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Tournaments  | Story | 9/23/2020

WWBA Soph World invades Ft. Myers

Photo: Cam Collier (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – It’s cliché, to be sure, but here it goes anyway: “Let the games begin!”

This city on Florida’s Southwest Gulf Coast becomes the epicenter of the amateur baseball world beginning on Thursday, Sept. 24 with the start of play at the 3rd annual Perfect Game WWBA Sophomore World Championship.



This PG national champion event welcomes 104 teams from across the country – including squads from as far west as California and Colorado – and will be contested on fields in Fort Myers and Cape Coral. They include the jetBlue Park Player Development Complex, the Lee County Player Development 5-Plex and the Terry Park Complex in Fort Myers.

The WWBA Sophomore World Championship is the first of four PG WWBA national championships that Southwest Florida counties will host over the next three weeks.

The 197-team WWBA Underclass World Championship is slated for Oct. 1-5 at fields in Lee and Sarasota counties on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The blockbuster 96-team WWBA World Championship, relocated from Jupiter, Fla., will be played Oct. 8-12 on fields in Fort Myers; the 88-team WWBA Freshman World championship will also be contested Oct. 8-12 and played on fields in Lee and Sarasota counties.

The prominent and rapidly expanding 5 Star National organization has eight teams that are based in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina at the WWBA Soph World this weekend; it will have a couple dozen more at the next three WWBA Worlds moving forward.

5 Star National 16u Burress won last year’s Sophomore World Championship – Florida-based Elite Squad teams won in 2017 and 2018 – and 5 Star teams have a history of winning PG BCS National Championships played on Lee County fields over the last several years.

“Obviously, with the success that we’ve had in Fort Myers, it’s always good to get back there,” program founder/owner/coach Andy Burress told PG on Wednesday. “We’ve just always had a lot of success there across the board as a program; I think our guys kind of enjoy the trip.”

The 5 Star 16U White team may find a lot of ways to enjoy this weekend based on the terrific 2023s that populate its roster. Seven of the prospects are ranked in the top-39 nationally, and eight rostered players have already committed to prominent SEC and ACC college programs.

5 Star 16U White’s top prospect list is headed by third baseman/righthander Cam Collier (No. 2, Louisville), righthander/corner-infielder James Hays (No. 13, Georgia), outfielder Drew Burress (No. 14, uncommitted), and catcher/corner-infielder Riley Jackson (No. 16, Florida State).

Catcher/outfielder Brady Neal (No. 26, LSU), shortstop/third baseman Stone Russell (No. 34, Florida) and righthander/infielder Connor Crisp (No. 39, Georgia) can also be difference makers for the team; Collier, Burress, Jackson and Neal were all at the 2019 PG 14u Select Baseball Festival.

“With my son (Drew) being on the team and him having a huge role in putting that team together, it’s just a really close-knit group of guys,” Andy Burress said. “Obviously, they’re really good players and everybody can see that but what people don’t see is just how good of friends they are; a lot of the families are super close.”

5 Star 16U White will be challenged, of course, by dozens of teams that also come in boasting rosters filled with elite prospects.

The Florida-based Top Tier Roos American 2023 feature the talents of third baseman Aidan Miller (No. 3, uncommitted), middle-infielder Cade Kurland (No. 14, Florida), middle-infielder Steven Milam (No. 29, LSU), catcher/outfielder Colton Wombles (No. 33, Auburn); those four also performed at the 2019 PG 14u Select Fest.

The Georgia-based Team Elite 2023 Scout Team enjoys the services of catcher/outfielder Zion Rose (No. 11, Louisville), outfielder Justin Best (No. 25, Florida State) and five other 2023s ranked between Nos. 60 and 165. Rose was at the 2019 PG 13u Select Baseball Festival and at the PG 14u Select Fest a couple of weeks ago in Oklahoma City.

Novato, Calif.-based Meta National 23 has headed east looking to flex its West Coast muscles. Five Meta National 23’s from the 2023 class are ranked in the top-350 nationally including outfielder Owen Egan (No. 19, UCLA), catcher Raffaele Velazquez (No. 23, Arizona State) and shortstop Kai Caranto (No. 68, uncommitted).

Egan was at the 2019 PG 14u Select Fest and Velazquez, like Team Elite’s Rose, was at the 13u Select Fest in 2019 and the 14u Festival this year.

Other highly ranked 2023s in attendance include Dirtbags Signature outfielder TayShaun Walton (No. 5, Miami), Power Baseball 2023 shortstop Braden Holcomb (No. 9, Vanderbilt),  South Charlotte Panthers outfielder Walker Jenkins (#10 North Carolina), Texas Twelve Maroon 2023 lefthander Jakob Schulz (No. 32, uncommitted), Meta Prime 2023 first baseman Nolan Stevens (No. 37, uncommitted) and National Scout Team 2023 outfielder AJ Gracia (No. 41, Duke).

The top 2024s in attendance include Eagles Baseball third baseman Anthony Tralongo (No. 17), 5 Star 15U White righthander Bailey Thorne (No. 40), catcher Brooks Wright (No. 41, Tennessee) and outfielder Camdon Frier (No. 61), and Canes American-Scott catcher Joshua Agriesti.

“I think for us and for everybody in general this is kind of the end of a hectic, to say the least, summer,” Burress said. “We’ve got several groups this week and several groups next week, and for us the excitement (comes with) being in Fort Myers where the weather is nice this time of year. …

“But the biggest thing is being able to go and kind of finish up the last two or three weeks in one place; that’s the most exciting part of it.”


Tournaments | Story | 1/20/2026

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TBT Phillies Scout run rules for second straight MLK East Championship The 14U TBT Phillies Scout Team overtook A3 Academy Futures 14-6 in the final game to win their second straight 2026 MLK East Championship. Though the skies were blue and the sun was out in Fort Myers, Florida, the air was very chilly. The wind whipped through the palm trees as players, parents and friends piled into the 5-Plex Player Development Complex bundled up in blankets, hoodies and beanies.  The A3 Academy Futures were first up to bat - and the TBT Phillies struggled through the first frame. The first run came across on a balk; the second came soon after off a double from Gabriel Messing. “I was surprised that they scored right away off the jump,” Kingston George said, an outfielder for TBT Phillies Scout and this year’s MVP of the 14U East MLK championship. “We were kind of quiet...
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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 Illinois 30 24 14 16 Indiana 32 24 16 14 Iowa 33 22 21 9 Maryland 27 29 12 18 Michigan 33 23 16 14 Michigan State 28 27 13 17 Minnesota 24 28 10 20 Nebraska 33 29 15 15 Northwestern 25 27 13 17 Ohio State 13 37 5 25 Oregon 42 16 22 8 Penn State 33 23 15 15 Purdue 31 23 11 19 Rutgers 29 28 15 15 UCLA 48 18 22 8 USC 37 23 18 12 Washington 29 28 17 13 Preseason All-Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Mason Eckelman Ohio State Taken steps forward--...
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Demystifying the Curveball, Pitch Counts, and Weighted Balls- Part 1 You know what I love about the holidays? Good food, time with family, and the unspoken rule that nobody brings up religion or politics at the dinner table.   Why? Because they're powder kegs. Topics that bring out deep-seated beliefs and strong emotions.  Well, I accidentally lit one of those powder kegs recently, except it wasn't at the dinner table. It was on social media.   Our team posted a short clip of me at Boot Camp making what I thought was a pretty straightforward point: simply avoiding the curveball is far from a guarantee of arm health.   I wasn't trying to be provocative. I was just stating what I believed to be obvious after 30 years of doing this work.  But boy, did a few people have problems with it.   It became one of the most discussed posts in Ranch history....
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Tournaments | Story | 1/20/2026

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MLK West Scout Notes: Days 1-2 Markus Chandler, RHP, Westside HS Class of 2027 A little on the undersized side as a sub 6 footer, but Chandler can generate some velo and spin.  Spun 3 frames of hitless ball for Spects National with zero walks and 6 strikeouts.  Committed to Kansas State, the righty ran the fastball to 92, living 89-92 pumping the zone with 75 percent strikes.  Looked like two different breaking balls, with the SL 80/81 (spin in 2500’s) and curveball 75/76.  No hard contact, little contact at all off the righty in this dominant outing. To follow up the pitching performance, Chandler swung the bat well on Championship Monday (Trademark Pending) with 5 RBI and three hits on the day, regularly on the barrel.  Trevor Alons, RHP, Centennial HS Class of 2028 Lean framed sophomore with a quick, whippy arm.  Playing up a few classes, you might...
College | Story | 1/20/2026

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Tyler Henninger
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Steve Fiorindo
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Perfect Game Hires Blakeley As Regional Dir.

Perfect Game Staff
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    667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923  www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    PERFECT GAME HIRES ERIC BLAKELEY AS REGIONAL DIRECTOR    Sanford, Florida (Friday, January 16, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the hiring of Eric Blakeley as a Regional Director. Blakeley brings more than two decades of experience in elite baseball and softball events, along with an accomplished background as both a collegiate and professional player.    Blakeley joins Perfect Game after building the highly respected Crossroads Baseball Series, where for more than 20 years he developed and operated baseball...
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