THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION

| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,804 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS

2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,804 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS

Create Account

Tournaments | Story | 9/17/2020

California dreamin' at WWBA Kernels

Jeff Dahn

Photo: Finnegan Wall (PFA Matadors)

MARION, Iowa – This has been a trying summer for Edgar Garcia, Amador Delgado and hundreds of other California travel ball coaches just like them who have been trying to salvage something from what has basically been a lost 2020 season out West.

First came the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck in March and refuses to release its iron grip on the entire country. More recently, there have been the devastating and deadly wildfires that ambushed the West Coast, further disrupting lives and livelihoods.

But Garcia, who is with the Pasadena-based PFA organization, and Delgado, who is with the San Jose-based CCB program, are pushing ahead trying to provide their teen-aged players with some sense of long-lost normalcy even if it requires a nearly 2,000-mile trip to the middle of the country.

The PFA Matadors, coached by Garcia, and the CCB Prime, under the direction of Delgado, will be among the 56 teams competing at this weekend’s 18^th annual PG WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship. The event, which rewards the champion with a paid invitation to the PG WWBA World Championship in Fort Myers, Fla., Oct. 8-12, will be contested at the Prospect Meadows Sports Complex and other area fields.

The PG WWBA Kernels Championship has long been a showcase event for the top travel ball programs from across the Midwest, particularly for teams from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

It’s no different this year with upper-echelon programs like the Cangelosi Sparks, GRB Rays, Hitters, Canes and many others ready to get after it starting on Friday; Cangelosi Sparks teams have won the last three Kernels championships.

But due to the current realities everyone just about everywhere is confronting, teams from other states, including California, have reached out and hopped on board in 2020.

The main reason the Matadors are making this trip from their homes in Southern California to Eastern Iowa is a simple one. They want to earn that paid invitation to the PG WWBA World Championship and a trip to Florida’s Gulf Coast.

PG tournament officials encouraged Garcia to enter the Matadors in one of the eight PG WWBA World Qualifiers where the champion of the event earns an automatic berth. Three of the eight Qualifiers were held last weekend and of the four being staged this weekend, the Kernels Foundation Championship was the most appealing.

“I just decided, ‘Let’s do it’. I talked to the team and they were excited, they were pumped,” Garcia told PG during a recent telephone conversation. “Yes, the whole coronavirus is always in mind and it’s a scary situation but at the same time the boys got excited and they’re looking forward to getting out of their own eggshell, if you will.”

Garcia makes his home in Sierra Madre, which sits in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains about 10 miles east of Pasadena. The devastating Bobcat Fire is raging in the San Gabriel range and when Garcia spoke with PG on Tuesday things were getting tense.

He was looking at the very real possibility of having to evacuate his family from their home. Garcia’s plans were to leave for Iowa on Thursday and on Tuesday he was still going full-steam ahead with those plans.

Things have been shut down in California ever since the COVID-19 outbreak in March and travel has been restricted; the trip to Iowa this week will the first time the Matadors have gotten on a plane this year.

Garcia, who oversees 10 teams as the PFA San Gabriel Valley Director of Youth/High School program, has taken teams over to Arizona to participate in PG events whenever possible. He initially planned to stay in Arizona through the months of June and July but the PG WWBA West National Championship was cancelled in July so that plan went by the wayside.

The CCB Prime’s Delgado lives in San Jose where wildfires are raging just to the east of the city. He has not had to deal with the threat of evacuation but these are trying times in Northern California, to be sure.

“It’s pretty bad over here but actually today was the first good day where the air was better,” Delgado told PG over the phone on Tuesday. “It’s still unhealthy but it’s not as bad as it’s been the past week.”

The CCB 17u Prime won the championship at the PG West Underclass MLK Championship in the Phoenix area in January with many of these same players on the roster. Delgado and the higher-ups within the CCB program realized they had something special with this group and were looking to build on that before the coronavirus pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt.

The No. 1 goal was to get an invitation to the PG WWBA World Championship – Jupiter – but with the Arizona tournaments canceled in July, the route to the WWBA World was filled with obstacles.

“We had all these PG tournaments lined up where we wanted to play but because of the COVID everything changed,” Delgado said. “With us being from the West Coast, it was tough. … So that’s the thing; we haven’t played all summer. My team, since they played their last high school games back in March, we only have 10 games under our belt.

“We heard that the complex in Iowa is really nice,” he continued, referring to Prospect Meadows. “So after talking it over with the coaches we decided to go to Iowa. Texas (WWBA South Qualifier) is a little closer but we’ve been to Texas; we just wanted to try something different.”

Both Cali teams – one from the Los Angeles area and one from the Bay Area – will bring talented rosters to Eastern Iowa, although there will be some high-profile pieces missing. The Matadors, for instance, will be without 2021 righthander Eric Silva, a UCLA commit ranked No. 79 nationally, and most likely 2021 third baseman Eldridge Armstrong (San Diego State, No 99).

2021 righties Finnegan Wall (UC Irvine, No. 361), Gavin Meyer (Cal State Fullerton, No. 493) and Beto Beltran (Long Beach State, t-500) will be on hand, however. Catcher Nick Bacura (Santa Clara, t-500), outfielder Braeden Ross (Cal State Northridge, t-1000), corner-infielder Chase Call (UC Irvine, Follow) and outfielder Michael Woodward (Long Beach State, Follow) are also on board.

“This group is very talented; I really like the lineup,” Garcia said. “The pitching staff is pretty good when everybody’s intact and it’s just a matter of hitting the ball, playing defense and throwing strikes. As simple as it sounds, it can be so darn difficult at times.”

Delgado will be without several of his top players who took advantage of opportunities to play at the WWBA World Championship with various national scout teams, decisions Delgado is perfectly comfortable with.

CCB will still be bringing a talented squad here, though. 2021s catcher Aaron Parker (UC Santa Barbara, No. 498), infielder Zander Darby (UC Santa Barbara, t-500), outfielder Logan Johnstone (Gonzaga, t-500), third baseman Patrick Keighran (San Francisco, t-500) and righthander/corner-infielder Mick Kelley (Yale, t-1000) are among the top rostered players.

“The reason I like CCB is we’re not the type of organization that will pick up players from other organizations; these guys have been with us since they were freshmen,” Delgado said. “… We’ve got a handful of players that are not committed yet and like I said, this is our first PG event for the whole summer. So that’s what we’re really excited about.”

The fact that this is the first PG tournament his team will play in during this summer/fall season is disappointing to Delgado and his players, of course. With the pandemic and the wildfires, the CCB Prime haven’t even been able to practice in a month. Delgado has reached out to PG tournament officials in Iowa just to see if there might be a high school field available nearby where the team can practice.

“This would have been our last summer with this group but our summer was taken away,” he said. “So we’re just basically looking for top competition. We’ve just got to get games under our belts and that’s what we’re going for.”

More than 400 ranked prospects will be in action here this weekend including Iowa Select Evans 2021 catcher Ian Moller (LSU, No. 2 nationally), MidSouth Prospects 2021s righthander Drew Christo (Nebraska, No. 40), GRB Rays National righty Vincent Trapani (Arkansas, No. 69, Chi Town Cream shortstop Noah Smith (Louisville, No. 70) and Hitters 2021’s shortstop Noah Miller (Alabama, No. 72) from the class of 2021.

Top 2022s include Hitters 2022 Navy shortstop Gavin Kilen in (Louisville, No. 9), Cangelosi Sparks 2021 Black lefthander Noah Schultz (Vanderbilt, No. 13), Canes Midwest Scout Team 21’s & 22’s shortstop Tucker Biven (Louisville, No. 57), Hitters 2022 Navy outfielder Michael Lippe (Louisville, No, 73 and Chi Town Cream third baseman Joe Brown (Cal, No, 94).

The California boys are looking forward to bringing their West Coast style of play to the Midwest but they know the boys from these states that sit in the middle of the country can play a little bit, too.

“We always like to be challenged; the boys love to get challenged,” Garcia said. “If you want to be the best you’ve got to play against the best, correct? So we do definitely want to see the challenges that we’re going to face. I know there’s some good baseball out there and we’re definitely looking forward to it.”

Garcia, whose son Ryan is a PG alumnus and was a second-round pick of the Rangers in the 2019 MLB Draft out of UCLA, noted that just about anything can happen after the first pitch is thrown in a baseball game.

There are an endless number of scenarios waiting to play themselves out, after all. Under-performing teams will suddenly over-perform and elite teams will make uncharacteristic mistakes and ultimately fall by the wayside.

He talks with his players about staying focused on the job at hand and said, “I always tell the boys don’t worry about the team we’re playing because at the end of the day we’re playing the ball.” Oh, and there’s one other thing:

“I tell the boys you can’t play baseball for a scholarship,” Garcia said. “Play because you love it, play for the love, the passion, play to have fun and just for the experience alone. So we can’t be playing for Jupiter (WWBA World) even if we happen to win and we do get a berth for that. We’re going (to the Kernels) for the experience and the change of atmosphere; we love to play against different teams.”

Delgado feels the same way. He definitely has a soft spot in his heart for this group of players who haven’t had the opportunity to perform at a Perfect Game tournament since they won the Underclass West MLK Championship in January.

He’s also completely aware that if the CCB Prime don’t win the Kernels Foundation Championship title, this weekend will be the team’s last hurrah after playing together for three years.

“Hopefully it works out and we do well,” he said. “Our main focus is trying to get a bid for the World in October because that’s the most prestigious tournament right there. If you’re doing travel ball at a young age and you get to 18-and-under, that’s where you want to be.”

PERFECTGAME.TV

Give us your feedback

Tournaments | Story | 1/27/2026

MLK East Scout Notes Recap

Perfect Game Staff

‘28 OF Jakob Groeschel (OH) continues to impress with the bat on the circuit, picked up 2 2Bs in the first game today. Really athletic, went 4.4 on turn; easy to dream on all the traits. #MLKEast @PG_OhioValley pic.twitter.com/wOIwnGKnkg — Perfect Game Florida (@Florida_PG) January 17, 2026 2028 OF Jakob Groeschel (Springfield, Ohio) broke out at this event last year hitting a casual .909, and although he didn’t turn in quite the same performance, he hit a strong .462 with 4 extra-base hits, 5 walks, 5 bags and only struck out once. He’s a pretty dynamic athlete who can do a lot of things well, but the bat is the calling card as he just lives on the barrel and has no problem handling all kinds of pitching. It’s a simple swing, but he’s got fast hands and he can really impact the ball without being overly physical yet. 2030 RHP Michael Vazquez...

High School | Rankings | 2/4/2026

Florida Region Top Teams

Tyler Russo

Florida All Region Team & Top Tools Rk School Record 1 Stoneman Douglas 31-2 2 Tampa Jesuit 25-10 3 Trinity Christian Academy 30-5 4 South Walton 31-4 5 IMG Academy 24-1 6 Venice 29-5 7 Bishop Verot 32-3 8 American Heritage (Plantation) 29-6 9 St. Thomas Aquinas 29-6-1 10 Doral Academy Charter 27-8-1 11 North Broward Prep 23-8 12 Lincoln 24-11 13 Mater Academy 25-9-1 14 The First Academy 30-4 15 Alonso 21-13 16 St. John's Country Day 26-9 17 Bishop Snyder 23-8 18 Spruce Creek 30-4 19 Buchholz 33-3 20 Lake Mary 15-15 21 Miami Springs 28-3 22 Jupiter 25-10 23 Plant City 16-12 24 Berkeley Prep 25-10 25 Winter Park 25-6

College | Story | 2/4/2026

Conference Preview: Northeast

Jason Phillips

2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order* Team W L W L CCSU 23 7 31 17 Coppin State 13 17 15 34 Delaware State 6 24 7 34 FDU 16 14 16 37 LeMoyne 17 13 20 28 LIU 24 6 35 23 UMES 6 24 7 41 Mercyhurst 15 15 17 35 New Haven* 12 12 24 20 Norfolk State 4 26 4 38 Stonehill 18 12 20 32 Wagner 23 7 31 22 *Member Northeast-10 DII Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Frankie Ferrentino CCSU .281-13-35, 9 2Bs, (Merrimack), Double digit HR all 3 years at Merrimack 1B Jayden Walker Mercyhurst .314-12-40, 10...

Press Release | Press Release | 2/4/2026

Baseball Meets Hollywood For Great Cause

Jim Salisbury

BASEBALL MEETS HOLLYWOOD FOR A GREAT CAUSE There’s no crying in baseball, but there is laughing, and there was lots and lots of it -- for a great cause -- last Saturday night in Hollywood, California. Perfect Game and its Believe in Baseball Foundation assembled a star-studded cast of comics and guests for the inaugural “In the Spirit of the Game” dinner and auction. The event was held at the iconic Laugh Factory, a historic venue that, in baseball terms, would be equivalent to Dodger Stadium or Wrigley Field. Late-night superstar Jay Leno took a turn on stage. So did comedic aces Tiffany Haddish, Nikki Glaser, Dustin Ybarra and Gary Cannon. “It was 4 ½ hours of straight laughter,” said PG commissioner Dennis Gilbert, still beaming a couple of days later. “It was a really nice success.” No one kept score at the event, but...

High School | General | 2/4/2026

West Region High School Sleepers

Joey Cohen

Talking and debating sleeper prospects might be my favorite part of scouting. It’s where context, projection, and conviction matter most—whether it’s an underrated performer who keeps producing on the circuit, a raw but explosive athlete you can dream on, or an arm with starter traits that hasn’t quite made the stuff jump yet. These are the players who tend to separate evaluators, reward patience, and make the spring HS season really fascinating. Below are several West Region prospects outside the T100 who fit that mold and deserve serious attention as the spring unfolds. Jet Berry, Queen Creek HS, Arizona There’s a lot to like with Berry. He’s one of the more explosive, twitchy athletes in the country, and it shows consistently in all facets of his game. From a tools perspective his easy plus run and bat-to-ball ability stand out. He’s been a...

College | Rankings | 2/4/2026

Preseason NAIA Top 25

Nick Herfordt

The 2026 NAIA Baseball Rankings arrive with the familiar weight of expectations and a few fresh storylines that make the new season feel electric from top to bottom. At the very front of the pack, perennial power Tennessee Wesleyan stands tall once again, a program that has turned sustained excellence into something bordering on routine. The Bulldogs are not just ranked highly, they set the tone. Year after year, they combine elite talent, veteran leadership, and a culture that refuses to blink under pressure. It says everything about the depth of this year’s field that it was genuinely difficult not to slide LSU Shreveport back into the top spot yet again. After all, how in the world does a team stay that good after losing so many impact players? The answer is simple and timeless. Success breeds success. Programs that live in championship air know how to reload, not reset, and...

College | Story | 2/3/2026

Conference Preview: Patriot

Anthony Gambardella

2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order* Team W L W L Army West Point 25 25 14 11 Bucknell 18 27 10 15 Holy Cross 31 27 17 8 Lafayette 14 35 9 16 Lehigh 24 26 11 14 Navy 26 25 14 11 Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Ty Deperno Navy Named PL Rookie of the Year & to 2nd Team All-PL in ‘25; batted .307 w/ 33 runs & 32 RBI IF Thomas Schreck Army West Point Named to 1st Team All-PL in ‘25; batted .335 w/ 40...

General | Blog | 2/3/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 62

Ron Wolforth

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 62, Part 1 Demystifying the Curveball, Pitch Counts, and Weighted Balls - Part 2 Now, on to Part 2 of our three-part series on baseball's most misunderstood topics. We tackled the curveball. Next up: pitch counts. And in Part 3, we'll address weighted balls, another subject where fear has outpaced reason. Why these three? Because they share something in common: each has been reduced to a simplistic, one-size-fits-all rule that ignores the complexity of human performance. And in each case, well-meaning people have latched onto these rules as if they're gospel, while the arm injury epidemic continues unabated. It's time to think more clearly. Part II: Demystifying Pitch Counts Let me be clear from the start: I am not anti-pitch count. Pitch counts are a valuable tool. We use them at...

High School | General | 2/2/2026

Monday Morning SoCal Notebook

Steve Fiorindo

Three hitters and three pitchers that really impressed or improved their stock at the Area Code Select at Dodger Stadium. Gotta start with James Clark as he stole the show offensively, and right out of the gate, with a pull side home run as just the second hitter of the game. Added a triple to the pull side again, again on the barrel. Added a single up the middle. Really showed exceptional feel for the barrel. Flew out to center field on two occasions, both barreled up pretty well, with one getting lost in the sun. I’m old and salty, so didn’t give him the double for the cycle, but he was the most impressive bat (easily) on the day. One of the other position players that impressed, I’ve been somewhat critical of, have spoken with his travel coach a little bit about him behind the plate, but Vista Murrieta catcher Taytum...

Softball | General | 2/2/2026

PG Softball Announce Leadership Hires

Perfect Game Staff

667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PERFECT GAME SOFTBALL ANNOUNCES KEY LEADERSHIP HIRES Charlotte, North Carolina (Monday, February 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the hiring of two industry-leading softball directors to lead and expand its footprint in the Charlotte, North Carolina market. The additions underscore Perfect Game Softball’s long-term commitment to North Carolina and its mission to elevate tournament standards, scouting opportunities, and player development across the region. Both were...

High School | Rankings | 2/3/2026

Top High School Team by State

Tyler Russo

As we continue to roll out our Preseason High School content, we look at what teams come into 2026 as the “team to beat” in each state, whether through prior success or talented rosters. Many of these teams will win titles in their respective states, but most are closely followed by other talented teams in their state that will look to take over the label as the “top team in the state” when we update this after the 2026 high school season. State School Alabama Hoover Alaska Service Arizona Casteel Arkansas Valley View California St. John Bsco Colorado Regis Jesuit Connecticut Fairfield Prep Delaware Sussex Central District of Columbia St. Johns Florida Stoneman Douglas Georgia Etowah Hawaii Kamehameha Kapalama Idaho Eagle Illinois Brother Rice Indiana Center Grove Iowa Waukee Kansas St. Thomas Aquinas Kentucky Trinity Louisiana Barbe Maine Fryeburg Maryland...

Loading more articles...

PERFECTGAME.TV

SPEND MORE. SAVE MORE.

Event Types

Special Events

Featured

Baseball Showcases

Player Rankings

DRAFT BOARD

Team Rankings

Travel Team Rankings

College Rankings

Softball Player Rankings

Top Ranked Players

PG Rawlings Preseason All American

Top Ranked Teams

Recruiting Menu

Event Results

PG EVENT CONTENT

HIGH SCHOOL CONTENT

MLB DRAFT CONTENT

COLLEGE CONTENT

RECENT ARTICLES

PG Alumni

NOTABLE MLB PLAYERS

About Perfect Game