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Tournaments  | Story | 10/4/2022

Jupiter: A 10 Year Lookback

Photo: Michael Chavis (Perfect Game)
Only the random luck of timing and storm paths kept the 2022 edition of the WWBA World Championship (aka Jupiter) from becoming a victim of Hurricane Ian, but that doesn’t mean that the annual October celebration of baseball hasn’t ever been impacted by hurricanes.  In 2004, “Jupiter” was actually a misnomer, as the WWBA World Championships were shifted to the West Coast of Florida and Fort Myers after Hurricane Jeanne (one of four hurricanes to batter Florida in a six-week period that year) caused extensive damage to the Roger Dean Complex when it came on shore September 26 with Category 3 force winds.

2012 was another year that Jupiter was impacted by a Hurricane.  “Superstorm” Sandy made its way up the Atlantic Coast to its eventual collision with New York and New Jersey during Jupiter Week, creating 35-50 mph winds that often played havoc with what “normal” baseball would have been.  If you ever wanted to see a high fly ball to left-center field caught by the right fielder (without a shift!), this was the time to experience it.  Games had to be moved around and rescheduled at times due to squalls but it was the wind that created the biggest impact.



On the field, the big story in 2012 was the East Cobb Astros cruising to their second Jupiter win (the first title came in 2003), concluding with an 8-2 win over Chet Lemon’s Juice in the championship game.

Many of East Cobb’s dominant teams over the past two decades have been led by dominant pitching staffs but the 2012 squad was the opposite, featuring an incredible lineup that featured five 2012 PG All-Americans in infielders Michael Chavis and Travis Demeritte, outfielders Kel Johnson and Josh Hart and catcher Brian Navarreto.

Yet with all those All-Americans and future Big Leaguers (Chavis, Demeritte and Navarreto), the Most Valuable Player turned out to be shortstop Wesley Jones.  Jones was a highly-ranked prospect himself, so his performance in Jupiter wasn’t especially a surprise.  He hit .524 for the week with four doubles and 10 RBI.  He was also the winning pitcher in the championship game, throwing four one-run innings.

Demeritte also stood out as a two-way prospect.  He went 3-for-3 with 4 RBI in the championship game and picked up a quarterfinal win on the mound with six innings of three-hit, 10-strikeout baseball.  Hart was outstanding in his lead off role all through the tournament, posting a .571 on-base percentage and stealing five bases.

The Juice’s success in reaching the championship game leaned heavily on their pitching staff and especially on two future Big Leaguers, right-handers Tyler Danish and Drew Carlton.  “Everyday” Danish, as he was dubbed, threw four straight days for the Juice, including a complete game win in the semifinals over a talented Evoshield Canes team, and was named the Most Valuable Pitcher.

Carlton could have easily laid claim to that MV-Pitcher award as well, allowing no earned runs in two starts totaling 13 innings, with only five hits allowed and 17 strikeouts.

A look down the Juice roster reveals two other future Big Leaguers.  Sophomore right-hander Brady Singer got into one game and threw two scoreless innings.  Future Florida Gator and Cincinnati Red Mark Kolozovary shared the Juice’s catching duties.

Here’s a look at some of the other individual standouts from the 2012 WWBA World Championships, highlighting future big leaguers:

Pitching for the Atlanta Blue Jays, Touki Toussaint showed some of the best stuff ever at Jupiter, working in the 93-97 mph range over two games, including a victory over the defending champion Marucci Elite.  One scout made the remark about Toussaint’s curveball, “it’s going to be tough to get a called strike call on that pitch when it keeps buckling the umpire’s knees.”  Incredibly, Toussaint threw six innings over those two games and recorded all 18 outs via strikeout.

Jordan Sheffield almost didn’t pitch in Jupiter after his loaded Ohio Warhawks team unexpectedly missed the playoffs but threw an inning in one of the most heavily-scouted consolation games ever.  Sheffield worked mostly 95-96 mph in a quick inning that ended up with a Jupiter record-tying 98 mph fastball on the last pitch.

Tyler O’Neill has won two Rawlings Gold Gloves for his defensive excellence as an outfielder with the Cardinals, but he was heavily scouted during the week as a catcher for the DBacks Team British Columbia.  The consensus among the scouts was that the slugging O’Neill could probably remain behind the plate, which actually only lasted until early in O’Neill’s professional career.

Speaking of catchers, one familiar PG All-American and current Big Leaguer made a surprising two-inning appearance behind the plate.  Left-handed throwing Dominic Smith played there during Yak Baseball’s consolation game and looked like a natural, including posting a pop time of 1.84 between innings.  This scout has often wondered why in this age of innovation in baseball there aren't any left-handed catchers being developed.

Devin Williams left quite an impression with scouts while pitching for the Mets Scout Team/St. Louis Pirates.  Williams was listed at 6-foot-3, 165 pounds on the Jupiter roster and showed huge athleticism and projection.  He worked in the 90-93 mph range to go with what even then was an outstanding changeup.  He would end up as the 14th ranked overall prospect in the 2013 class.

Only one player managed to hit multiple home runs in the high winds in 2012 and in retrospect it’s not surprising who it was.  Pete Alonso mashed two bombs while playing for All-American Prospects.

It’s not uncommon for current or former Major League players to come to Jupiter, many to root for their sons.  In this scout’s memory, there probably hasn’t been any player who has ever been as generous with his time and more giving than Manny Ramirez.  The 12-time All-Star had only finished his 19-year big league career in 2011 and was instantly recognizable to fans and scouts alike and he must have spent hours signing autographs and taking pictures without losing a huge smile.  Of course, Ramirez had another reason to be smiling, as his son, Manny Jr., led all qualifying hitters at the championship with a .778 batting average

Some other standout players and pitchers from the All-Tournament Team: 

Chance Sisco had an event-leading five extra-base hits and a .600 batting average playing for the Midland Redskins.

Another Midland Redskins standout was Andrew Benintendi, who hit .429 with three extra-base hits himself.

John Paul Crawford hit .357 with two doubles for Yak Baseball but stood out even more for his outstanding defense at shortstop.

O’Neill wasn’t the only Canadian standout, as Josh Naylor hit .333 with a pair of doubles for the Ontario Blue Jays.

Alex Verdugo showed his running speed and hitting ability, hitting .385 with two triples and six RBI for the Texas Scout Team Yankees.

Pitchers wanted no part of Rowdy Tellez, walking him nine times.  But when they did throw to the Team Elite slugger, he made them pay with a .417 average and three extra-base hits.

Zachary Gallen wasn't a big-name prospect as a 6-foot, 160-pound right-hander for the Tri-State Arsenal but he threw six shutout innings with nine strikeouts in Jupiter, working 87-90 mph with his fastball while showing a curveball and change up as well.

Many readers probably haven’t heard of Peter Strzelecki, who has been outstanding as a rookie reliever with the Brewers this year.  In 2012, he struck out 14 hitters in 7 innings for Palm Beach PAL but notably only threw 82-85 with a mid- to upper-60s breaking ball.  Players take different development routes, that’s for sure!

Nestor Cortes was another relatively unheralded prospect in Jupiter that year who enjoyed big success in the championship, striking out 11 in 4 innings pitching for Miami PG Columbia Blue.  The 5-foot-10 lefty worked 85-88 mph on his fastball with a full arsenal of secondary pitches.


BONUS JUPITER MEMORY




You might look at the East Cobb Astros' five All-American position players and wonder where that might rank among the all-time most talented teams.  And that would be a great question, one that is often discussed behind the scenes by PG veterans.

But one Jupiter team certainly comes to mind immediately, more emphatically because they didn’t even reach the championship game.

In 2010, the FTB Mizuno/Cardinals Scout Team had seven PG All-Americans on their roster and in addition, had four other non-All-Americans who ended up playing in the Major Leagues.  The All-Americans were INF Javier Baez, RHP Jose Fernandez, RHP Deshorn Lake, INF Francisco Lindor, C Tyler Marlette, LHP Henry Owens and OF Jesse Winker.  Five of those All-Americans eventually reached the big leagues.

The additional four future big leaguers included RHP Zach Eflin, RHP Jakob Junis, RHP Justin Shafer and 1B Daniel Vogelbach.

FTB’s most distinctive game that year came in the first round of the playoffs against a loaded Dallas Patriots team.  Fernandez threw maybe the most dominant game this scout has ever seen pitched in context, shutting out the Patriots while only allowing two hits and throwing 94-97 the whole outing with a plus-plus slider.  The two hits, fittingly, were by Josh Bell and Trevor Story.

Tournaments | Story | 12/19/2025

13u Tourney All-American Team

Jheremy Brown
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High School | General | 12/19/2025

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Steve Fiorindo
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Tournaments | Story | 12/18/2025

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Tyler Russo
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Player of the Year: Asher Williams It was an incredible year for Williams that was rewarded with a trip to the 14U Select Fest, before some more impressive play in the fall. He came to the plate almost 250 times in PG tournaments throughout 2025 and reached base in well over half of them, hitting to a .500 AVG while slugging a 14U circuit best 12 bombs and driving in 113 runs. The numbers on the surface are ridiculous, but when you look at the high-level events he put them up in, it makes it even more impressive. Pitcher of the Year: Tristan Blalock Blalock earns this honor after a dominant 2025 where he struck out 85 batters in just 48.2 innings of work with a minuscule 1.58 ERA. This included several strong performances at many national level tournaments and showcases where he was able to bully some of the best hitters in the country. It’s hard not to fall in love with...
Draft | Story | 12/18/2025

PG Draft: Gut Feel Guys

Tyler Henninger
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While we are nearing the turn of the calendar to the 2026 year, that means we are just inching closer to the beginning of the season for many high school players and college baseball is on the horizon. We are prepping for a reshuffle of the 2026 MLB Draft Board as well here amongst the PG Draft staff. But before we get to that, we sat down and have each picked a couple of players who are in the mix to get selected in a couple of different buckets.  We have prospects who could go into the Top 30 picks or so, prospects who could be selected in the Top 5 rounds, and prospects who could go inside of the Top 10 rounds. With the draft quite far down the road and a lot of re-shuffling to be done as these players play themselves into certain spots on the draft board, our scouts picked some players who fit into these “buckets” who are gut-feel guys. These are the guys that our PG...
Tournaments | Story | 12/17/2025

15u Tourney All-American Team

Jason Phillips
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Hitter of the Year: Landon Bonner The 2028 class saw many players from across the country take the next step in their development as they entered the High School ranks. There were huge performances from highly ranked players on the PG circuit as well as some under-the-radar guys who burst onto the scene. Landon Bonner came into Sophomore National as a Top 500 ranked player and after an impressive showing, left with all eyes on him as a rankings riser in the class. The left-handed hitting shortstop from The Colony, Texas, had a summer to remember with All-Tournament Team selections in three of his next four events culminating with a historic performance at the 2025 PG 15U WWBA National Championship. The Hebron High School prep went 20-for-24 in nine games for 5 Star Mafia 15U Black with four homeruns and 12 runs batted in. He also scored 17 runs and finished with a mind-boggling 2.500...
Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

16u Tourney All-American Team

AJ Denny
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Hitter of the Year: Koa Romero is the Hitter of the Year for the 16u group, as he would come to every premier event of the summer and earn All-Tournament honors (Beast of the East, 16/17u WWBA, Jupiter) in every single one. Over 82 plate appearances, Romero would pump ten homeruns with forty two RBI and sixteen walks, good for a .378 average and 1.339 OPS. The performance on volume at the best events of the year pushed Romero over the edge here, as he’d hit a pair of homeruns in Jupiter (one of them at 112 EV) as an underclassmen and collect double digit hits in BOTH WWBA events with a combined six jacks over the two tournaments. It was a summer that combined performance and winning on the biggest stages for Romero. It’s a quiet left-handed swing that packs a punch. He would reap the benefits of his performances, earning a commitment to LSU and jumping to the #74 prospect in...
College | Recruiting | 12/15/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 15

John McAdams
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Tucker Rice (27 MS) bumping up to 91; living hi-80s from real fast arm. Good SL @ 77-79 w/ depth & sold w/ intent. Loads of traits & strikes. #WWBA @PG_Uncommitted @PG_DeepSouth pic.twitter.com/DEjFqRcsIY — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 6, 2025 Tucker Rice, RHP, Class of 2027 Commitment: Alabama Alabama has continued to stay red hot in the recruiting trail ever since August 1st rolled around on the calendar and have continued to stack major pieces in their ’27 class. They dip into Mississippi to land one of the premier arms and one that’s stood out on the circuit for quite some time. It’s a fast arm and the athleticism certainly shines working down the slope. The velocity has continued to tick up over the last calendar year and reached into the low-90s towards the end of the summer. He’s confident in his changeup and the breaking ball is...
Tournaments | Story | 12/15/2025

17u Tourney All-American Team

Vincent Cervino
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There’s a lot of talent throughout this 2026 class, filled with the big-name stars, to talent that spreads across the nation. It’s been a lot of fun seeing these prospects grow and develop over the years, from the days of watching some of these guys at the 13/14u days at events on the circuit, to now where they are all graduating seniors in 2026. There’s been new faces who have popped along the way over the years, even in 2026, where some players who were relatively undiscovered, have come out and made a name for themselves with a statement performance. Between the familiar and the new, there’s a lot of names on this list that are going to be quite regularly talked about on the circuit, and for good reason.  Whether it’s PG All-Americans or not, there’s a lot of names with superstar potential at the next level. We’ve got 14 PG All-Americans...
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Finest in the Field: Class of 2029

Tyler Russo
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Finest in the Field: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2028 These guys might just be entering high school, but they've certainly already made a name for themselves on the national circuit, especially with their abilities on the defensive side of things.  C: Xavier Rodriguez (Logansville, GA) Rodriguez is a polished defender with real arm strength behind the dish, while showcasing the ability to impact the baseball with authority to all fields evident by thirty of his sixty-five hits going for extra-bases including seven bombs. He handles high-level pitching extremely well, commands his staff and his offensive prowess makes him a true two-way asset. 1B: Cooper Knight (Buda, TX) Knight is a smooth operator at first base with plenty of range, fluidity and agility in his footwork around the bag. Add-in a rocket for an arm, the ability to change slots and to...
Tournaments | Story | 12/12/2025

Scout Stories: Part 5

AJ Denny
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Best Game I Saw: The Dream NTL 18U vs. MBA Scout Team Murphy Jupiter always brings out the best, and we got fireworks from the jump. Turner Marshall gave The Dream an outstanding 4+ innings of work on the mound, holding a lethal MBA team at bay with Chance Dixon, Derrick Carter, and Ellis Appling providing an offensive spark out of the gate for the Georgia based boys. However, it was only a matter of time before the talent on the other side got going, as MBA erased a 3-run deficit in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead led by a Parker Loew HR. The Dream then took command again in the Top of the 6th, before MBA punched right back with a huge 5-run inning in the bottom half capped off by a clutch RBI single from Matthew Kerrigan, ending a wild sequence with tons of notable performances from two very competitive rosters. Best Tournament Performance I Saw: Surely someone has already brought this...
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