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
Sign in Create Account
Showcase  | Story | 7/7/2009

Justin O'Conner: Too good to be true?

Jim Ecker
Maybe it was simply a misprint. Or maybe Justin O’Conner has a good friend at the newspaper in Muncie, Ind., who fudged the numbers a little. Or maybe, just maybe, O’Conner really had all those glossy stats at Cowan High School this past year.

You be the judge.

O'Conner hit .521 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs this season, but that's not all. He also went 7-0 on the mound with a 0.30 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings.

Fact? Or fiction? O’Conner laughed at the question. Obviously we were kidding. O'Conner is one of the best players in the country. 

“No, those are my stats,” he confirmed. “I felt really good about it.”

Here’s something else O’Conner feels really good about. He’s been selected for the 2009 Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic, to be played on Aug. 16 at PETCO Park in San Diego. “I’m thrilled,” he told Perfect Game.

O’Conner is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound shortstop and pitcher with immense talent. He’s been clocked at 96 mph on the mound, attesting to his pitching prowess, and he won the Home Run Derby at the Perfect Game National Showcase in Minneapolis last month with 15 homers in the Metrodome, cementing his credentials as one of the top young sluggers in the country.

"I've been around this game long enough to know that Justin is a once-in-a-lifetime player,” said Camden Parkhurst, his head coach at Cowan High School. “There’s not one thing that Justin doesn’t do well.”

And those stats? What about those stats?

“His stats are not fake,” Parkhurst affirmed. “I can assure you they’re real.”

There are stories behind those stats, of course. O’Conner once struck out 12 straight batters in a game this year, which is amazing. In another game, he socked three different two-run homers. You almost wonder why the other team kept pitching to him.

“I was in a zone,” he said of the three homers. “They were making good pitches and I hit them.”

He makes it sound simple.

O’Conner, something of a perfectionist, won’t end Batting Practice without hitting a ball on the nose or over the fence. A tireless worker, he gained more than 25 pounds of muscle in the past year, jumping from 165 pounds to about 190. He’s got exceptional range at shortstop, a strong arm and a powerful bat, according to Parkhurst and scouts.

Parkhurst said O’Conner’s work ethic sets him apart from other young players. “It’s a lot of things that people don’t see Justin do that makes him special,” Parkhurst said.

O’Conner’s family has helped a great deal along the way. His parents installed a batting cage at their home for their two baseball-loving sons, Jacob and Justin. And Jacob, a year older than Justin, has been Justin's catcher on youth and school teams for many years.

They’ve formed a good tandem, although Parkhurst confirmed the brothers did not always see eye-to-eye on pitch selection. “They had a couple of glove-over-the-mouth conversations when Jake thought Justin was shaking him off too much,” Parkhurst said with a chuckle.

Justin confirmed that he gets a little “thick-headed” at times when he’s pitching, which led to a couple of mild arguments with his brother. Otherwise, he said, “it’s comfortable’’ pitching to Jake. “Yeah, he lets me shake him off.”

The batting cage at their home has been a valuable asset for the brothers and teammates, making the O'Conner home a popular gathering place. “Every time it rains and we can’t get on the field, everybody is in there,” said Justin.

The O’Conner family installed a 50-foot by 80-foot pole barn on their property so the boys could have their own cage. “It was because we love the game,” said Justin. “I remember my dad asking us if it would be something we would like.”

Are you kidding? The answer was a resounding YES!

“I thought it was great,” said Justin. “I was in there hitting before it was even done.”

Justin is a top-notch pitcher, but he’d rather hit than pitch. “That’s true,” he said. ‘I have a thing for shortstop, playing every day and hitting.”

And it doesn’t have to be shortstop. He also likes to wear the tools of ignorance and catch, volunteering whenever the opportunity arises. “We’ve been entertaining the idea for a couple of months now,” he said. “I used to do it when I was little.”

This is a guy who loves to play the game.

“I’m going to try to do everything until somebody tells me I can’t,” he said.
Give us your feedback
Showcase | Story | 1/6/2026

PG Leaderboard: Class of 2027
Jheremy Brown
Article Image
Complete PG Leaderboard Database PG Leaderboard: Class of 2026 To think this group still has another two years of high school is a scary thought given what some of the category leaders already are. Samir Mohammed up to 97 mph on the mound, Bryce Fontenot with a max exit velocity of 103 mph and a 6.22 60-yard out of Dylan Seward are all otherworldly numbers that you'd expect to find on a college campus, much less a junior in high school.  Below we check in on several categories for the Class of 2027 and will continue to do so through the week, taking in the top 10 for each, from both Perfect Game showcases and tournaments.  Top Fastball Velocity Rk Player FB Event Commitment School Hometown 1 Samir Mohammed 97 2025 PG WWBA World Championship Louisiana State Tampa Jesuit Trinity, FL 2 Connor Salerno 96 2025 PG WWBA World Championship Mississippi State Sun Valley Indian Trail, NC...
Read More
Juco | Rankings | 1/29/2026

JUCO: Top 500 Prospects

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
JUCO Preseason Top 50 RK Name Class Pos. School State Commitment 1 Carson Bailey SO LHP McLennan TX 2 Bishop Quarles SO OF Florida Southwestern FL 3 Holden Hering FR RHP Weatherford TX Arkansas 4 Mikhai Grant SO RHP Northwest Florida FL 5 Jimmy Anderson SO SS Heartland IL Kentucky 6 Noah Bentley SO RHP Weatherford TX Oklahoma 7 Hayden Morris SO RHP Blinn TX LSU 8 Collin Smith SO RHP Cochise AZ South Carolina 9 Anthony Quigley SO OF/3B Northwest Florida FL 10 Anson Seibert RS FR RHP Johnson County KS 11 Major Osbolt RS FR RHP Walters State TN LSU 12 Ben Polleschultz SO LHP Blinn TX Texas A&M 13 Peyton Firgens RS FR MIF McLennan TX Mississippi State 14 Garrett Mirel FR LHP Golden West CA North Carolina State 15 Kole Fenton SO SS Walters State TN North Carolina 16 Joseph Sandusky FR SS Weatherford TX Texas A&M 17 Caden Mitchell SO C Weatherford TX Oklahoma 18 Easton Davies SO RHP...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 1/28/2026

2026 Pacific Baseball Championship Set

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
    667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923  www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    PERFECT GAME ANNOUNCES VENUES, DATES FOR   2026 PACIFIC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP    Elite global talent converges in Southern California, December 26-29, 2026, at the Dodgers’ new ONT Field Stadium and October Empire Complex    Ontario, California (Wednesday, January 28, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced additional details surrounding the 2026 Perfect Game Pacific Baseball Championship (PBC), including official venues, dates and the various nations that players will be coming from,...
Read More
Juco | Rankings | 1/28/2026

JUCO Top 50: January 28

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
Welcome to the 2026 Junior College baseball season. Once again, this year will begin for us with annual coverage of the PCB JUCO Classic in Panama City Beach, FL this week. With that we bring you our beginning of season JUCO baseball rankings. Perfect Game JUCO rankings combine all levels of JUCO baseball across the country into one overall ranking.  The top of this year’s beginning of season ranking begins where the D1 NJCAA World Series ended, with Walters State and Salt Lake. Walters State returns several contributing pieces from last season's team and will begin the year in the top spot. Defending D1 JUCO National Champion Salt Lake will slot in at number 2. This list shows the strength of junior college baseball around the country with programs from 16 different state represented in our initial top 25. Six teams from Florida make our initial top 25, four of which will...
Read More
College | Story | 1/29/2026

Conference Preview: Southland

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
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 Southeastern 38 16 22 8 UT- Rio Grande Valley 36 18 22 8 Lamar 40 17 20 10 Northwestern State 35 21 19 11 McNeese 31 17 19 11 Houston Christian 32 23 17 13 TAMU- Corpus Christi 21 31 12 18 New Orleans 28 26 12 18 Nicholls 17 32 10 20 Stephen F. Austin 17 32 9 21 Incarnate Word 17 33 3 27 Preseason All-Conference Team Pos. Player School Stats/Notes C Julius Ramirez UTRGV Huge numbers at the Juco level as a member of New Mexico JC. Impact stick that will force his way...
Read More
College | Story | 1/29/2026

Conference Preview: Sun Belt

Michael Albee
Article Image
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 Appalachian State 13 17 23 31 Arkansas State 14 16 26 28 Coastal Carolina 26 4 56 13 Georgia Southern 13 17 28 31 Georgia State 11 19 26 30 James Madison 10 20 17 38 Louisiana 16 14 27 31 Marshall 16 14 33 26 Old Dominion 15 15 22 31 South Alabama 12 18 23 28 Southern Mississippi 24 6 47 16 Texas State 14 16 27 31 Troy 18 12 39 21 Louisiana-Monroe 8 22 22 33 Preseason All-Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Jimmy Janicki Troy Lots of buzz coming into the...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 1/27/2026

Believe In Baseball Event Adds Stars

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
    667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923  www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    JAY LENO, NIKKI GLASER, TIFFANY HADDISH, DUSTIN YBARRA AND GARY CANNON ADDED TO PERFECT GAME   BELIEVE IN BASEBALL CHARITY EVENT     Laugh Factory hosts an all-star comedy lineup for Perfect Game’s charity gala    Los Angeles, California (Tuesday, January 27, 2026) - The Perfect Game Believe in Baseball Foundation today announced an all-star comedy lineup for its first-ever “In the Spirit of the Game” charity awards dinner and auction, taking place this Saturday, January 31, 2026, at the world-famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood to benefit youth...
Read More
College | Story | 1/28/2026

Conference Preview: WCC

Steve Doherty
Article Image
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 Gonzaga  26  25 16 8  Loyola Marymount  27  27 14  10 Pacific  20  36 8  16  Pepperdine  12  42 7  17  Portland  22  29 13  11  Saint Mary's  36  26 15  9  San Diego  26  29 19  5  San Francisco  26  30 9  15  Santa Clara  20  30 7  17  Seattle U  20  32 8 16 Preseason All-Conference...
Read More
College | Story | 1/27/2026

Conf. Preview: Conference USA

Geoff Billock
Article Image
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 DBU 41 18 21 6 Delaware 28 25 12 15 FIU 31 27 13 13 Jax State 37 25 15 12 Kennesaw State 31 27 17 9 LA Tech 32 25 14 12 Liberty 30 27 10 17 Missouri State 30 25 17 8 MTSU 23 32 8 19 NM State 23 33 11 15 Sam Houston 12 43 6 21 WKU 46 14 18 9 Preseason All-Conference Team   Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Grayson Ashe Jax State .318/.435/.574; CUSA All-Conference Second Team honors last year. Highly productive offensive catcher who led team in average and home...
Read More
High School | General | 1/29/2026

High School Top 50: 20-11

Cam McElwaney
Article Image
High School Preview Index Top 50 Breakdown: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 20. Lake Travis (Austin, Tx.) 2025 Record: 28-12-3 Head Coach: Ryan Rogers Notable Prospect(s): RHP Cooper Webb (Texas), RHP Landon Lang (Arizona State), OF Austin Glasgow (Utah Tech), RHP CJ Hansford (Wharton County Junior College), RHP Carter Buck, 1B Luke McBride, LHP Cruz Hale, C Molina Yanuell (University of Texas at Arlington), RHP Will Fanning, RHP Westin McDaniel, MIF Adrian Bellanger, OF Brady Skutta, RHP Daniel Womack Lake Travis is coming off a 2025 season that saw them finish as state semifinalists and they return a ton of production, giving them plenty of reasons to think they’ll be able to take home the state title in 2026. Everything starts on the mound for this team as they have a dynamic one-two punch at the top, headlined by Texas commit Cooper Webb and Arizona State commit...
Read More
High School | General | 1/28/2026

High School Top 50: 30-21

Cam McElwaney
Article Image
High School Preview Index Top 50 Breakdown: 50-41 | 40-31 30. Calallen (Corpus Christi, Tx.) 2025 Record: 35-2 Head Coach: Steve Chapman Notable Prospect(s): OF Drayton Mitchell (Texas State), LHP Coll Carroll (Texas State), SS Drayson Gamez (Midland College), 3B Lucas Saenz, OF Jimmy Tipton The 2025 season was one that saw the Wildcats win their fourth state championship under legendary Texas high school coach Steve Chapman. They were dominant from start to finish, ending the year with a 35-2 record and bring back most of their offensive production and the offense will be headlined by a pair of seniors who had great springs a year ago in Drayton Mitchell and Wyatt Duke. Mitchell was also one of the arms that they relied upon a year ago and dominated on the bump. Rounding out the rotation is another senior in Coll Carroll, a left-hander who’s been into the upper-80s in PG...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.