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Tournaments  | Story | 6/19/2021

NEB Comes Back For More at 18u BCS

Sam Warren
Photo: Hunter Carns (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As BCS season gets underway on Florida’s Gulf Coast, 24 teams from across the country began to vie for the coveted 18u BCS National Championship on Friday morning. While this is many squads’ first major tournament together, one team is not only experienced, but has championship history in the BCS.
 
Northeast Baseball National enters this year’s 18u BCS National Championship confident. Not only did they make it to the championship game of last weekend’s Perfect Game 18u National Elite Championship in Hoover, Ala., but they enter the BCS as reigning champions, winning the 18u division in 2020. While many of the players on the championship roster were 2020 graduates and are off in college ball, NEB still retains a few experienced players from last year’s squad. Dakota Stone, one of the players who carries over from last year’s roster, says this year’s team might be even better.
 
“We’ve got a lot of dudes,” Stone said. “We’ve got a lot of hard workers. This team definitely has a lot more power than last year’s team, and we’ve got some big bats that can mash.”
 
Among those “dudes” include Stone himself, the 108th-ranked player in the class of 2022 and a Jacksonville commit, as well as 2021 top-500 players Joey Spence (Notre Dame commit), Logan Maxwell (TCU commit), Jack Cebert (South Florida commit), Orlando Pena (Coastal Carolina commit) and Ty Batusich (Western Kentucky commit). Hunter Carns, the 101st-ranked player in the 2024 class, also joins his older counterparts on the BCS roster. As they entered the tournament, Stone had some words of advice as an experienced champion for the newcomers.
 
“We just have to battle every inning,” Stone said. “It’s hard to stay in the game for these six games and into the semifinals and championship. If we stay locked in, we have a good shot.”
 
To begin their quest to repeat as champions, NEB put on a good showing. Going 2-0 in their first day of pool play, the Hudson, Mass.-based team beat the South Florida Braves, 16-5, in their first game and Gametime Prospects 18u Black, 9-6, in their second. After a successful day on the field, head coach Steven Barnes said his players were completing the tasks at hand.
 
“Our guys are doing what they are supposed to do,” Barnes said. “They are doing what they are capable of. It’s just a matter of consistency and everyone doing their job.”
 
NEB came out hot to start their weekend. After drawing a leadoff walk, Maxwell advanced to third base on a balk and passed ball. Brennan Baker then walked as well, setting up Elijah Dukes with runners on the corners. Dukes rose to the occasion, pulling an RBI single to right field, plating Maxwell and the game’s first run. An errant throw then allowed Baker to score and set up Batusich to drive home Santiago Barcelo with an RBI double. Batusich finished off the scoring in the first, scampering home on a wild pitch and giving NEB a 4-0 lead to begin the game.
 
NEB kept their foot on the gas in the second. After Austin Turja lined a single to center, Maxwell clobbered a homer to deep right-center, extending the NEB lead to six. 
 
Adding one run in the third on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, NEB stayed on the attack in the fourth as Maxwell drove an RBI triple to left field, scoring Turja, who led off with another hit by pitch. Baker returned the favor for Maxwell, plating him with an RBI triple of his own. Dukes then kept the line moving, shooting an RBI double to center to score Baker. After Batusich walked, Dannon Smith drove home Baker with an RBI single. The NEB onslaught continued as Batusich scored on a wild pitch, then Stone plated Smith giving the squad six runs in the inning. By the time the fourth had ended, NEB had mounted a 13-0 lead. Barnes said he was proud of the way his bats performed against the Braves.
 
“We had some timely hitting,” Barnes said. “Some of our guys had huge days at the plate. We just played hard and hit the ball well.”
 
However, NEB pitching struggled to find the zone in the bottom of the inning, allowing the Braves to stage a four-run comeback. NEB quickly answered back in the fifth, as Maxwell lined a leadoff single and Carns poked an RBI double to deep left, scoring Maxwell. After a Dukes single loaded the bases, Barcelo finished the NEB offensive output, slapping a two-RBI single to center. While the Braves got back one run in the inning, Dukes struck out two batters in the fifth to close out the game, finishing off a 16-5 NEB win.
 
Despite their dominant performance in their first game, NEB ran into some struggles in their second against Gametime Prospects 18u Black. After both offenses stayed silent through the third, the Gametime offense exploded in the top of the fourth, posting six runs in the inning. While Gametime’s rally was a punch in the mouth, Barnes never lost confidence in his squad.
 
“We kind of expected a comeback,” Barnes said. “We were barrelling balls the first three innings. They were just going right at them. We knew we were bound to find holes and have a big inning.”
 
The crooked number may have been the inspiration the NEB offense needed, however, as they came alive in the bottom of the inning. Maxwell kicked it off with a leadoff single, and after stealing second, he scored on a misplayed Baker ground ball to third. Then, after Dukes blooped a single over third, Barcelo poked an RBI single into shallow left to score Baker. On the next pitch, Batusich shot an RBI double to deep center, putting him and Barcelo in scoring position. Smith then took advantage, lining a two-RBI double to left. Finally, Owen Boyce strung together another RBI double to complete the rally, tying the game at six and evening the game back up. Stone believes that the early deficit was what his team needed to knock off their complacency at the plate.
 
“We got down 6-0, and we all knew that we had to start picking up things,” Stone said. “Logan Maxwell started with a barrel, and we just kept going on from there.”
 
While both sides quieted in the fifth, the NEB bats clutched up in the sixth. Dukes reached on an error to lead off the inning and was later moved over on a Batusich single to center. After the duo completed a double steal, Smith delivered when it mattered most, smacking a single that scored Dukes, Batusich and himself after some poor Gametime defense. With a newfound three-run lead, Baker struck out two in the seventh and closed down a 9-6 win for NEB. As their offense clicked into gear, Stone says that the team developed a next-man-up mentality.
 
“We just wanted to keep passing the bat and keep the thing going,” Stone said. “We just rallied and rallied and believed in each other. We just kept picking, getting on base no matter what, and that led us to get that win.”
 
As the team’s BCS play furthers down the line, Barnes knows that NEB will have a target on their back for their current and past success. Barnes believes that his team’s name is circled on many schedules, but he knows that that won’t phase his roster or their championship hopes.
 
“Everybody is after us,” Barnes said. “We like that, and we’re looking forward to that. We know we’re the team to beat here and that whoever wants the championship has to come through us.”
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Tournaments | Championship | 8/12/2026

Pokers Rally to Capture 16U BCS Title
Alyssa Golden
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Pokers Rally to Capture 16U BCS Title A hot afternoon at JetBlue Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida ended in a 9-1 victory for the Original Florida Pokers 2028 National, defeating SBA Bolts Florida 2028 National on Monday to capture the 16U BCS National Championship. A pitchers’ duel kept the game scoreless through four innings before the Pokers broke it open with a five-run fifth inning. The title marked the Pokers’ second 16U BCS Championship, adding to the championship they won in 2022. Despite a slow start to the summer, the Pokers found their stride at the right time. “We struggled a lot early in the summer, but the past few tournaments we really started turning it on,” Pokers head coach Will McCrimon said. “I’m just so proud of these kids.” Max Maynes started the game on the mound for the Pokers. The left-hander allowed three hits and two walks...
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Draft | Story | 8/22/2026

2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: AL East

Tyler Henninger
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With the 2026 MLB Draft officially in the books, it’s time to evaluate how each team performed. Every draft class was graded using the standard 20-80 scouting scale with risk factor assigned. While these grades won’t be proven right or wrong for years, they reflect the overall talent, value, and upside each organization added to its system. AL East Baltimore Orioles Grade: 50 Risk: High Notable Selections: OF Eric Booth Jr. (1st rd) | OF Ty Head (2nd rd) | OF Kevin Roberts Jr (4th rd)  Eric Booth Jr. (26 MS) goes big fly 💣 that carried out oppo. Explosive athlete w/ huge LH juice & tools. Big time in several facets. #NatElite #Vandy commit. @PG_DeepSouth pic.twitter.com/kXl7ZVyD9G — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 12, 2025 Baltimore was about middle of the pack in terms of money available this year, having $13.1m to spend on their class. Booth Jr. is a...
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College | Story | 8/21/2026

2027 Draft Preview: Collegiate RHP

Ryan Miller
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2027 MLB Draft Profile Preview: College Right-Handed Pitchers  Throughout the 2027 draft cycle, I’ll be breaking down different demographics in the class. Today we begin with collegiate right-handed pitching, a strong group that is headlined by a legitimate 1-1 candidate in Dax Whitney. Most of the group is made up of high-quality power four arms, with a handful of mid-major arms mixed in. Below are the top college right-handers in the 2027 class:  Dax Whitney (@BeaverBaseball) showed LOUD stuff. FB up to 100, cruised at 95-98. Pair of plus secondaries. CB at 77-79 (2923) with sharp, 12-6 action. Firm SL at 89-91 (2714) with bite. Flashed fading CH at 87-88 (1425). Ranked No. 1 on the ‘27 board @PG_Draft So./‘27 elig. pic.twitter.com/9PNbjJ53Zo — PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) February 13, 2026 Dax Whitney, Oregon State  Whitney has maintained...
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All American Game | Story | 8/21/2026

Brotherly Love Inspires Carter Hadnot

Jim Salisbury
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PHILADELPHIA – Perfect Game has been a big part of Carter Hadnot’s life since he was 12. He participated in more than a dozen tournaments and showcases, including prestigious Select Festivals as a 13U and 14U player, as well as last summer’s PG All-Star Game for underclassmen in San Diego.   The PG event that Hadnot always wanted to be part of was the DICK’s All-American Classic. Now, that’s on his resume, too. He played in the 24th annual Classic earlier this week at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. “This means a lot to me,” he said during the event. “I always wanted to make it to Select Fest when I was younger. So, every time I get invited to an event it’s an honor and it’s fun. I don’t take it for granted. “This is definitely the one I always wanted to make it to. A lot of big names have...
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Press Release | Press Release | 8/18/2026

Perfect Game & Delano Partner Up

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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 NAMES DELANO BAT COMPANY OFFICIAL WOOD COMPOSITE BAT PARTNER, LAUNCHES LIMITED-EDITION BAT SERIES   Delano Bats will serve as the Official Game Bat of the 13U Select Festival, taking place this coming weekend in East Cobb, Georgia   Sanford, Florida (Tuesday, August 18, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a new partnership with Delano Bat Company, LLC, naming the company an Official Wood Composite Bat Partner of Perfect Game. The partnership will feature three exclusive limited-edition bat releases, which began with the Original Glory American Flag Bat in celebration of the United States' 250th birthday, that...
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Draft | Story | 8/17/2026

2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: NL Central

Tyler Henninger
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2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: AL West | NL West | AL Central With the 2026 MLB Draft officially in the books, it’s time to evaluate how each team performed. Every draft class was graded using the standard 20-80 scouting scale with risk factor assigned. While these grades won’t be proven right or wrong for years, they reflect the overall talent, value, and upside each organization added to its system. NL Central Chicago Cubs  Grade: 40 Risk: Medium Notable Selections: RHP Cade Townsend (1st rd) | OF Caden Sorrell (2nd rd) | 1B Myles Bailey (2C)   RHP Cade Townsend (@OleMissBSB) sat 95-96 T97 w/ riding FB from fast arm. Nasty cutter at 88-91 is the go-to, showed biting 2 pln SL. Low-80s top to bottom CB & CH ~ 1300 RPM to round out mix. Has had a great spring & risen up boards. Soph./'26 elig. @PG_Draft pic.twitter.com/TAFbM37f5j — PG College...
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Draft | Story | 8/17/2026

2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: AL Central

Tyler Henninger
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2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: AL West | NL West With the 2026 MLB Draft officially in the books, it’s time to evaluate how each team performed. Every draft class was graded using the standard 20-80 scouting scale with risk factor assigned. While these grades won’t be proven right or wrong for years, they reflect the overall talent, value, and upside each organization added to its system. AL Central Cleveland Guardians  Grade: 45 Risk: Moderate  Notable Selections: RHP Liam Peterson (1st rd) | Tre Broussard OF (3rd rd) | RHP Savion Sims (7th rd)  Liam Peterson (@GatorsBB) has been pure power stuff through the first 3.0 IP in his start vs Bama…imposing his will on hitters with a fastball that has grabbed 100 mph a few times, backed up by his power slider and curveball @PG_Draft pic.twitter.com/RVThNrdMTn — PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) May 21,...
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High School | General | 8/17/2026

Scott Wins MVP Two Ways

Jim Salisbury
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PHILADELPHIA – When the folks at Perfect Game reached out to invite him to pitch in the 2026 PG All-Star Game for rising sophomores and juniors, Cullen Scott had one request. “You mind if I get a couple of at-bats, too?” Along with his dad, Scott traveled from the family’s home in Texas to Citizens Bank Park. The trip proved to be a huge success as he starred on the mound and at the plate and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Scott, 16, pitched a scoreless first inning and struck out two. In the fourth inning, he belted a grand slam six rows up into the left-field seats to lead the National team’s 6-1 win over the American team. “He showed us why he’s here as a pitcher and a hitter,” said Greg Sabers, PG’s vice president of scouting and showcases. "He’s one of the top pitchers here, but he’s too good a...
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All American Game | Story | 8/16/2026

Romero Slams His Way to Classic MVP

Jim Salisbury
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PHILADELPHIA – Sunday’s DICK’s Perfect Game All-American Classic was a pitching-dominated affair until the bottom of the eighth inning when the rain started to fall at Citizens Bank Park and Koa Romero stepped to the plate and did his best impression of Kyle Schwarber. Romero wears No. 12, just like Schwarber. He bats left-handed, just like Schwarber. He’s got big power, just like Schwarber. And at 5-10 and a rock-solid 225 pounds, he’s even built like Schwarber. Needless to say, Schwarber is Romero’s favorite player. So, it was all kind of storybook when Romero belted a grand slam to dead center to cap off the scoring in the West team’s 8-3 win over the East club in the 24th annual Classic. “This is a dream come true,” said Romero, who was named MVP of the game. “It’s amazing to be able to put a ball like that out of a...
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All American Game | Story | 8/15/2026

A Philly Dream for Steingall

Jim Salisbury
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PHILADELPHIA – Carson Steingall had been to Citizens Bank Park many times over the years. After all, he hails from Nazareth, Pa., about 90 minutes up the road from the home of the Philadelphia Phillies and he counts himself as a big fan of the team. Zack Wheeler is his favorite. Steingall realized a dream when he pitched from the same mound that Wheeler does in Perfect Game’s fourth annual All-Star Game for rising sophomores and juniors on Friday. The dream got even better when Steingall, a 16-year-old right-hander, was named Most Valuable Pitcher after striking out the side in the third inning of the National team’s 6-1 victory over the American team. “It’s just an honor to be here,” Steingall said after receiving his trophy. “This event is the best of the best. It’s really cool to win something like this.” Steingall, who’ll...
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Showcase | Story | 8/13/2026

PG Honors Pat Gillick With Philly Showcase

Perfect Game Staff
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Perfect Game to honor Pat Gillick in new Philadelphia Showcase  By Maya Heyman Perfect Game is bringing its elite showcase experience to Philadelphia’s FDR Park for the inaugural Philly Stars/Pat Gillick Showcase this weekend, honoring one of the greatest executives in MLB history in the city where he constructed his final of three World Series winners. The event will take place on Sunday, the same day as the DICK’S All-American Classic, taking place just across the street at Citizens Bank Park.  The showcase will allow Philadelphia-area players to gain exposure and will also honor Gillick, who has been a tremendous influence in both professional and amateur baseball.   Jered Goodwin, Vice President of Scouting Operations for Perfect Game, said the idea came naturally.  “Going to Philly made a lot of sense to honor Pat Gillick, who's been a...
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