THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,805 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,805 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story | 7/29/2021

Team Ohio shines under desert sun

Jeff Dahn
Photo: Skylar King (Perfect Game)

SURPRISE, Ariz. – With the bold red block letters “O-H-I-O” emblazoned on the front of their coal black jerseys and a sense of purpose evident in their demeanor, the players from the Team Ohio Pro Select program don’t pretend to hide their intent from anyone.

This is a team with a talented roster comprised mostly of top 2022 prospects from the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan that is at this week’s Perfect Game 17u World Series wanting to show their counterparts from the West Coast that they can play with the best and do it with pride and humility.



“All we preach is having a good attitude and showing a ton of effort,” Ohio Pro Select head coach Brian Chad told PG on Wednesday, speaking from the Rangers side of the Surprise Spring Training Complex.

“Mistakes are going to happen and that’s what they should expect at the next level – you’re going to have your ups-and-downs – but now this is just fun; they’ve bought in,” he said. “We preach playing fast and these guys are running all day long, so right now it’s just building on what we’ve done all summer.”

Twenty-five of the 35 elite teams that are here this week come from the states of Arizona, California and Texas, which makes Team Ohio a bit of an outlier. But its appearance here this week marks the third time in the last four years that the Ohio Pro Select have been in attendance at the PG 17u WS, missing only last year due to Covid-19 restrictions. When they got the invite again this year, there was no way it was going to be turned down.

Team Ohio had been traveling the country a fair amount already this summer, or at least the Southeast. It was at the PG 17u National Select Championship in Marietta, Ga., June 17-20; hopped up to Hoover, Ala., for the PG 17u National Elite Championship June 30-July 4; and then took its shot at the preeminent PG WWBA 17u National Championship back in Marietta July 6-13.

It was interesting that the Pro Select enjoyed the most success at the WWBA 17u NC, finishing with a 3-3-0 mark; they went 1-3-0 at the 17u National Select and 2-3-0 at the 17u National Elite.

“Record-wise, I think we’re a lot better than what our record shows,” Chad said. “This is a good group of guys; they’ve grinded through it. Some of them aren’t used to being on the road this much but they’ve gotten a great opportunity to do this.”

Opportunity did indeed knock while the team was in Marietta for the WWBA 17u and three players were quick to answer the door. While at the event, ’22 shortstop Clay Wiesen committed to Tennessee Tech, ’22 catcher Aaron Posey to Kennesaw State and ’22 right-hander Talon Mihalinac to New Jersey Tech. It is, as has been said time and again, all about finding the right fit and those three were in the right place at the right time.

This Team Ohio Pro Select roster is stocked with class of 2022 top 500-ranked prospects, 11 of whom have made commitments to D-I schools (not all 11 are here this week). Fourteen of the players occupying the 23 official roster spots are from Ohio, five live in Pennsylvania and four call Michigan home.

Outfielder Skylar King, a South Carolina product, has committed to West Virginia; Ohio infielder/outfielder Shawn Parnell is a Cincinnati commit while Pennsylvania right-hander/infielder Dan Snyder has pledged to Louisville.

Also included in that group are Pennsylvania outfielder/first baseman Devan Zirwas (VCU), Ohio shortstop Gus Gregory (Wright State) and Ohio catcher Tommy Harrison (Miami of Ohio).

“It’s been a great experience, getting to meet these guys,” King told PG on Wednesday. “We come from all over, so there’s different personalities. We get to talk to each other, chill, play baseball; love the game.”

King’s Team Ohio teammate Gregory agreed: “There’s a lot of different personalities, that’s for sure. The thing that helps is when we get here with a new guy every weekend, we ride in the vans [to the ballpark] together so you kind of get to figure out what people’s personalities are like.”

The Ohio Pro Select did re-introduce themselves to the PG 17u World Series community in a pretty loud manner Tuesday night, cranking  out 11 hits in a 12-0, four-inning victory over highly-regarded Phoenix entry 3D Gold.

Team Ohio received excellent production from the bottom half of its order in the win with No. 6 hitter Tommy Harrison contributing a single and three RBI; No. 7 Billy Adams a double and a single with two runs scored; No. 8 Gus Gregory a double, a single, an RBI and two runs; No. 9 Josh Dezenzo a single and two RBI; and No. 10 Anthony Grasso a double and two RBI.

Meanwhile, 2022 right-hander Dan Snyder and ’22 lefty Luke Schlimm combined on a four-inning one-hitter, striking out eight.

“I got in [Tuesday] around 2 [p.m.] and right away we went to the cages. It was nice because we were all at the cages, we all got to see each other because we all had just got in,” Gregory said. “So that’s kind of where it starts. We get to talk to each other and we kind of get reconnected. When we were up at the plate we knew that if we get on base the guy behind us is going to help bring us in.”

As Coach Chad tells it, this is a group of talented athletes that has stayed focused on their goal of playing college or pro ball once their high school years are behind them while staying just as focused on enjoying the ride on their way there. Chad has had the pleasure of being around some pretty darn good teams in the last six or seven years at Team Ohio Pro Select but he calls this group one of the best.

“Early in the season with how all the [high school] playoffs were set up in all these different states it took two or three weeks before we got everybody together; that’s why we kind of started a little bit slow,” he said. “But these guys have worked hard for each other.”

There is a special dynamic with this group that most high-level travel ball programs also try to achieve and that’s a feeling of togetherness.

In effort to promote what Chad referred to as a “college atmosphere” team members and coaches stay at the same hotel, travel to the fields together in vans on gameday, eat as many of their meals together as possible and spend as much time with each other away from the field as circumstances allow. That allows the players ample opportunity to do some serious bonding and strengthen their friendships and they’ve embraced those opportunities.

Chad did share with PG that the Team Ohio Pro Select has a sponsor who generously supports the team in a pretty profound way. Local Aurora, Ohio, businessman and former minor-leaguer Matt Carpenter has long helped provide any kid who wants to be a part of the program but may be lacking in fundamental resources with the opportunity to be a part of it all.

Carpenter doesn’t ask for anything in return, Chad said. He just gets true enjoyment from seeing these teenagers thrive in an environment they may otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.

The 17u age division has always been the Team Ohio Pro Select’s calling card but the program expanded by adding a 16u team this year. It was kind of crazy for the coaching staff during stretches this summer, but the 16u team recently completed its season and the PGWS will be it for the 17u’s so now there will be a couple of weeks of down-time before the PG fall travel ball season takes flight.

This summer has been crazy in other ways for all of the top 17u travel ball teams, mostly the result of persistent adverse weather patterns. The 1970 Brook Benton hit record “Rainy Night in Georgia” has become the state’s unofficial anthem and the 100-degree high temperatures the Phoenix Valley is experiencing this week are actually a reprieve from the 115-plus that was prevalent here a week or two ago. And yet, the boys from Ohio have persevered.

“Down in Atlanta I think it rained every day...but they found ways to work through it; they’re definitely really resilient,” Chad said. “We haven’t had anybody complaining about the heat. They just love playing on fields like this against great competition so it’s great to be out here.”

Team Ohio played its second game of the tournament Wednesday morning on the Rangers’ side of the Surprise Complex and was no less impressive than it had been Tuesday night, taking down Colorado entrant Slammers Holzemers, 8-2.

The Ohio Pro Select rapped out nine hits in this win, led by Miami (Ohio) commit Carson Byers, who had a two-run single as part of a four-run fifth and added a two-run home run in the top of the seventh.

Clay Wiesen singled, drove in a pair of runs and scored two others; Shawn Parnell singled and drove in a run and Devan Zirwas singled twice. 2022 righty Ryan Petro worked the first 6 1/3 innings allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

“We always feel like we can win,” said the leadoff hitter King, who in the two games singled and walked and scored both times he reached. “We’ll come out here and play fast and just let the game fall [into place]...I’ve never played out here so this is a new experience for me, just seeing how these other teams go about their business.”

Two games into a four-game set of pool play games at the PG 17u World Series it may be the other teams in the field that are taking note of the way the Team Ohio Pro Select goes about its business. They’ve out-hit their first two opponents by a combined 20-5 and outscored them 20-2.

They’ve faced teams from the Phoenix and Denver areas and have pool-play games remaining against two squads based in Southern California: the Chicago Cubs Scout Team and the powerhouse CBA Marucci National.

Chad, who doesn’t really have to tell these guys a whole heck of a lot at this point on the calendar – not when it comes to preparation, anyway – does remind them that many of the guys sitting in the opposing dugout, the high-end players, are the same guys they’re going to be playing against in college.

You better figure out a way to compete against them now because you just might be competing against them under an entirely different set of circumstances in a couple of years, he tells them. And, of course, you might want to figure them out now because there’s a PG 17u World Series championship to be won and everybody wants to bring the summer season to a close on a good note.

Gregory. who calls Strongville, Ohio, home, knows what’s at stake: “With these guys, we’re all pushing toward the same goal: we all want to win and we all want to play hard,” he said. “We all work hard so it means a lot to wear ‘OHIO’. Although we’re not all from Ohio we all act like we’re from Ohio; we all act like we live in the same house.”
Give us your feedback
Tournaments | Story | 1/27/2026

MLK East Scout Notes Recap
Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
‘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...
Read More
College | Recruiting | 3/23/2026

Recruiting Notebook: March 23

Ryan Miller
Article Image
High speed look at the FF-SL from '27 SS/RHP Harry Chubb Jones Jr. (GA)... #BeastoftheEast @PG_Uncommitted @PG_Georgia https://t.co/zXWgDJjU0y pic.twitter.com/GUIUN4tWmw — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 25, 2025 Harry Chubb Jones Jr., RHP/SS, Class of 2027 Commitment: Alabama Jones recently flipped his commitment from Clemson to Alabama, landing Rob Vaughn and staff a high-end two-way talent in the ’27 class. The Georgia native possesses tremendous upside on the mound, working from a long and lean right-handed frame that displays projection and athleticism. Jones starts over the face before working to the belt and into a higher pronounced leg lift. He fires down the mound via a standard-length arm action and high three-quarters slot. Chubb’s fastball/slider combination and feel for the zone, with the heater showcasing run/ride traits and power into the high-90s....
Read More
College | Rankings | 3/22/2026

College Top 25: March 23

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
Time flies when you are having fun and the fact that we are almost to the halfway point of the 2026 season, proves just how entertaining things have been to this point. In what was an ultra-impactful week on the national landscape, there are some clubs fading out of the limelight while others are emerging from the shadows and showing they are a force to be reconned with. Conference play always makes the big picture come into view and we are now getting a feel for who the true contenders may be as the grind begins. The UCLA Bruins (21-2) keep their stranglehold on the top spot in the land as they remain unchallenged since the start of Big Ten play and finished the week with a (4-0) record. The Texas Longhorns (20-3) did lose back-to-back games this week but showed their resilience by winning an intense road series against now No. 7 Auburn (19-4). Georgia Tech (19-5) also had a (2-2) week...
Read More
Draft | Rankings | 3/20/2026

2026 Draft Board: Top 300

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
The 2026 MLB Draft class is shaping up to be one of the better in recent memory and, potentially, the best class in the last decade. It’s led by UCLA superstar shortstop Roch Cholowsky, a true five-tool prospect who’s the early favorite for 1:1. One of the most popular pieces of industry feedback when constructing this list was some variation of “Roch is too low” or “go up on Roch” and he’s the best college prospect since 2019 when Adley Rutschman (Oregon State, Orioles) was the consensus No. 1 prospect. Similarly to 2019, there’s a superstar Texas prep shortstop at No. 2, in 2019 it was Bobby Witt Jr. (Colleyville Heritage, Royals) and this year it’s Grady Emerson. Both Emerson and Alabama’s Justin Lebron would have been solid 1:1 candidates in years where Roch Cholowsky is not eligible and both have All-Star potential....
Read More
High School | General | 3/23/2026

High School Notebook: March 23

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Talon Brown (‘29 CA) showing some intriguing stuff over 2.1 IP running the FB up to 89, living 86-88 while mixing in a BB at 77. FB heavy on the day w/ a limited pitch count. 6-4, 205-lb w/ an athletic operation working down the bump #PGHS pic.twitter.com/HkLmJHrB1W — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) March 14, 2026 Talon Brown 2029 RHP, Christian Brown features an advanced 6-foot-4, 205-pound, athletic, projectable frame.  The freshman has made two appearances on the young season working four-innings without allowing a hit or run and has struck out seven opposing hitters.  It’s an easy, downhill operation and the ball jumps out of the hand, using the four-seam often that has ride through the zone, sitting 85-88 and topping out at 89.  The breaking ball showed 11-5 shape with depth spinning it at 1900 RPM+.  Brown features an athletic...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 3/19/2026

PG Teams Up with OZ Ball Tournaments PTY

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 NAMES OZ BALL TOURNAMENTS PTY AS OFFICIAL AREA DIRECTOR IN AUSTRALIA, EXPANDING GLOBAL FOOTPRINT   Sanford, Florida (Thursday, March 19, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced that it has entered into a new international partnership with Oz Ball Tournaments Pty, naming the organization as an official Perfect Game Area Director in Australia. The agreement establishes Perfect Game-licensed tournaments and showcases across major Australian markets, including Sydney, Brisbane/Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.     Australian events will operate under the Perfect Game brand, delivering the same...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 3/18/2026

PG Introduces Individual Player Entry

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 INTRODUCES INDIVIDUAL PLAYER ENTRY, EXPANDING ACCESS TO ELITE NATIONAL EVENTS   Athletes Can Now Compete in Select National Tournaments Through Structured ‘Team PG’ Rosters   Sanford, Florida (Wednesday, March 18, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the launch of Individual Player Entry, a new initiative designed to provide athletes the opportunity to compete in select national events even if their primary team is not attending.   Through the program, players can now register individually and be placed on a structured “Team PG” roster, allowing them to participate fully in...
Read More
Juco | Rankings | 3/18/2026

JUCO Top 25: March 18

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
This week brings a new top team to the rankings as Johnson County (KS), on the strength of 10 consecutive wins and a 26-2 record, claims the overall number 1 spot. The Cavaliers have made 3 consecutive trips to the JUCO World Series and have the talent to make it back there again this spring. Florida Southwestern and Chipola have seemingly separated themselves as the most consistent teams in Florida. Welcome to the top 5 to the Gaston Rhinos who will be one of the first teams to 30 wins this spring. Pearl River stays as the top NJCAA D2 team and Fresno City stays as the top Juco team in California; both are coming off undefeated 2 week stretches. Welcome back to the top 25 to John A. Logan who is now 20-7 overall and have played one of the toughest schedules of anyone. And for the first time in several years welcome to the top 25 to the College of Southern Idaho, the Golden Eagles have...
Read More
High School | General | 3/18/2026

Class of 2026: Preseason HS All-Americans

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Read More
College | Rankings | 3/18/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: March 18

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
In every major sport, the championship is decided in the postseason. You can lose games all year, get hot at the right time, and walk away with the hardware. The regular season is a rehearsal. The playoffs are the show.  The championship belt changes that. Borrowed from professional wrestling, boxing and ultimate fighting, the belt travels the moment the holder loses — no brackets, no seeding, no second chances. A random Tuesday non-conference game in Milledgeville, Georgia  becomes a title fight. A spring trip to Florida becomes a gauntlet. The defending national champion can lose the belt before February is over.  We’re tracking three belts this season — NCAA Division II, NAIA, and NCAA Division III — each starting with the defending national champion. The results have been exactly as chaotic as you’d expect.  Worth noting along the...
Read More
High School | Rankings | 3/17/2026

High School Top 50 Update: March 17

Tyler Russo
Article Image
We have another update to the National Top-50 after two weeks of even more games being played in the southern states along with seasons just starting to kick off across the country. We’re quickly approaching another stellar high school event, the NHSI in Cary, and with that will come even more movement in these rankings. St. John Bosco (CA) continues to hold firm at the No. 1 position after a 4-0 start to their season. Venice (FL) has been rolling throughout the early portion of the year and jumps up to No. 2 in the country. One of the biggest movers in this update is The Bennett School (TX) jumping from unranked to No. 8 in the country after beating a handful of top ranked programs to start the year. Some other big movers inside the top-10 are Barbe (LA), who jumps from No. 18 to No. 5 in this update as well as Aledo (TX) who jumps from No. 20 to No. 9. The rest of the top-10...
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.