THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,801 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,801 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story | 5/31/2019

From the Midwest to the Southeast

Photo: Kendall Diggs (Perfect Game)

MARIETTA, Ga. – There are a multitude of teams from the southeast in the field at the 2019 Perfect Game-East Cobb Invitational this weekend. However, one team made the 800 mile trek from Overland Park, Kansas to the Marietta, Georgia area. 

It’s the Royals Scout Team 16u squad. Led by head coach Shon Plack, the Royals are associated with the Kansas City Royals major league team where the best players from the midwest in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are put together for a training opportunity.

“We’re trying to prepare these kids with more than just the exposure, but also with the development piece to baseball,” Plack said. “We have a 15 and a 17-year-old team as well. Our 17-year-old team will be down here, and it’s more geared towards our draft class. This team is really a developmental, committed, high-end players in our region to be able to get them to that 17-year-old age group.”

The team is put together using midwest area scouts and word of mouth from players. One glance at the current roster for the Royals Scout Team 16u team, and it quickly becomes apparent that it’s littered with the top ranked players of the 2021 class in those four aforementioned states.

For Plack, though, that talent on the field is just one part of the equation. The other part is the off the field requirements that come with the travel from crossing multiple states.

“We believe that the player development has a lot to do with player management,” Plack said. “When we can get out of town and have these kids manage themselves, instead of being an individual, they’re more of a team when they can get out of town. They have to be on time for meals. They have to be on time for game times. They do their laundry, so there’s a lot of player management that goes on, and we can get out of town and get on the road and be a team. 

“There’s a lot of upside to more than just developing the game. These young men have to take care of some stuff on their own and know how to do that before they get to pro ball or to college.”

The glue that holds the team together both on and off the field is third baseman, Kendall Diggs. Diggs is the No. 1 ranked player in the 2021 class in Kansas. He’s now in his third year of playing with the 16u squad for the Royals Scout Team. 

So far through two games in the tournament, Diggs is 4-for-6 with two singles, a double, a triple and four RBIs out of the two-hole. He’s uses a smooth lefthanded swing to spray line drives to all parts of the park.

“I’m just trying to stay patient and stay up the middle,” Diggs said. “I usually get in trouble when I’m trying to pull, pull, pull.

“The competition down here is a lot better than it is up in KC. It’s really fun coming down here with all of our friends playing.”

For Diggs, his presence extends far beyond than just the ability that he presents at the dish and at the hot corner. Over the past three years with the Royals Scout Team, he’s aware of everything that entails the program.

“He was doing this as a 14 year old,” Plack said. “He’s kind of a vet in all of this, and he’s very well put together not just on the field, but he takes care of himself off of the field as well with nutrition and sleep and just how he manages his daily routine. He brings that experience to the other guys that this may be new for.”

On the mound for Friday afternoon’s 10-2 triumph over BigStix Gamers 2022 was Zachary McKinnis. The 6-foot-2, 182-pound righthanded hurler tossed all five innings, surrendering three hits, two runs, and one walk while striking out four batters.

McKinnis, a Missouri commit, is the No. 5 overall player from the Show Me State.

“I felt pretty good,” McKinnis said. “It was first outing of the year. My curveball was really working for me early, and kind of later my fastball. 

“It’s a great experience. Our whole team is like brothers, kind of like family… It’s just a blast to come down and play the best competition we can.”

Plack noted that it wasn’t the low- to mid-80s fastball or the sweeping curveball that impresses him the most about McKinnis, but his cerebral approach when he takes the bump.

“Zach McKinnis is academic and he’s a competitive guy,” Plack said. “That’s a great mixture and the stuff that we’re looking for for our kids. He picks up and learns quickly.”

And so the two month grind for the Royals has officially begun with a 2-0 start in pool play. It’s a model that not only takes a large chunk of commitment from the players to participate in the long travel distances, but also the parents who allow their sons to embark on the experience for the summer while traveling at times with them along the way.

“We have good buy in all the way up and down,” Plack said. “The parent piece of this is just let us have your kids for two months, and they turn their kids over to us. That’s the commitment that’s probably the biggest is trusting us with their son. It doesn’t go overlooked.”

It’s the team-aspect of baseball that the Royals emphasize throughout the entire process. Each player on the roster is one of the best 16-year-olds from their respective states, but it takes a cohesive unit to come together and compete at a high level in the Perfect Game tournaments like the Royals have been able to do in the past.

“We have to make sure we’re having these kids be better all-around baseball players instead of just the showcase tools that we can show off at any showcase,” Plack said. “We need to be the competitive team that the skills present.”

The Royals Scout Team really are a travel organization unlike many others. It’s a wild ride for these players in another summer they’ll never forget.

“It’s an honor,” Diggs said. “It’s a blast. I love it every summer.”




Tournaments | Story | 12/19/2025

13u Tourney All-American Team

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
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...
High School | General | 12/19/2025

Huntington Beach HS World Series Recap

Steve Fiorindo
Article Image
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: ...
Tournaments | Story | 12/18/2025

14u Tourney All-American Team

Tyler Russo
Article Image
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

PG Draft: Gut Feel Guys

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
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...
Tournaments | Story | 12/17/2025

15u Tourney All-American Team

Jason Phillips
Article Image
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
Article Image
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
Article Image
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
Article Image
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
Article Image
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...
Tournaments | Story | 12/12/2025

Scout Stories: Part 5

AJ Denny
Article Image
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...
Loading more articles...