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 | 7/10/2019

Molina Stars avenge 2018 loss

Photo: David Zamora (Perfect Game)

EMERSON, Ga. – Last year in the 2018 WWBA 15u National Championship, the Molina Stars found themselves in line for a top three seed in the playoffs after a 6-0 start to pool play while only allowing four runs.

However, forecasting the future led to their demise. In the final game of pool play, EC Diamondbacks deflated any potential playoff push for the Molina Stars, defeating them 7-0 to win the pool.

“Last year we started looking ahead,” Molina Stars head coach Jim Triantos said. “We got to 6-0 last year and I think we were looking towards the playoffs and the seedings. Honestly, it was completely my fault. I did it and I never do that. I didn’t get them ready.”

Faced with a similar circumstance this year in the 2019 WWBA 16u National Championship, the stars were aligned as the Molina Stars entered Wednesday’s action with the same 6-0 record. The Stars had already clinched the pool at this point, but still needed a strong showing to earn the all-important bye in bracket play.

New year, new result. The Molina Stars were locked in and focused, defeating MSI 2021, 8-0, to finish pool play with a perfect 7-0 record. The club based out of McLean, Virginia outscored opponents 61-10 over the course of the week, garnering a bye and the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.

It was last year’s shortcoming that has been used as a lodestar for the run so far this year in the 16u WWBA.

“This year, we had a little bit of payback and the kids came through,” Triantos said. “They have played remarkably well and they’ve been resilient with everything that they’ve been through this year. It’s just a great group of kids.”

Along the way, the Molina Stars have used an unconventional style to get to this point. The 16u team is the only team in the organization. It has some pushbacks, such as not having another team to pull players from as backups, but for the most part it’s been a boon for the Molina Stars.

“The kids stick by each other,” Triantos said. “We don’t fly kids in like a lot of other teams do. It’s a team. A team that’s been together for the better part of the last three or four years. We try to be a little bit different in we win with teamwork. Sometimes we may not have the talent of some of the other teams, but we have a lot of heart.”

In Wednesday’s win, catcher David Zamora powered the offense with a 3-for-3 day at the plate with two doubles and an RBI. Zamora is batting .467 so far this tournament as the cleanup hitter, and he’s used a few extra reps in the cages to stay hot.

“I come here late at night to come hit to work on whatever I have to do,” Zamora said. “It’s been working sound for my swing lately. I’m just grinding right now.”

Brock Mercado added two hits and three RBI’s in the triumph. Connor Hale had two hits of his own, including the walk-off sacrifice fly to end the game in the fifth inning due to run rules. He’s batting .389 this week with three singles and four triples, along with a .520 on base percentage atop the lineup.

“I’ve just been focusing on staying back,” Hale said. “That’s been the main focus of my at-bats. It’s helped. Getting on base, even if it’s first, second, or third to get our team on the board early.”

On the mound, Kevin Williams and Nathan Williams combined for the two-hit shutout. The pair needed only 67 pitches to get through five innings.

The Molina Stars are no strangers to success in Perfect Game tournaments. Last year, the Stars won the 2018 15u BCS National Championship that was played in Fort Myers, putting them on the map in a sense.

“Competing in Perfect Game tournaments at this level lets the kids know where they fit in the hierarchy of the best of the country,” Triantos said. “What I’m happy to say is I think our kids can compete with pretty much anybody in the country.”

So what will it take to repeat last year’s success at the BCS National Championship in this year’s WWBA National Championship? Triantos offered a candid response that may indeed be true with the potential of five games over the next two days.

“A little bit of luck,” Triantos said. “To win any of these things you need a little luck. A couple bounces go our way and the kids to pull together and continue what they’ve been doing. Our sticks are fine, it’s having the pitching to get through.”

The Molina Stars will begin bracket play on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. by facing the winner of Tri State Arsenal Scout Team and 643 DP Jaguars 16u Mang.



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 | 12/24/2025

2025 Year In Review: High School

Cam McElwaney
Article Image
IMG Academy Takes Home the National Title Every year IMG Academy comes into the spring with top-to-bottom one of the top rosters in the country and every year have the expectation of winning the national championship. Well in 2025 they did just that after finishing the spring 24-1, winning the High School Showdown, and winning 15 straight games to end their season. Their high end offensive ability was on full display throughout the year and they will once again be one of the most talented teams in the country in ’26 as they look to go back-to-back. Two Top-10 Picks in the MLB Draft Headline National Players of the Year It was another loaded crop that took home the National Players of the Year as both Ethan Holliday, the National Player of the Year, and Seth Hernandez, National Pitcher of the Year, heard their names called within the first-10 picks in the MLB Draft. Another first...
Draft | Rankings | 12/24/2025

Top 2027 Collegiate Draft Prospects

Isaiah Burrows
Article Image
With the 2025 cycle officially behind us and the calendar nearly flipping over to 2026, it is time to start looking ahead to the future. More importantly, start looking ahead to the next season of college baseball and what that may mean for draft-eligible players with big dreams of continuing their journey. While the 2026 MLB Draft is now on the horizon, we are looking ahead to the future even further – to see which players have already made impacts upon their arrival to college campuses. We have already dropped our 2028 Top 75 collegiate prospects board, but this one is our Top 100 college prospects who will be eligible for the 2027 class. These are the Top 100 players in our eyes for this group, and many of them have already shown up on campus and been impactful in many ways. Whether its our top-ranked player in Oregon State’s Dax Whitney or ninth-ranked William Schmidt...
Draft | Rankings | 12/23/2025

Top 2028 Collegiate Draft Prospects

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
The college players in the 2028 draft class have yet to step on campus, but they're positioned to make an immediate impact. Several high end talents either turned down significant money last year or honored strong college commitments, resulting in their arrival on campus this fall. The class is currently led by a trio of high-upside arms in Jack Bauer, Angel Cervantes, and Cameron Appenzeller. They are followed by a deep group of bats that rounds out a strong, high end Top-10. Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State 1 Jack Bauer C LHP L-L Mississippi State Frankfort IL 2 Angel Cervantes C RHP R-R UCLA Lynwood CA 3 Cameron Appenzeller C LHP L-L Tennessee Springfield IL 4 Brayden Jaksa C C R-R Oregon Fremont  CA 5 JD Stein C SS R-R Wake Forest Carmel IN 6 Mason Ligenza C OF L-L Pittsburgh Brockton PA 7 Ty Peeples C OF L-R Georgia Lavonia GA 8 Lucas Franco C SS L-R TCU Katy TX 9...
Juco | Story | 12/23/2025

2025 Year in Review: JUCO

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
Looking Back at the 2025 Top 10  Matt Barr (‘25 Niagara, ‘26 Minnesota Twins) Bursting onto the scene last winter, footage of an indoor bullpen rocketed Barr onto the radar of many. Explosive fastball reaches near triple digits with incredible spin numbers across the secondaries. Huge numbers at Niagara earned him the title of the first Juco player drafted in 2025. JC Vanek (‘25 Chipola, ‘26 Kansas City Royals) Just a professional hitter. Vanek for two years at Chipola was an impossible out. While there are questions if the power will ever reach what it takes to play first base at the big league level, the bat and quality defensive skillset at first base may carry. Donovan Becerra (‘25 New Mexico, ‘26 Texas Tech) One of the more high octane arms anywhere in the country last year. Can reach back for upper 90’s and has shown serious swing and...
Draft | Story | 12/22/2025

2025 Year in Review: Draft

Isaiah Burrows
Article Image
2025 Year in Review: Draft We’ve reached the end of the 2025 calendar year, and while we’ve already jumped in on the 2026 cycle with some of the fall events and post-draft content we’ve had here at Perfect Game, there’s still one more piece on the docket, and that’s the 2025 Year-In-Review piece here from the PG Draft staff.  The 2025 MLB Draft took place in July, when many highly talented players heard their names called and continued their journey through the game to the next level. There’s already been some of those names making noise in the minors and guys who are moving up prospect lists and becoming names to know for MLB fans digging deep into the future of their organizations. While we are going to “close the book” on 2025 with this article, these players still have many years ahead of them, and many blank pages to continue...
College | Recruiting | 12/22/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 22

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
Lucien Saint Cyr, INF, Class of 2026 Commitment: Bucknell Saint Cyr announced his pledge to Bucknell, giving the Bison an interesting blend of present tools and projection. Saint Cyr stands 6-foot-1 and offers room to fill in his medium frame, profiling in the middle infield defensively. The New York product starts wide at the base in the right-handed box, keeping his hands high behind the ear. He works into a subtle outward step load, firing through a compact barrel that showcases bat speed and gap-to-gap impact. For head coach Scott Heather and Bucknell, they land a high-quality Northeast infielder in the ’26 cycle, adding to a class that takes the quality over quantity approach. Patrick Diaz ('26, NY) 102 EV off the bat. Impact to the pull side. #PGNational @PGMidAtlantic @PG_Uncommitted pic.twitter.com/NN0L3FRdO9 — PG Showcases (@PGShowcases) July 9, 2025 Patrick Diaz,...
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...
Loading more articles...