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Tournaments  | Story | 6/23/2021

Legends Take Home 18u BCS Title

Sam Warren
Photo: Florida Legends (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Florida Legends were crowned the 2021 PG 18u BCS National Championship victors Tuesday afternoon, defeating Marucci Elite Texas 18u Mayo, 11-3. While the game ended in a six-inning mercy rule, the matchup remained hotly-contested until the bottom of the sixth, when the Legends put up five runs to earn them the title.
 
After going home early in the 2021 PG 18u East Memorial Day Classic quarterfinals, the Legends pushed through the BCS field unscathed. Compiling an 8-0-1 record through pool and bracket play, the Miramar, Fla.-based squad posted an exceptional +57 run differential throughout the tournament. Legends head coach Carlos Marti was proud of his team’s performance after five long days of baseball.
 
“We just took home a victory against a really good ball club,” Marti said. “It just looked like we had another gear at this point after three games today, and having that drive is really impressive.”
 
After tempers flared through a heated first inning, the Legends bats found life in the bottom of the second. Andrew Estrella drilled the first pitch he saw to deep left field for a double to lead off the inning, giving the team an immediate runner in scoring position. Edgardo Villegas then shot a ball to the right-field wall, but Marucci’s right fielder tracked down the fly out, which allowed Estrella to advance to third. As Juan Aracena looked to plate the game’s first run, Estrella took advantage of a wild pitch, aggressively taking home and igniting the Legends dugout. In such a pivotal game, Marti thought grabbing momentum early was crucial to finish out victorious.
 
“Scoring first was big,” Marti said. “Especially in the championship game, you want to get on the board early, and we were able to do that.”
 
After Legends pitcher Michael Alfonso shut down the Marucci attack in the top of the inning, the Legends offense rode their momentum in the bottom of the third. Brandon Olivera kicked off the inning with another double to deep left field. To score the Miami commit, Kader Rabagh put pressure on the Marucci defense by laying down a bunt. The speedy Rabagh succeeded, as a throwing error scored Olivera and advanced the top-1000 ranked player in the 2021 class to third. Abdriel Delgado then capitalized on the opportunity, grounding an RBI single to right field to score Rabagh.
 
The Marucci bats would not back down quietly, however. Gavyn Jones got the rally going in the fourth with a leadoff single, then advanced to second on a balk. A Jaiden Wallace groundout then advanced Jones to third, giving Jack Clark an opportunity to drive home the first Marucci run of the game. The Louisianna-Lafayette commit delivered, knocking a single up the middle to score Jones. After Donavan Adkins walked, Carter Allen kept the line moving, singling to the left side and loading the bases. With a chance to even the game, Dawson Overby took advantage, shooting a two-RBI single into left field to score Clark and the speedy Adkins. As Marruci looked to take the lead, Alfonso limited the damage, inducing a double play to end the inning. While the opposition got to the top-500 player in the 2021 class, Marti was pleased with Alfonso’s play and attitude on the mound.
 
“Alfonso did a great job,” Marti said. “He was asking for the ball the whole time, and with a depleted bullpen after these long days, his pitching was what we needed to get through.”
 
After getting punched in the mouth, the Legends fought back in the bottom of the fifth. Olivera poked a leadoff single through the middle, putting the go-ahead run on base. Delgado and Jose Hernandez then walked, loading the bases for pinch hitter Maurice Maiquez. In the biggest moment, the 2024 graduate delivered, lining a two-RBI single to left to score both Olivera and Delgado, retaking the lead for the Legends. With the title on the line, Marti couldn’t be prouder of the way the young bat executed.
 
“Maurice is only a freshman,” Marti said. “The kid came up big to take the lead when we needed it. He won’t ever forget that moment.”
 
The team added on to their lead with some savvy baserunning, as Hernandez scored on a poor Marucci pickoff attempt. As the sixth inning began, the Legends had regained a 6-3 lead. 
 
Marcos Gamboa proceeded to shut down the Marucci bats in the sixth, and the Legends smelled blood in the water with the championship in their sights. To begin the sixth, Daniel Swirsky drew a walk, and Anthony Ruiz shot a single through the middle giving the squad two baserunners to work with. Rabagh proceeded to poke a grounder to first that Marucci couldn’t handle, scoring Swirsky. With runners in scoring position, the Legends kept the line moving as back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Delgado, Hernandez and Maiquez put the team within one run of ending the game. With Juan Aracena at the plate, Hernandez took advantage of a wild pitch, sprinting home to give the Legends an 11-3 mercy-rule victory and the BCS National Championship title. 
 
On top of his solid championship performance, Hernandez received the MVP award for the tournament. The top-1000 player in the 2021 class was 10-for-24 on the weekend, smacking five doubles and driving home 11 runs in the process. Hernandez feels that winning the award sets a new standard for himself and his play.
 
“Winning sets my goals high,” Hernandez said. “The rest of the summer, I want to keep playing well against good competition and try to win everything I can.”
 
Despite the losing effort, Marruci’s Alejandro Diaz earned MV-Pitcher honors for his performance throughout the tournament. The righty threw 9 1/3 shutout innings over two games, including a complete-game shutout in the semifinals to advance his squad to the championship game.
 
With a whole summer ahead of his squad, Marti is looking forward to continuing to see his team battle and come back from deficits after seeing his team do so Tuesday afternoon.
 
“The summer’s only a few weeks old, but we’ve talked about needing to answer back,” Marti said. “We’ve lost games here where we didn’t answer back, but today we did it every time. We took a giant step forward today as a team.”
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Tournaments | Championship | 8/12/2026

Pokers Rally to Capture 16U BCS Title
Alyssa Golden
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High School | General | 8/17/2026

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Jim Salisbury
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All American Game | Story | 8/16/2026

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Jim Salisbury
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All American Game | Story | 8/15/2026

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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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General | General | 8/13/2026

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For the fourth time since its inception in 2023, two rosters comprised of the best rising juniors (and a handful of rising sophomores) will step out onto the field Friday afternoon, kicking off the All-American weekend. While the Perfect Game All-American Classic is slated for a 1:35 first pitch at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, 36 future hopefuls of the Classic will go up against one another in an American vs National clash at 11 AM Eastern, Friday morning.  With 36 players from across the country descending on Philadelphia, there will be plenty of familiar names in attendance as 24 of the 36 played in at least one PG Select Festival and all 36 attended either the he Sophomore National, Junior National, or the PG Underclass All-American Games this summer. Leading the charge are a pair of No. 1s in 2028 dynamic talent Dexter McCleon Jr and 2029 Macgraw VanWormer, a do-it-all...
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Draft | Story | 8/11/2026

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Tyler Henninger
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Over the 2026 draft cycle, UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky was the projected No. 1 pick throughout the entire cycle. White Sox fans began #RochWatch and were already talking about when he will make it to Chicago. Now that he has been selected, Cholowsky has immediately become a Top-10 prospect in all of baseball. There is no denying the hype, and the pressure, for Chowlosky to get to the big leagues and produce at a high level.  But how realistic is that? Let’s take a look back at past 1:1 selections and see what you can expect from a No. 1 overall selection.  For this exercise, we’ll look at No. 1 overall picks from the bonus pool era, excluding Eli Willits from 2025 since this is his first full year of pro ball. That gives us 13 players selected from 2012 through 2024.  Almost All Become Big Leaguers The first thing that stands out is how successful No. 1 picks...
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Press Release | Press Release | 8/11/2026

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Perfect Game Staff
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Perfect Game Staff
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