THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,496 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,496 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Tournaments  | Story | 12/31/2021

Regional Review: Midwest

Photo: Tommy Specht (Perfect Game)
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Biggest 13U Breakout Player
 
One of the most impressive summer circuits amongst any class was Beau Peterson of Shawnee, Kan.  In 133 plate appearances, he posted a 1.295 OPS with 18 extra-base hits. He’s the top-ranked player in the state for 2026 and has committed to Nebraska. His smooth left-handed stroke has natural loft to it to go along with quality bat speed through the zone. He has shown solid defensive chops behind the dish and has shown he has the versatility to play some corner infield too. There’s a lot to like with Peterson but there’s not doubt that the bat is the carrying tool and it will be fun to continue to watch him develop.





Biggest 14U Breakout Player
 
Sebastian Norman of Springfield, Mo. made a name for himself and represented the Midwest well at the WWBA Freshman World Championship. He was named to the All-Tournament Team and showcased his talents on both sides of the baseball. He threw 7 1/3 innings while striking out nine and not allowing an earned run. With the bat, he posted a 1.763 OPS in 18 plate appearances in the event. Norman really raised eyebrows with his performance at the Central Prospect Showcase where he ran a 6.60 60-yard dash and showed explosive bat speed on the offensive side of the ball and touched 87 mph with his fastball and a sharp breaking ball from a deceptive arm slot. Norman is a true two-way prospect that took a huge leap forward this year and is going to be a top prospect in the 2025 class.

Best College Moments

It wasn’t so much a single moment as it was an entire body of work, but Head Coach Travis Lallemand and Crowder College put together one of the best seasons in an already-rich program history. They ended the 2021 season with a 55-8 overall record and one game short of the championship game in Grand Junction. The squad was headlined by NJCAA First-Team All-Americans Logan Chambers and Landrey Wilkerson. Chambers led the D-I JUCO ranks in hits (107) and doubles (36) while Wilkerson ended the year with 20 home runs and drew over 50 walks.



Individual moment wise, Oklahoma State’s two-way prospect Justin Campbell tossed a no-hitter, while striking out 11 opposing batters along the way. Campbell sat 88-92 and showed advanced command of the heater in the outing. He also featured a deep, 12-6 curveball and an upper-70s changeup. Campbell has a very projectable frame and already flashes game action power from the left side of the plate. He’ll be draft eligible in 2022 and is an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on.



Biggest Breakout/Ranking Riser

Zack Stewart from Lebanon, Mo. went to PG National this year and really left an impression on everyone with his power display at the plate. He creates plenty of loft in his path and generates a lot of leverage. He makes sure to always get his money's worth with his aggressive intent in his stroke. Really showed a feel for being able to barrel balls up and elevate them consistently. He’s a corner infielder on the defensive side of the ball where he showed some softness to the hands.
  


Biggest Draft Moment

Perfect Game All-American Jackson Jobe was the first high school pitcher selected in the 2021 draft when he was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the seventh overall pick. Jobe’s fastball sits in the mid-90s and has more in the tank when he needs it. Unfortunately for opposing batters, the fastball isn’t his best pitch. He has a 3,000+ RPM slider that has extremely late break and he shows advanced feel for the offering. He’ll also show a 11-5 shaped spike curveball that has bite and is a pitch he’s still developing feel for as well. His changeup has significant depth to it and he throws it with conviction. Jobe has the stuff to be an outlier to the track record of first round high school pitchers and he’ll be fun to watch come up through the Tigers system.

Top Midwest Travel Teams:

2022 Grads: Hitters 2022 Navy (WI)
National Rank: 49
 
2023 Grads: Building Champions UA 17U Navy (KS)
National Rank: 87
 
2024 Grads: Cangelosi Sparks 2024 Black (IL)
National Rank: 56
 
2025 Grads: Hitters 2025’s (WI)
National Rank: 49
 
2026 Grads: KC Crusaders 14U (KS)
National Rank: 23
 
 A Look Ahead



High School: There will be plenty of exciting names to watch around the Midwest throughout the 2022 season. 6-foot-1, 180-pound Jackson Holliday from Stillwater, Okla. is ranked in the top-20 nationally for the 2022 class and is a smooth swinging infielder with impressive present tools and a frame that has projection to it. Caden Marcum out of Paola, Kan. is uber-projectable with his 6-foot-5, 160-pound frame as well. His fastball sits 89-91 mph and complements it with a slider and curveball while also flashing a fading changeup. Marcum is committed to Tennessee but will be on many MLB team's radars this high school season. Kentucky commit Tommy Specht of Dubuque, Iowa is always a treat to watch and he’ll look to build on a strong 2021 season. Specht is a quick-twitch athlete who has posted 6.40 second 60-yard dash times at PG events. Uses an all-fields approach at the dish which pairs well with his clean, flat path through the zone.



College: There will be plenty of names catching draft buzz in the Midwest next season, but in the Sooner State especially. Peyton Graham of Oklahoma will be looking to build off a successful 2021 where he put up a .902 OPS, including 11 home runs. The frame has room for added strength in the future and pair that with his feel for barreling up balls, he could be a name that jumps even higher on lists. Bryce Osmond from Oklahoma State will look to rebound from an inconsistent 2021 campaign where he posted a 7.42 ERA but still exhibited impressive enough pure stuff at times to catch a lot of eyes. The stuff is and always has been sharp, but the control and command are still very inconsistent. Osmond’s heater in the Cape was up to 95 mph and he has a slider with late bite and tilt that he relies on to get swings and misses. He has one of the higher ceilings in this college class so it will be worth watching to see if he makes the necessary adjustments from last season.
 
 

Tournaments | Story | 7/10/2026

16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 4

Perfect Game Staff
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16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ‘28 C Nico Ayars (FL) coming off a monster game yesterday & comes up with the biggest swing of this one. A triple right down the LF line to drive in two. Came into today hitting .833 this week. #WWBA @PG_Uncommitted @Florida_PG pic.twitter.com/Hvb7UvtkNi — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 8, 2026 Nico Ayars (2028, Fort Myers, Fla.) has just been on the barrel throughout the week so far, collecting six hits across the first four games of the tournament. That didn’t slow down on day three at Mt. Zion High School as he came up with the biggest swing of the day, hitting a triple down the left field line to drive in a pair. It’s been a standout week so far for Ayars and he’ll be a driving force behind the run through the tourney for CBU 2028 Scout Team Lawson. Rylan Jenkins (2028, Tennille, Ga.) put...
Draft | Mock Draft | 7/11/2026

Final 2026 MLB Mock Draft

Vincent Cervino
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It's draft day and that means it's time for our final Mock Draft with the 2026 group. 1. Chicago White Sox | Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA It’s between Roch and Grady Emerson at this pick, though there have been heavy rumors of a very late deal potentially with another top 5 pick. This boils down to negotiations and we think that they will get there.  2. Tampa Bay Rays | Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian (Tex.) If Grady isn’t the first pick then he is almost certain to be the second pick. The Rays like to get creative but Emerson is a well worth prospect in his own right.  3.  Minnesota Twins | Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech This is likely the floor for Roch Cholowsky, though the Twins might prefer Lackey to Roch outright. They are thought to be in on the top college players with Emerson a distant third.  4. San Francisco Giants | Jackson Flora, RHP, UC...
College | Story | 7/10/2026

Cape Cod Notebook No. 1

Perfect Game Staff
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Cape Cod League Scouting Notebook  Maverick Rizy | Ole Miss | RHP | Brewster Whitecaps  The towering 6-foot-9, 250-pound right-hander continues to stand out with one of the more unique looks on the Cape, pairing a massive frame with a low three-quarter slot that creates difficult angles for hitters. While his fastball velocity was down from its typical mid-90s range during this look, working mostly 90-92 mph, it still generated plenty of swing-and-miss. He paired the heater with an 81-83 mph gyro slider featuring tight bullet-spin action and mixed in an 85-mph changeup with quality separation. Rizy battled his command early in the outing I saw, before settling in to strike out five over three innings, showing the ability to adjust as the game progressed. Through 12.2 Cape League innings, he has recorded 18 strikeouts, and his combination of size, deception, and projectability...
Tournaments | Story | 7/10/2026

14u & 17u West Scout Notes: Days 1-2

Perfect Game Staff
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Tre Hallberg (‘27, AZ) hammers this out to deep LCF for a 2-run 💣. Continues to stand out at the plate. Power will only continue to develop #WWBAWest @PG_Uncommitted https://t.co/NlWlDygpwg pic.twitter.com/RHrgYXLmwm — Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) July 10, 2026 Tre Hallberg (2027, Mesa, Ariz.) was nearly impossible to get out over the first two days of action, going 7-for-9 with a triple and a home run. A balanced right-handed swing stays compact to contact. There is quick hand speed through the zone with feel for the barrel. Hallberg has a strong feel to hit to go with power that continues to develop. The upside is apparent.  William Garcia Falmer (2027, El Dorado Hills, Calif.) collected a pair of mulit-hit games over the course of day one and two, going 5-for-7 with two doubles, a homer, and seven runs driven in. Garcia Falmer features a physical build...
Tournaments | Story | 7/10/2026

Windy City Invite & Open Scout Notes: Part 2

Perfect Game Staff
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Windy City Invite & Open Scout Notes: Part 1 Braedon Paczocha (2028, Palmyra, Wis.), a 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame catcher for GRB STiKS 16U Black, displayed a quick bat with the ability to do damage. Showed a good feel for the barrel throughout the weekend, hitting .538 (7-for-13) with 3 doubles, 8 RBI, 2 stolen bases, and a 1.376 OPS. Also received well behind the plate with quick, efficient transfers and displayed good instincts.    ’28 1B Brock Hamilton (IL) displays some present strength, driving this ball deep into the LCF gap to leg out a triple. Creates loud contact off the bat and does damage here. #WCInvite @WhitesoxAce pic.twitter.com/6EK81gG9Wi — Perfect Game Illinois (@PG_Illinois) July 5, 2026 Brock Hamilton (2028, Flossmoor, Ill.), one of the top first basemen in Illinois, brings a physical 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame with plenty of present strength...
Draft | Rankings | 7/10/2026

Final 2026 MLB Draft Board: Top 500

Tyler Henninger
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After months of coverage, evaluations, and discussions, the 2026 MLB Draft is upon us. With that, we present our final Top 500 Draft Board.  The final update features several notable movers, including a handful of late risers who made one final push up the board. While there was movement throughout the board, the top remains unchanged. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky and Texas prep shortstop Grady Emerson lead the way again, as they have for much of the cycle. With the games complete, reports filed, and the board finalized, the evaluation process is over. Now, we get to sit back and watch the draft unfold. Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment 1 Roch Cholowsky C SS R-R UCLA Chandler AZ 2 Grady Emerson H SS L-R Fort Worth Christian Argyle TX Texas 3 Vahn Lackey C C R-R Georgia Tech Suwanee GA 4 Jacob Lombard H SS R-R Gulliver Schools Miami FL Miami 5 Jackson Flora C...
Showcase | Story | 7/9/2026

13U National Kicks Off in Fort Myers

Alyssa Golden
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This Friday through Sunday, many of the nation’s top young prospects from the classes of 2030 and 2031 will head to Fort Myers, Florida, as the 2026 PG 13U National Showcase gets underway at JetBlue Park. The invitation-only event features some of the brightest young stars in the country as they look to make their way onto the national stage. This showcase provides players with an opportunity to compete against elite talent from across the country while also serving as a key evaluation for the 2026 PG 13U Select Baseball Festival. “The 13u National Showcase will be the first showcase for a lot of these guys, but we’ve seen their talents throughout this past fall, spring and the summer circuit, securing their invite to the event,” said Jheremy Brown, Perfect Game’s National Director of 13U & 14U Player Development and Festivals. Among some of the stand...
Tournaments | Story | 7/9/2026

Windy City Invite & Open Scout Notes: Part 1

Donovan May
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’28 RHP Jack Potsma (IL) went 4.0 IP w/ 4 K, running the FB up to 91 mph. Quick, whippy arm w/ a tall, projectable frame. FB had quality arm-side run, while adding a SL. Good control in the delivery w/ the ability to fill up the zone. FB: 87-91 | SL: 68-73 #WCOpen @RaysIllinois pic.twitter.com/8HfMEeamIC — Perfect Game Illinois (@PG_Illinois) July 6, 2026 Jack Postma (2028, Barrington, Ill.) is a tall, projectable 6-foot-5, 195-pound pitcher with a quick, whippy arm and loose, athletic actions. The GRB Rays 16U Illinois Green right-hander ran his fastball up to 91 mph with heavy arm-side run while filling up the zone and inducing weak contact. Postma complemented the fastball with a slider and mixed in a fading changeup, giving him a quality three-pitch mix to build upon. Over 4.0 innings, Postma struck out 4, allowing 4 hits while throwing 66% strikes.  ’27 RHP...
Press Release | Press Release | 7/9/2026

SHIVERSTICKS NAMED OFFICIAL POPSICLE OF PERFECT GAME

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  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   SHIVERSTICKS NAMED OFFICIAL POPSICLE OF PERFECT GAME   Former MLB All-Star Vernon Wells to Make Select Appearances at Perfect Game Events to Promote the Partnership   Sanford, Florida (Thursday, July 9, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a new partnership with ShiverSticks, naming the Texas-based company the Official Popsicle of Perfect Game. Throughout the travel baseball season, ShiverSticks products will be featured across Perfect Game’s premier events and facilities, with onsite activations, concession integration, digital promotions and social media content designed to introduce players and fans to the...
Tournaments | Story | 7/9/2026

16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 3

Perfect Game Staff
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16u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 Carlos Acuna (2028, Sylmar, Cal.) turned in an impressive start on Wednesday, tossing four shutout innings with six strikeouts and just one hit allowed. The 6-foot-1 right-hander filled up all four quadrants of the strike zone with his fastball, which lived in the 86-87 mph range and touched 88 a couple of times. He mixed in a true 12-6 curveball with huge depth down in the zone, and showed comfortability doubling up on the breaking ball. ‘28 Francis Conners-Schmid (NY) was dominant out of the ‘pen, 6 Ks in 2 hitless inn of work. Lived 88-89 & touched 90 multiple times. Sharp horz break to the SL w/ teeth & tight spin (clip). Athletic mover w/ serious 2-way upside. @JKselectBSB #WWBA @PGMidAtlantic pic.twitter.com/z859j3UCEq — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 8, 2026 Francis Conners-Schmid (2028, East Chatham, N.Y.)...
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