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College  | Story | 3/17/2020

College Top 25: On the Cusp

Patrick Ebert
Photo: Connor Prielipp (Alabama Athletics Photography)

College Top 25: Moving Forward | College Player Database | College Player Rankings

On Monday we took a look at the PG College Top 25 teams, breaking down each squad while looking for positive developments each program can look forward to heading into 2021. In that feature (linked above) it was noted that we don’t know what to expect when it comes to player graduations. For now, most of that focus relies on the underclassmen as we don’t know if there will be draft, which players are coming back, roster and scholarship limitations and so many other variables.



Listed below are the six teams that entered the 2020 season ranked within the PG College Top 25 but had since fallen out in addition to six other teams that were among the programs most seriously considered for inclusion during the four in-season ranking updates.

6 that fell out
Listed below are the six teams that opened the 2020 season ranked within the PG College Top 25 but fell out.

East Carolina
Getting the boot from the Top 25 might have been a little harsh, but the bottom line is that ECU went 1-2 at the Keith LeClair Classic, hosted annually by the Pirates in Greenville, losing the first two games to their two toughest opponents of the season, Indiana and Ole Miss. East Carolina was already embarking on a transition season with 11 true freshmen and seven sophomores on their roster. Some of the more productive players of that group include Lane Hoover, who was hitting .353-1-12 with six steals as the team’s leadoff hitter, as well as CJ Mayhue (0.56 ERA in 16 innings) and Garrett Saylor (0.82 ERA in 11 innings), the team’s most frequently turned to relievers through the first four weeks of the season.

Florida State | Scout Take
The Seminoles were removed from the Top 25 after losing four games to Top 10-ranked opponents, Texas Tech and Duke. However, two days before the season was banged FSU got a big midweek win over Florida, something they’ve been unable to do in recent years. The core of the offense has been in place since last season as Robby Martin, Elijah Cabell, Matheu Nelson and Nander De Sedas have been starting together since their freshmen years. Freshman Tyler Martin also was earning more and more playing time hitting .310 with five doubles through the team’s first 17 games. The pitching staff had more upperclassmen leading the way, but sophomore Jack Anderson and freshman Parker Messick had ERAs of 0.79 and 0.77 respectively as the team’s primary bullpen arms.



Louisiana State | Scout Take
LSU’s biggest blemish this season was their 1-2 showing at the Shriner’s College Classic, with one of those losses coming against Dane Acker and his no-hitter for Oklahoma. So in reality, the Tigers were one SEC series win away from jumping right back in. And they have (had) a lot of pieces to be excited about, young and old, but it’s the pitching staff that especially stood out. Cole Henry is draft eligible as a sophomore, as Landon Marceaux, AJ Labas and Jaden Hill are also sophomores, pitching significant innings for a staff that had a 2.38 ERA when the season closed shop. The starting lineup has similar youth as Giovanni DiGiacomo, Cade Beloso and Gavin Dugas are also part of LSU’s promising sophomore class and Cade Doughty and Collier Cranford are freshmen.



North Carolina
It was clear through the first four weeks of the season that UNC hadn’t quite figured out which players were going to step up and assume key roles. Age eligible sophomore Aaron Sabato is one of the college game’s best sluggers, and he was just heating up, blasting six of his seven home runs over the last six games. Shortstop Danny Serretti is also a sophomore, while outfielder Angel Zarate, like Sabato, is draft eligible, but as a redshirt sophomore. The same is true for primary ‘pen arm Austin Love, while weekend starters Will Sandy and Connor Ollio are also part of the UNC sophomore class. Max Alba is a redshirt freshman after missing his rookie year in 2019 due to injury and we hadn’t quite received a good look at promising new recruit Joe Charles.

Oklahoma State
Although Oklahoma State went 1-2 at the Frisco College Classic, they did have single wins over a pair of ranked opponents through 18 games: Texas A&M and Arizona State. Entering the year the Cowboys’ biggest questions surrounded which of their young players would be productive. Freshman Bryce Osmond was their prized recruit, and while his numbers suggest significant room for improvement (5.06 ERA in four starts), he did strike out 19 batters in 16 innings of work, a testament to his pure stuff. Sophomore Brett Standlee had the third-most innings on the team (19.2) and did so primarily coming out of the bullpen. Hulking freshman Justin Campbell was hitting .414 through part-time duty and outfielder Caeden Trenkle was just starting to heat up, hitting .333 with 10 extra-base hits, four of which were triples.

Stanford
Stanford’s offense batted only .207 in 16 games and the team’s defense had an extremely uncharacteristic .950 team fielding percentage, leading to their 5-11 record. Many of those struggles could be attributed to a new-look roster, as six freshmen (Brock Jones, Cole Hinkelman, Kody Huff, Adam Crampton, Brett Barrera and Carson Greene) were receiving regular playing time in the starting lineup in addition to a handful of sophomores. Per usual the Cardinal was faring much better on the mound with a 3.50 team ERA as sophomore Alex Williams was having a big season (2-1, 0.51 ERA) coming off of his Freshman All-American campaign. Three more freshman – Quinn Mathews, Nathan Fleischli and Max Meier – were all receiving substantial innings, and making the most of those opportunities, through the first four weeks of the year.

6 teams considered
Listed below are the six teams that were most strongly considered to be included in the in-season Top 25 rankings updates.

Alabama
Rebuilding a program from the bottom up takes some time, and that’s exactly what head coach Brad Bohannon since he took over. That starts with recruiting and one recruit in particular shined through the early part of the season. Freshman lefthander Connor Prielipp was the team’s Friday starter from day one and he was phenomenal, going 3-0 in four starts without allowing an earned run, allowing just five hits and six walks in 21 innings with 35 strikeouts. Four other pitchers had yet to give up an earned run, plus, their Saturday starter (Connor Shamblin) is a sophomore and their Sunday starter (Antoine Jean) is also a freshman. In addition, the team’s two standouts on offense – Sam Praytor and Owen Diodati – are a sophomore and freshman, respectively, giving the SEC one more team for everyone else to contend with.



Dallas Baptist
Under the guidance of Dan Heefner DBU is always in the Top 25 mix and they already had a loud statement series win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Jimmy Glowenke had picked up where he left off from his two previous, productive seasons, hitting .415-1-7 and the team’s second leading hitter was freshman second baseman Jeffrey David. David was hitting for average (.351) and power (.526 slugging) as he and another first-year player – outfielder Jace Grady – were receiving regular looks since the beginning of the season. The pitching staff had even more youth present as sophomores Chandler Arnold and Zach Heaton had mixed results as each had already made four starts while fellow sophomores Cole Reeves and Luke Trahan as well as redshirt freshman Kyle Rich received frequent looks out of the ‘pen.

Georgia Tech
It was hard leaving Georgia Tech out of the initial 2020 Top 25, but they lost numerous key contributors from their 2019 team that earned the No. 3 national seed. And they appeared to be cruising to open 2020 until they were swept by in-state rival Georgia the third weekend of the year. The future remains bright for the Jackets as three of their everyday regulars in the starting lineup, three of their starting pitchers and two key bullpen arms are all underclassmen. Freshmen sluggers Drew Compton and Stephen Reid were batting in the middle of the order with a third freshman, Jake Holland, assuming the everyday catching duties. Two more freshmen, Zach Maxwell and Dalton Smith, were already logging significant innings on the mound as Maxwell and sophomores Luke Barnicki and Cort Roedig had all received weekend starts.



Pepperdine
One of the more compelling teams to open 2020, Pepperdine already had some loud wins leading up to conference play, including a series win over visiting Michigan. With a .301/.390/.441 team triple slash line and 2.91 cumulative ERA, everything appeared to be clicking for the Waves. The keytstone tandem of Wyatt Young (sophomore) and Ryan Johnson (freshman) should be intact for at least another year with Young doing a good job to set the table at the top of the order and Johnson providing some middle-of-the-lineup run production. The pitching staff is where the underclassmen really stood out, with nine freshmen and sophomores receiving regular innings. Of this group, sophomores Cooper Chandler, Gunnar Groen and Trevor Kniskern made 10 of the team’s 15 starts.

San Diego State
Although their 10-6 record doesn’t stand out, the Aztecs had wins over Coastal Carolina, Cal State Fullerton, Iowa, UC Irvine, Oregon State, Long Beach State and Oklahoma with a very challenging non-conference schedule. Star two-way player Casey Schmitt was hitting .323 and was tied for the nation’s lead in saves with six through those 16 games. Three of the team’s regular hitters – Jaden Fein, Brian Leonhardt and Wyatt Hendrie – are sophomores, pointing to a likely return for at least one-third of the team’s batting order. Like Schmitt, Leonhardt pulls double duty, and two of his four appearances were starts. The most intriguing part of the SDSU roster is the fact that all three weekend starters – Michael Paredes, Troy Melton and Aaron Eden – are also sophomores, meaning these Aztecs will remain competitive on a national level.

Tulane
It had taken a few years to get to this point, but head coach Travis Jewett appeared to finally be making headway on building a perennial postseason program. Staff ace Braden Olthoff was enjoying a breakthrough season and the team was playing well in all phases of the game. Numerous veterans made up the starting lineup, but prized sophomore prospect Hudson Haskin hadn’t even hit his stride yet and still was slashing .333/.452/.500 through the first 17 games of the year. Haskin is age-eligible for the draft, so we’ll see if scouts got a good enough look at him early. Redshirt sophomore lefthander Jack Aldrich followed Olthoff in the weekend rotation and freshman lefthander Luke Jannetta provided some key midweek starts in the weeks leading up to the premature end of the season.
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College | Story | 6/11/2026

Collegiate Freshman All-Americans
Vincent Cervino
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Collegiate Postseason Awards | Collegiate All Americans First Team Hitters Pos. Name School Class AVG OBP SLG R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB C Alonzo Alvarez Miami FR 0.341 0.439 0.551 40 57 13 2 6 32 3 1B Ethin Bingaman Auburn FR 0.330 0.415 0.581 60 71 9 0 15 50 4 2B Ethan Ball Virginia Tech FR 0.310 0.420 0.660 43 63 18 1 17 52 3 3B Nico Partida Texas A&M FR 0.306 0.408 0.550 45 55 8 0 12 43 4 SS Jett Kenady California FR 0.320 0.350 0.573 36 66 17 1 11 34 1 IF Linkin Garcia Texas Tech FR 0.338 0.387 0.489 53 78 21 1 4 59 1 OF Angel Laya Oregon FR 0.296 0.396 0.538 49 66 10 1 14 47 5 OF Anthony Pack Jr. Texas FR 0.359 0.485 0.597 58 74 16 0 11 52 20 OF Jacob Parker* Mississippi State FR 0.339 0.449 0.732 51 57 10 1 18 62 7 OF Teddy Tokheim Stanford FR 0.352 0.414 0.704 40 70 19 0 17 47 0 UT Drew Grego Nebraska FR 0.326 0.417 0.531 33 57 13 1 7 44 5 DH Enzo Infelise Cincinnati FR 0.374...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/18/2026

Big Talent on Display at City of Palms

Alyssa Golden
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The fifth annual PG City of Palms Championship is set to take place in Fort Myers, Florida, from June 19-22, featuring teams from the 15U-18U age divisions. The four-day event will showcase some of the top talent in the state, including several nationally ranked prospects who have already made their presence felt this summer season. Before tournament play begins, here’s a look at some of the highest-ranked players expected to compete this weekend. Leading the group is catcher Nico Ayars in the 16U division. Ayars enters the weekend as the No. 135 player nationally, the No. 3 catcher in Florida and the No. 20 catcher in the country. Through 22 games this summer with Turn 2 Garcia, the right-handed hitter owns a .887 OPS while batting .306 with a .438 OBP and a .449 SLG. Ayars has collected 15 hits while driving in 12 runs and scoring 13 times. Ayars’ teammate, right-handed...
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Softball | Softball Tournament | 6/17/2026

Perfect Game Softball Route 66 Summer Showcase

Dave Durbala
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SPRINGFIELD, IL - Perfect Game Softball Route 66 Summer Showcase, June 13-14, 2026. Twenty-Seven teams, representing the 14u and High School Divisions, arrived at the newly opened all turfed Scheels Sports Park at Legacy Pointe, for the opportunity to showcase their talent in a five game guarantee format. As with anytime we bring a group of players together for competition, there will be those players that rise to the challenge and turn in performances that earn them a place on our Top Performers list.  Below are some of the players, from both divisions, that were recognized as top performers. 14U Division Kinley Abrams (2030 Bloomington, IL) is a RHH for Texas Glory IL-2030 (Wyatt). Setting up in a slightly wide parallel stance, into her back leg, Abrams gains separation with a  push back to transfer weight, and then utilizes a small stride to launch her swing. Abrams works a...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/18/2026

150 Teams Set to Battle at SE Select

Will Dembo
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As summer travel season continues to ramp up, more than 150 teams from 13-17u from all over the nation will meet in East Cobb as they look to showcase their talents and compete for a trophy in the PG Southeast Select Championship. The tournament will kick off with pool play on Thursday, June 18th, and champions will be crowned following bracket play on Monday, June 22nd. The 13u division will host 23 teams from four different states in the major style tournament. The East Cobb Astros and Ninth Inning Royals will share the spotlight as the only nationally ranked teams in the field as the Astros enter the weekend as the No. 45 ranked squad and Ninth Inning falls at the No. 31 spot. 14u will also play as a major tournament for the weekend and contains 31 teams looking to compete for a trophy. Although there are currently no nationally recognized teams in the pool, PFA Regional will be a...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/17/2026

UBC Midwest Scout Notes

Blaine Peterson
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Braydon McMillen (2029, Downers Grove, IL) an athletic MIF with a top of the order skill set at the plate. Reached base in all 5 games played at UBC this week. Including a 3 hit game in bracket play. Shows a balanced and compact swing at the plate with quick wrists and the ability to get the barrel to the baseball regularly. A quick first step defensively with clean glove actions and a quick release from the shortstop position. Made several athletic plays defensively this past week. Lot of promising impact traits and a real skill set to build on.  Paris Head | IF/OF/RHP | 2029 | IL@WhitesoxAce FB: 86-90 | CB: 73-75 SL: 77-79 | CH: 78-82 One of the best pitching performances of the tournament so far. High level athlete with an advanced pitch mix for the age. #UBC @PG_Scouting | @WhitesoxAce https://t.co/V3leWaCBSM pic.twitter.com/EDBvjpgI3p — Perfect Game Illinois...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/17/2026

Windy City Elite Scout Notes

Perfect Game Staff
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28 LHP/OF Rex Johnson (CO) was impressive on the mound today. Quality FB/SL mix. FB(80-85) showed heavy arm side run, generating s/m. Good feel to spin, landing the low-70s SL for strikes, while keeping hitters off balance. 5.0IP, 9K, 3H #WCElite @PG_FourCorners pic.twitter.com/q459oPmXzW — Perfect Game Illinois (@PG_Illinois) June 14, 2026 Rex Johnson (2028, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) turned in one of the more impressive outings of the weekend for Canes Denver South 2028 Gold. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound left-hander worked 5.0 innings, striking out 9 while allowing just 3 hits and no earned runs. The fastball worked 80-85 with arm-side run and got on hitters quickly, generating both swing-and-miss and weak contact. He mixed in a slider with sharp action and showed feel to land it for strikes. Currently ranked the No. 5 outfielder and No. 8 overall prospect in Colorado, Johnson displayed...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/17/2026

UBC South Scout Notes: Days 3-5

Perfect Game Staff
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Jonell Rodriguez (2027, Spring, Texas) continued his absolute tear this weekend with Banditos 2027 Scout. The Houston commit finished the weekend 7-12 with three triples and two doubles, reaching base a staggering eleven times over the course of the tournament. Super twitchy athlete who is starting to tap into more power this summer. Has always been extremely productive but seems to have leveled up. He has an argument for being the most dynamic player in the state with his 2026 performances. William Bishop (2028, San Antonio, Texas) was a breakout star this weekend for Texas Angels 2028 Lisbon. Was an impossible out this weekend, going 10-14 with five doubles, a triple, and a home run, while driving in eight runs. Uber physical lower half that rotates easily, not a ton of wasted movement in the swing process. Was such a tough matchup for every single arm he faced at UBC. Will Rainer...
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Tournaments | Championship | 6/17/2026

Braves Capture WWBA East Title

Kinley Kitchens
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By the end of championship Monday, the Atlanta Braves Scout Team had done much more than win a title. They had validated everything they believed they could become. After an undefeated run through the 2026 PG East WWBA Championship, the Braves captured the 15U championship with an 8-2 victory, finishing off a dominant weekend that featured elite pitching, explosive offense, and contributions throughout the roster. For coach Jed Douglas, the championship represented the results of months of practice, preparation, and a vision that finally came together. “This is our first championship with this group,” Douglas said. “We finally brought it together and for the first time, everything seemed to work just as we designed it when we were building the team, and it was just beautiful this way.” The Braves backed up that vision with one of the most impressive offensive...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/16/2026

PG Summer Showdown Scout Notes

Perfect Game Staff
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Mason Kennerly (2028, Decatur, Ga.) hit .429 with a .667 OBP, five walks and three RBI in four games last week. He’s already showing the tools to be a big-time power bat in his class, and standing at 6’2 with an athletic frame, he’s one of the more projectable players we saw this weekend. His mechanics play into his size well, creating good hand separation from body on his load, using a medium-high leg kick, and getting a wide base when going into his launch. He uses every bit of his size and natural strength to create a violent swing. He’s got the makings of a really solid prospect, and as he develops and his approach matures, he’ll become a guy that college coaches keep at the top of their radar.  ‘27 Grant Barden (GA) up to 90 mph on the hill. Loose on the mound, whippy arm action. Four pitch mix; FB 87-90, CB 71-72, SL 76-78, CH 79-81. Mixed...
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General | Blog | 6/16/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 66

Ron Wolforth
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  The Number That Just Killed MLB Expansion: 1,217   USA Today's Bob Nightengale dropped a bomb shell recently that the baseball world is still digesting. Major League Baseball wants to expand to 32 teams. Team executives are quietly opposing it and the reason has nothing to do with cities or money.   They cannot find enough healthy pitchers.   Between 2020 and 2024, professional baseball performed 1,026 Tommy John surgeries at the minor-league level alone. Another 191 at the Major League level. More than twelve hundred elbow reconstructions in five years on the best young pitchers in the world.   That is not bad luck. That is a system reporting a verdict on itself.   For fifteen years, the youth-baseball industry has chased one number: velocity significantly more than projectability and arm care.    Recruiters scout by it.    Social...
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Tournaments | Story | 6/17/2026

Ohio Valley Select Invite Scout Notes

Perfect Game Staff
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‘27 OF Bryson Rhodes (NE) continues to swing a hot bat in the week. Hammers this single UTM. Bat speed really plays & displays a direct barrel path. #OVSelect @PGMidwestBB @brysonrhodes_ pic.twitter.com/TyK8QI3a70 — Perfect Game Ohio Valley (@PG_OhioValley) June 13, 2026 Bryson Rhodes (2027, Lincoln, Neb.) Rhodes found himself on a tear over the four days, finishing inside the top five in batting top performers. In four games, the uncommitted junior tallied seven hits in twelve at-bats. Of those seven hits, three went for extra bases, including a home run. Short direct stride to impact that displayed well above average bat speed. Worked the middle of the field to pull side. Hard, impactful barrels throughout and was a catalyst as a top of the order bat.     ‘28 RHP Asher Visconti (OH) struck out 7 in his five innings of work. Only allowed one hit...
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