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College  | Story | 2/1/2022

Iowa Western Opens Atop PG JUCO Poll

Blake Dowson
Photo: Dylan Robertson (Travis Jacobson/Iowa Western Athletics)
Perfect Game Preseason JUCO Top 25

Rk. Team City ST 2021 Rec.
1 Iowa Western Council Bluffs IA 50-10
2 San Jacinto Houston TX 51-15
3 McLennan Waco TX 47-16
4 Crowder Neosho MO 55-8
5 LSU-Eunice Eunice LA 51-7
6 Central Arizona Coolidge AZ 51-9
7 Chipola Marianna FL 34-17
8 Johnson County Overland Park KS 43-10
9 Weatherford Weatherford TX 37-20
10 Pearl River Poplarville MS 36-9
11 Northwest Florida State Niceville FL 32-17
12 Cowley Arkansas City KS 47-10
13 Wabash Valley Mount Carmel IL 53-5
14 Walters State Morristown TN 61-7
15 Florence-Darlington Florence SC 46-8
16 Orange Coast Costa Mesa CA 20-7-1
17 John A. Logan Carterville IL 42-18
18 Florida SouthWestern Fort Myers FL 44-16
19 San Joaquin Delta Stockton CA N/A
20 Midland Midland TX 29-16
21 Pima Tucson AZ 36-14
22 State College of Florida Bradenton FL 34-21
23 Kellogg Battle Creek MI 37-13
24 Shelton State Tuscaloosa AL 40-17
25 Riverside Riverside CA N/A




Iowa Western Opens Atop PG JUCO Polls

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- Iowa Western is putting the finishing touches on a $4 million project on the baseball facilities, which includes a full turf field, new lights, a new outfield fence, and a new scoreboard.
 
That financial commitment is a testament to where the program is at, and how far it has come since Head Coach Marc Rardin got to campus 20 years ago.
 
It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. He never planned to be at Iowa Western this long.
 
“I was going to be here five [years]. This is year 20,” Rardin said. “It feels like five years…We’ve really built something special here. We’re always that northern team in the rankings and the World Series. We’re the northern team. I’ve always had some pride in that, that we’re on the baseball map and we’re in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It’s not ideal weather for baseball, but we’ve made it work, and I’ve always been really proud of that.”
 
Iowa Western is the northern team that since 2010 has taken home three national championships (2010, 2012, 2014) and has played in a total of 12 Junior College World Series tournaments in Rardin’s 19 years. To this point, it is still the only northern team to win a national title.
 
Now, it is that northern team ranked No. 1 in Perfect Game’s Preseason JUCO Top 25.
 
It’s impressive how far the program has come and the heights they have reached. Rardin said when he first started, his team was consistently bringing knives to a gun fight.
 
“When we won our first national championship in 2010, we had one guy who touched 90,” he said.
 
This year’s roster, in contrast, currently has 22 pitchers throwing 90 mph. That feels something like bringing a handful of bazookas to a gun fight.
 
“Times change, kids change, and I have to change,” Rardin said. “It’s adapt or die.”
 
Rardin grew up in Northeast Iowa but spent his time before taking over Iowa Western at Baylor University and Yavapai College in Arizona. He learned his style of play down in the south, and wanted to bring it with him when he moved back to his home state.
 
It’s an aggressive style, set on putting as much pressure as possible on the other team and requiring his players to be the toughest guys on the field.
 
Through a small chuckle, Rardin said he apologizes to his former players for how hard he was on them in the beginning. Really, he was setting a culture, one that has produced at levels unseen in his territory.
 
“I spent two years in Texas and three in Arizona. For those five years, I always say that’s a different brand of baseball,” Rardin said. “When I first got here, I had an idea of how I wanted to play, and it was just different than everyone else at the time. Whether it was hit and runs, automatic first-to-thirds, second-to-homes. The second part of it is that my kids were going to be really tough. My kids were going to play hard. We all say that, but someone has to actually make that happen.”
 
Last year it was second baseman Dylan Robertson making that happen in the Reiver lineup. As a freshman, Robertson hit .377 and drove in 46 runs, both marks good enough for second in the conference.
 
According to Rardin, Robertson is a classic overachiever, and it fits his personality perfectly. He walked on at Iowa Western, and simply made it impossible to keep him out of the lineup with the amount of work he put in.
 
He’s the vocal leader of the team, and will be one of the focal points in a lineup that expects to make another deep run to the World Series.
 
“He’s awesome in every way,” Rardin said about Robertson. “He walked on here and ended up getting the most at-bats on the team. All he’s continued to do is grow. He’s a hard worker, high energy, great teammate, awesome in school…His standards are high. When he talks, people listen. People want to follow him.”
 
Robertson will be joined up the middle by Trenton Harris, one of the smoothest shortstops you’ll find at the junior college level. Harris hit .317 in 82 at-bats last year. Alec Patino hit .376 in 93 at-bats last year, with an on-base percentage flirting with .500, and he’s back.
 
Then there are the newcomers. Brady Christensen is a local kid from Omaha who will play a hybrid role for Iowa Western. He can play any corner position on the field and his bat really plays at all of them. Jake Gish is another local product from just outside of Omaha. Gish transferred back home after spending time at Arkansas State, and will be a middle-of-the-order bat for the Reivers before heading to Utah next year.
 
The arms are the headline for Iowa Western, though. In any postseason tournament, your depth will be tested, and the Reivers seem to have plenty of it.
 
“The crazy thing about the arms we have is that we don’t have a lot of sporadic arms,” Rardin said. “There is some use in all these arms…We’ll go into every weekend knowing we have a chance to win.”
 
Ernie Day heads into the year as the ace of the staff. The Mississippi State signee has the ideal pitcher’s frame at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, and struck out 47 in 32 innings a season ago.
 
Day is joined by seven other pitchers on staff who are committed to Division-I schools – Jay Watson (Arkansas Little Rock), Daniel Wright (Houston), Noah Manning (Troy), Michael Finan (Creighton), Sawyer Hansen (Incarnate Word), Evan O’Toole (Oklahoma State), and Brant Hogue (Oklahoma State).
 
The Reivers have 15 total players on the roster committed to Division-I schools, and four or five more in the pipeline, according to Rardin.
 
Position players committed include Auggie Rasmussen (Illinois State), Gish (Utah), Harris (Campbell), Robertson (Missouri State), Braden Berry (Incarnate Word), Carter Wright (Auburn), and Q Phillips (Michigan).
 
That’s really what it comes down to for Rardin. His motivation each year is to get his guys to four-year schools and give them opportunities they didn’t have coming out of high school.
 
“Whether we win the next three World Series in a row, or I never go to another World Series,” he said. “That’s my No. 1 goal.”
 
As far as what his players have in mind for this season?
 
“I know what these kids want,” he said.
 
The kids from up north want to make room in the trophy case to add another one.
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College | Story | 4/21/2026

College Players of the Week: April 21
Vincent Cervino
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April 21st Perfect Game/Player of the Week:  Tague Davis, IF, Louisville  The Louisville Cardinals (22-18) haven’t been able to get themselves in much of a groove this spring, their longest winning streak is 5-games, and they are (4-6) in their last 10-games.  The issue has not been the offense as the Cardinals are averaging over 8-runs per game and Tague Davis is leading the club in virtually every offensive category.  His calling card is his 70-grade power and that was on display last weekend in their series against Cal.  In the three-game series, Davis went 7 for 12, scoring 4 runs, launching 5 home runs and collected 7 RBIs.  The 6-4/220 lefthanded hitter from West Chester, PA has a pure stroke, is one of the premier power hitters in the nation and has significantly improved his plate discipline from a year ago.  After his big weekend, he is...
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High School | Rankings | 4/21/2026

High School Top 50 Update: April 21

Tyler Russo
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Another few weeks have wrapped up this high school season as we’re flying through the spring and most southern states are starting playoffs right around the corner. With the end of the regular season, we have another National Top 50 update to bring to you, along with this will be the start of the weekly editions of our National Top 50. We have a change at the top of the rankings as Venice (FL) takes over the top spot after just dominating their competition in the state of Florida this year. Orange Lutheran (CA) drops one spot to No. 2 after dropping a series but still holds firm at No. 2 in the country. Barbe (LA) has continued to dominate and holds onto the No. 3 spot while Tomball (TX) skyrockets in this update to No. 4 in the country, currently holding an incredible 30-0-1 record. The rest of the top-10 is names we’ve become accustomed to see with Aledo (TX) at No. 5, IMG...
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PG Select Baseball Festival | General | 4/21/2026

Select Festival Dates/Locations Announced

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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 ANNOUNCES DATES AND VENUES FOR   2026 SLATE OF SELECT FESTIVALS    Sanford, Florida (Tuesday, April 21, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced dates and venues for its 2026 Select Festivals, a premiere series of invitation-only events showcasing many of the nation’s top young prospects at the 11U, 12U, 13U and 14U levels.    The Select Festivals provide elite players with a unique opportunity to compete alongside and against the best talent in their age group while experiencing a...
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Press Release | Press Release | 4/20/2026

PG & EventConnect Extend Collaboration

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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 AND EVENTCONNECT EXTEND COLLABORATION FOCUSED ON SCALE, SERVICE AND EXPERIENCE    Sanford, Florida (Monday, April 20, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the renewal and expansion of its long-standing housing and technology partnership with EventConnect, reaffirming a shared commitment to innovation, scale and best-in-class experiences for athletes, families and event operators across North America.    The renewed multi-year agreement extends a successful partnership that has helped Perfect Game...
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College | Rankings | 4/20/2026

College Top 25: April 20

Vincent Cervino
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As the old saying goes, “all good things must come to an end” and that was the case last Tuesday when UCLA (36-3) saw their 27-game win streak come to an end in a shutout loss to UCSB.  However, the No. 1 team in the land still has their 21-game winning streak in Big Ten to protect, as they have started off league play without a single blemish.  The Bruins will remain atop our poll this week and their historical start to the season roll on.  The UNC Tarheels (33-7-1) move up to No. 2 this week after they made their biggest statement of the year by taking the weekend series from now No. 4 Georgia Tech (32-7).  No. 3 Texas (30-8) and No. 5 Georgia (32-9) both went (3-1) on the week and won their SEC series to stay in contention for the regular season title.  Florida State (28-11) had a nice bounce back (4-0) week and re-enter the Top 10 at No. 8 this...
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College | Story | 4/16/2026

Coppy's Corner: April 16 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
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Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart  to discuss Top-25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.   Player of the Week: Jaquae Stewart – Texas State University  If you squint a little bit, you can see some Josh Naylor or Dominic Smith in Jaquae Stewart, with a stout build like a more powerful version of the teacup from the children’s song. Lately, the Sun Belt Conference has been child’s play for Stewart as he has been on fire showing an improved hit approach and power that tracks more with his 2024 performance at Northwest Florida State College than with his 2025 experience at the University of Texas. It’s tough for any player to jump from a JUCO in Florida to the big stage...
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High School | General | 4/16/2026

High School Notebook: April 16

Tyler Henninger
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Alain Gomez-Gudiño (‘26 AZ) with a pair of backside barrels, including a double. Physical 6-0/215 frame. Switch-hitter with power. Adv. defender with strong C&T behind the dish. @PGAllAmerican alum. #Gamecocks commit #PGHS @PG_Draft @SaguaroBaseball pic.twitter.com/2Vhuu5gYX9 — Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) April 11, 2026 C Alain Gomez-Gudino, Saguaro (Ariz.) Since I first saw him as a sophomore, Gomez-Gudiño has long been one of my favorite prospects in the state. The backstop features a super physical frame at 6-foot-0, 215-pounds with a thick lower half and strong forearms. Defensively, Gomez-Gudiño has always stood out. He moves well for his size behind the plate and receives with confident hands. The catch-and-throw ability stands out. Gomez-Gudiño looks to be aggressive and will back pick runners often. The glove alone makes...
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Juco | Rankings | 4/15/2026

JUCO Top 25: April 15

Blaine Peterson
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Another week of undefeated weeks for our top 4 ranked teams. Joining them in the top 5, coming off an undefeated week of their own, is Florence-Darlington, a team we have consistently had as a top 10 team all season long. Cloud County and Midland College continue to put together strong weeks and climb the rankings each week it seems. Jumping into the rankings this week on the strength of a 15-game winning streak is Seminole State (OK). And Linn Benton makes the top 25 for a 2nd consecutive week and looks like the top team in the NWAC this spring. Plenty of high-level matchups at the JUCO level for some of the top teams in the county this next week.  Rk. School Record 1 Johnson County (KS) 42-2 2 Gaston (NC) 43-3 3 McLennan (TX) 34-7 4 Chipola (FL) 37-7 5 Florence-Darlington (SC) 40-8 6 Walters State (TN) 37-10 7 Blinn (TX) 31-11 8 Florida Southwestern (FL) 30-12 9 Southern Nevada...
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College | Rankings | 4/15/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: April 15

Nick Herfordt
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Welcome to this week's small school baseball rankings, covering NCAA Division II, the NAIA, and NCAA Division III. As the calendar turns toward the final weeks of the regular season, the urgency is real across all three levels — teams are running out of weekends to build their cases, and the extended postseason invitations that every program is chasing don't go to programs that peak in March. The next few weeks of results will carry more weight than anything that happened before spring break, and the postseason committees in all three divisions are watching closely. Every series dropped to a team you should beat, every road sweep you let get away — it all matters now in a way it simply didn't two months ago. What you'll also notice as you read through the breakdowns below is that the numbers are doing more of the heavy lifting in how these rankings are constructed. Run...
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Press Release | Press Release | 4/15/2026

Perfect Game & Youth Prospects Team 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 AND YOUTH PROSPECTS ANNOUNCE   BROADCAST RIGHTS AND CONTENT PARTNERSHIP    Sanford, Florida (Wednesday, April 15, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a new partnership with content platform Youth Prospects centered around broadcast rights, content collaboration and expanded visibility for elite youth baseball events.    As part of the agreement, Perfect Game will grant Youth Prospects broadcast rights to select games across its premiere events, including marquee matchups at the WWBA World...
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