a strong arm and overall catch-and-throw talents. He played in Jupiter in 2015, like most of the other players listed below, with an always-talented Texas Scout Team Yankees squad.
Backing up Langeliers is USC backstop Blake Sabol (CBA Marucci, 2015). Sabol was a member of a loaded CBA Marucci team in Jupiter back in 2015 that won the 17u WWBA National Championship earlier in the summer. In between those two events he participated in the 2015 PG All-American Classic, and has since enjoyed two strong seasons at USC before exploding at the plate this past summer in the Cape Cod League. That performance led to him being named a Summer Collegiate All-American, although he spent more time in the outfield.
First Base
Bryant Packard, East Carolina
EvoShield Canes, 2015
Packard was part of a star-laden Canes team in 2015 that won their third of three straight championships in Jupiter. He joined other current college stars in the Canes’ 2015 lineup including NC State catcher Brad Debo, Florida outfielder Austin Langworthy and Arizona third baseman Nick Quintana, not to mention Clemson slugger Seth Beer, who is now a member of the Houston Astros organization. Given the depth of outfielders listed below, Packard moves over to first base for the purpose of this team, a position he has experience at, and is arguably the nation’s purest hitter after posting a line of .406-14-50 during his sophomore season for ECU.
Second Base
Will Wilson, NC State
Northeast Baseball, 2015
Shortstop
Logan Davidson, Clemson
South Charlotte Panthers, 2015
The ACC duo of Will Wilson and Logan Davidson posted impressive numbers during their sophomore campaigns last spring and would form an outstanding middle infield tandem, if it weren’t for the simple fact that NC State and Clemson are in-conference rivals. Their numbers last spring were actually remarkably similar, as Wilson hit .307-15-53 and Davidson hit .292-15-46 and both will be expected to take another step forward during their junior years to help propel their respective teams to the postseason. For the purpose of this exercise Wilson slides across the keystone to second base.
Third Base
Josh Jung, Texas Tech
San Diego Padres Scout Team, 2015
You would be hard-pressed to find a better total package than Josh Jung, both on and off the field, as a power hitting third baseman who helped carry his Texas Tech Red Raiders to Omaha this past year for the third time in five seasons. As a sophomore he slashed .392/.491/.639 with 35 extra-base hits (including 12 home runs), 80 RBI and more walks (39) than strikeouts (32). Another big season could put him in the conversation for one of the top picks in the 2018 MLB Draft.
There are no shortage of options at third base from the college ranks, including Florida State’s Drew Mendoza (Mets Scout Team/Scorpions, 2014-15), Arizona’s Nick Quintana (EvoShield Canes, 2015) and FIU’s Austin Shenton (Marucci Elite, 2015), who was recently named the PG/Rawlings Summer Collegiate Player of the Year.
In addition, you could create an all-Freshman team on the infield from the 2018 college baseball season thanks to strong performances from players including Gabe Holt of Texas Tech (Marucci Elite, 2016; Upstate Mavericks, 2015), Noah Campbell of South Carolina (Royals Scout Team, 2016; Team EvoShield, 2015), Jimmy Glowenke of Dallas Baptist (Texas Scout Team Yankees, 2016) and Casey Martin of Arkansas (Marlins Scout Team, 2016).
Outfield
Zach Watson, Louisiana State
Marucci Elite, 2015
Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas
CBA Marucci, 2015; Marlins Scout Team, 2013
Heston Kjerstad, Arkansas
D-BAT, 2016
Both Arkansas and LSU are going to boast two of the more talented outfields during the 2018 season, and not surprisingly those two schools are well represented on this list. All three of the players listed here are good overall athletes, with Watson and Fletcher being among the nation’s better defensive center fielders (Fletcher might have the best outfield arm since Mississippi State’s Hunter Renfroe, now a member of the San Diego Padres).
Watson put his name on the national college landscape during the 2016 season, which was his freshman year, making numerous big plays, both offensively and defensively, from the SEC Tournament and into the postseason. He didn’t take as big of a step forward as expected during his sophomore season this past year, but will be counted on for bigger and better things during his junior campaign for an LSU team that could be in the hunt for Omaha.
Speaking of Omaha, Arkansas was one catch away from being national champions, but instead settled for being the runner-up. Fletcher got more and more hot as the season progressed while Kjerstad was a Freshman All-American. Fletcher, Kjerstad and Martin (mentioned above) are all reasons why Arkansas could be eyeing a return trip to Omaha and will boast the nation’s most dangerous lineup, one through nine.
There is an incredible amount of outfielders at the college level that are expected to post big numbers during the 2018 season. We’ll post two more trios, but there are plenty others worthy of recognition that have previously played in Jupiter.
JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt (San Diego Padres Scout Team, 2015)
Daniel Cabrera, Louisiana State (GBG Marucci, 2015-16; East Coast PG Grays, 2012; Louisiana PG Purple, 2012)
Quin Cotton, Grand Canyon (Northeast Baseball, 2015)
Wil Dalton, Florida (Atlanta Blue Jays, 2015)
Austin Langworthy, Florida (EvoShield Canes, 2015; Team EvoShield, 2014)
Steven Williams, Auburn (Team Elite Prime, 2015-16)
Utility
Tristin English, Georgia Tech
Homeplate Chilidogs, 2013-14
English, a member of the 2014 Perfect Game All-American Classic, missed the 2017 season due to injury after spending his 2016 season entirely as a hitter. He resumed pitching this past spring as a redshirt sophomore, and continued his role as a two-way player during his time on the Cape. With another strong, and healthy, season on the mound, English could approach similar statistical success to what Brendan McKay achieved at Louisville a couple of seasons ago after driving in 60 runners in 54 games and striking out 51 over 57 innings of work.
Last year Kevin Milam of Saint Mary’s (Northeast Baseball, 2015) got the nod on the First Team after his promising freshman campaign and he’s expected to enjoy another big season in 2019 for the Gaels. There’s no shortage of two-way talents at the college level this season, with Georgia’s Aaron Schunk (Team Elite Prime, 2014-15) and FIU’s Logan Allen (Astros Scout Team/FTB Tucci, 2016; FT Mizuno, 2015) among the more notable with Jupiter playing experience.
Starting Pitcher
Bryce Fehmel, Oregon State
CBA Marucci, 2013-14; ABD Victory, 2012
Drew Parrish, Florida State
Mets Scout Team/Scorpions, 2013, 2015; Orlando PG Purple, 2014
Mitchell Senger, Stetson
Elite Squad Louisville Slugger, 2015; Palm Beach PAL, 2014
Sean Mooney, St. John’s
Chandler Baseball, 2015; Baseball U, 2014
This quartet offers a tremendous amount of success and overall experience at the college level, combining for a 35-7 record during the 2018 season with a cumulative 2.71 ERA. Fehmel of course finished the season on top as a member of the College World Series Champion Oregon State Beavers and he returns to Corvallis as a senior with a career 26-5 record, which includes a pair of 10-1 seasons (2016, 2018).
Parrish, Senger and Mooney each struck out over 100 batters as the trio combined for 346 punchouts in 295 combined innings. Parrish will be the unquestioned ace in Tallahassee now that Tyler Holton, Cole Sands and Andrew Karp have all moved up to the next level. A similar story is true in Deland, as after dominating on Sundays this past spring, Senger is expected to move up to serve as Stetson’s Friday ace now that Logan Gilbert and Jack Perkins have begun their professional careers. Mooney should also front his staff at St. John’s, a squad that finished fifth in the nation in team ERA (3.08), four spots behind Senger’s No. 1 Hatters (2.66).
Similar to past years the starting pitching at the college level that has participated at the WWBA World Championship is past years is especially impressive. Here are two more four-starter staffs.
Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Atlanta Blue Jays, 2014-15)
Drake Fellows, Vanderbilt (St. Louis Pirates/Elite Baseball Training, 2015; Chicago Scouts Association, 2014)
Evan McKendry, Miami (Elite Squad Prime, 2015)
Zack Thompson, Louisville (Lids Indiana Bulls, 2014)
Tyler Dyson, Florida (Florida Burn, 2014-15)
Matt Canterino, Rice (Texas Scout Team Yankees, 2015)
Austin Bergner, North Carolina (Florida Burn, 2013-15)
Adam Laskey, Duke (Tri-State Arsenal, 2015)
Relief Pitcher
Jack Little, Stanford
GBG Marucci, 2014-15
Rounding out the all-Jupiter college team is closer Jack Little, who arguably posted the most ridiculous video game numbers on a team full of gaudy statistical performers. In 24 relief appearances as a sophomore the righthander posted a 0.61 ERA, allowing just three earned runs in 44 innings of work, with an insane 56-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 15 saves as a result. In both 2014 and 2015 Little was a member of a GBG Marucci team that finished in third place at the WWBA World Championship, garnering All-Tournament honors his first time through Jupiter.
To add a lefthanded option bring on fireballing Razorback Matt Cronin (EvoShield Canes, 2015; Team EvoShield, 2014) who brings a steady diet of 93-94 mph fastballs every time he takes the mound and is yet another hurler that excelled on the mounds at the Roger Dean Sports Complex during his high school travel ball career.
Two pitchers – Oregon’s Kenyon Yovan (Marlins Scout Team, 2015) and East Carolina Jake Agnos (Stars Baseball Marucci Prime, 2015) – have enjoyed success as both starters and relievers during the 2018 spring season and would provide valuable depth to any projected staff.