THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
PG Select Baseball Festival  | General | 8/17/2024

11u & 12u Select Festival Recap

Photo: 11u & 12u Select Festival Teams (Perfect Game)
The top 11 & 12U eligible players from across North America descended on the historic East Cobb Baseball Complex this past weekend for this year’s rendition of the 2024 Perfect Game Select Baseball Festival. 28 of the best comprised the 11U version, while 36 of the very best made up the 12U iteration as they culminated their summer seasons and gave us a glimpse into the next generation of youth amateur baseball.

The weekend was filled with fun filled activities including practices, home run derby’s and plenty of fun in our player's lounge area where both age groups got to engage in ping pong tournaments and play against each other in various video games like MLB The Show. They also got plenty of chances to learn from former Major Leaguers Tom “Flash” Gordon, Ryan Klesko and Charles Johnson throughout the weekend, as all three were members of our coaching staff for the young athletes. Perfect Game celebrated each of the player's accomplishments in being named to his prestigious event by hosting an awards banquet for each age group.



Not to be lost amongst all the exciting moments, both on-and-off the field, was the fundraising efforts by both the 11 & 12U participants. Each of the players put their best foot forward to try and raise funds for the Elite Development Academy based out of Tampa, Florida. The Elite Development Academy (EDA) is a transformative initiative addressing economic and racial disparities in baseball. Founded by the Fox Foundation and the HBCU, Dillard University, EDA brings together mentors, nonprofits, scouts, and coaches to enhance athletic skills and provide academic support and mentorship to young players from underserved communities. The program includes robust player onboarding, personalized guidance, and assistance with scholarships and federal grant applications, fostering athletic and academic excellence.

The amazing efforts of each participant in both the 11 & 12U games allowed for a little over $23,000 to be raised to help underserved players that go through the Elite Development Academy. Jordan Acosta of the 11U East team raised an astounding $3,585, while Easton Metzelaars helped the cause by raising $2,570. Leyland Henry led the 12U contingent, as he raised a little over $2,000 towards the fundraising efforts. Bryan Johnson Jr. was the second top fundraiser for the 12U participants, as he raised $1975.

Now let’s get to the games as the 11U squads got things rolling on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The West squad took home a 7-5 victory in a back-and-forth affair that got started with the blazing fastball of our National Pitcher of the Year Carlo Rivero, as he notched two punch outs in a scoreless top of the first. It was his bat that got the West team on the board first as the left-handed hitting Arizona native stayed on a fastball from East starter Jack Mattingly and drove it out to left-centerfield. The West extended their lead in the bottom of the second thanks to a run scoring double by Mylo Leyja, which was followed up by RBI singles off the bats of Joshua Park and Ruben Elias. The East came roaring back in the top of the third inning, as they scored five to take the lead, capped off by a three-run opposite field bomb off the bat of Carlos Marrero. A couple of walks and wild pitches helped the East squad during that inning.

The scoring would halt until the bottom of the fifth, where the West team tied things at five as Ruben Elias notched his second RBI single of the game, while Kristian Valadez would strike out the side in the top of the sixth to keep things knotted at five after working around a one out walk. A one out walk by Hudson Bills would be followed by a Gabriel Gutierrez double down the left field line to give the West squad a 6-5 lead. They would add an insurance run on another double by 11U Home Run Derby Champion Brayden Worthen as he lifted one towards the left field line that fell in-front of the left field. 11U National Player of the Year Ethan Palacios would work around a two-out double from Jace Winston to punch out two and secure the victory for the West. Ruben Elias took home MVP honors by going 2-for-2 with three runs batted in.

11U Game MVP: Ruben Elias

11U Home Run Derby Champion: Brayden Worthen
 
11U Award Winners: Ethan Palacios, Waylon Harris, Carlo Rivero

The 12U iteration gave us a glimpse into the future stars of amateur baseball, as there were seven arms who toed the rubber and touched 80-plus mph and an outstanding twelve out of sixteen that touched at least 78 mph. The game itself came with plenty of action as the teams amassed twelve hits including three homers. Our National Pitcher of the Year Calvin Madenspacher started things off on the mound for the East squad as he continued to show exactly why he was the recipient of the award by punching out three in his inning of work. Tyler Early opposed him for the West and took home his own honors as our National Player of the Year. The West would strike first in the top of the second, as they scored a pair due to a few walks and an RBI ground out by Creed Peoples. The East would answer back on the shoulders of James Watson as he scorched a three-run homer to right-centerfield to give his team the lead. The East would extend their lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a quartet of walks as they continued to put together good at-bats against a talented West pitching staff. A pair of walks, an error and a couple wild pitches would allow the West to knot things at four heading into the bottom of the fifth. Eventual MVP Raymond Minaya took matters into his hands in the bottom half of the inning as the left-handed hitting New York native launched a two-run homer to dead center field. The East squad would extend their lead further in the sixth thanks to an RBI double off the bat of Cohen Ward and another two-run bomb from Maykel Jimenez. They would plate three runs in the seventh extend their lead to 8 as Watson, a Georgia native, secured the victory in his home state with a punchout to end another talent laden Perfect Game 12U Select Baseball Festival.

12U Game MVP: Raymond Minaya

12U Home Run Derby Champion: Kingston George

 
12U Award Winners: Tyler Early, Calvin Madenspacher, Jesse Soberal Jr



PG Select Baseball Festival | General | 7/21/2026

13u Select Festival Roster Reveal

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
With the completion of the 2026 13u National Showcase, an event that featured some of the best talent the age group has to offer, 42 players came out with the label of "Festivaler" as they received a phone call shortly after the event concluded. Moving back to the University of Tennessee after a two year stay at the University of Virginia, Ole Rocky Top will see a mixed bag of returners; three-timers, new faces and a couple who bridged the gap from the 11u game into the 13u iteration.  Of the 42 players, 9 players call Florida their home base which is the most of any state while Texas (8), California (7) and Georgia (5) are all close behind nearly three-quarters of the players selected. In total 17 different states are represented, from Hawaii to Arkansas, Washington to Maryland and everywhere in between.  Quick roster breakdown: Three-time Select Festival: 13 players ...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 70

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
That Off-Season Program Wasn't Built for Your Son. It Was Built for Nobody. The Harsh Reality of Skill Development · Part 2 of 5 Somewhere right now, a pitcher is starting a twelve-week off-season program. It came from his travel team. Or a trainer. Or a big leaguer's Instagram. It has phases and a logo, and every kid in the building got the same one. Here is the harsh reality. That program was written before anybody looked at your son. It doesn't know he exists. It was built for the average pitcher... and the average pitcher does not exist. A Template Fixes Somebody's Problem. Maybe Not His. Every pitcher who is stuck is stuck for a reason. We call that reason his constraint... the thing that is actually limiting him right now. For one kid it is strength. For the next it is mobility. For the next it is a mechanical inefficiency, or an arm that isn't recovering, or a body that...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 69

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
Your Son's April Arm Injury is Being Scheduled Right Now   The Harsh Reality of Skill Development - Part 1 of 5 Let me start this series with something most people in baseball won't say out loud. In my experience, a great many of the arm problems we will see next April are being set up right now... in October, November and December. Not necessarily because a young pitcher is throwing too much. Often it's because of what happens when he stops. Here is the pattern. I have watched it for more than thirty years. The fall season ends. The arm is tired, so the family does what seems like the responsible thing.  They shut it down. No throwing. For a lot of kids, no anything. Weeks go by. The holidays come and go. Then somebody looks at a calendar in January and realizes tryouts are three weeks away. Suddenly, an arm that has done nothing since October is asked to go from zero to game...
High School | Rankings | 11/4/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Risers

Kyler Peterson
Article Image
Complete Class of 2027 Rankings With the end of the summer and fall seasons behind us, it was time for a quick refresh of the 2027 class rankings. Below you'll be able to read about some of the biggest risers up the board, led by North Carolina outfielder John Hucko who jumped more than 110 spots to now sit at No. 20 overall.  John Hucko, OF, Charlotte, N.C. Previous Rank: 132 | Current Rank: 20 Hucko makes a huge leap into the top-20 players in the class after a dominating showing in Jupiter. It’s as good of a left-handed swing as you’ll come across with pretty easy impact to all parts. He’s a supreme athlete with all the tools to play center long term and is a present plus runner. Hucko is a name that cemented his prospect status in Jupiter and will be a name to follow for next year’s MLB Draft. Elyjah Mason, SS, Lake Forest, Calif. Previous Rank: 71 |...
General | General | 11/3/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Update

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Press Release | Press Release | 11/2/2026

PG Partners Up with Minority Prospects

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 MEDIA RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP WITH MINORITY PROSPECTS   Sanford, Florida (Monday, November 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a media rights partnership with Minority Prospects, the Atlanta-based organization that has become the largest platform in the world for minority baseball and softball prospects. The partnership kicked off last month at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Perfect Game's premier fall event, where Minority Prospects produced content featuring some of the nation's top amateur players in front of college coaches, professional scouts and MLB legends. Under the agreement, Minority...
Draft | Story | 10/30/2026

2027 Draft Preview: Prep Middle Infielders

Ryan Miller
Article Image
2027 MLB Draft Profile Preview: Collegiate Right-Handed Pitchers | Collegiate Left-Handed Pitchers The premium profile in each class often are prep middle infielders, a sought-after group with the athletic ability to stick on the dirt or land throughout the diamond long term. This demographic has produced the superstars of today’s game and therefore are selected in prime spots while demanding high-end signing bonuses. This group features a mix of loud tools, high level projection, and impact defenders. Below we break down at the top prep middle infielder in the 2027 cycle.  ‘27 SS Dylan Seward (CA)- liftoff from the No. 1 player in the class. A solo blast to RCF to extend the lead for @TheCanesBB #WWBA @California_PG @Vol_Baseball commit https://t.co/lJjNg6T7PS — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 27, 2026 SS Dylan Seward, Norco (CA)  The Southern...
Tournaments | Story | 11/2/2026

2028: Under-the-Radar Names to Know

Joey Cohen
Article Image
2028 Post-Circuit Dive: Under-the-Radar Names to Know One of my favorite parts of the calendar comes after the summer and fall circuits have wrapped, when I can finally sit down, dig through our tournament performance data and uncover some names that may have slipped through the cracks. With hundreds of events on the schedule and thousands of players coming through them, there's inevitably going to be talent that I or even our collective staff haven't given enough attention to. For this exercise, I wanted to isolate a particular offensive profile. I looked for 2028 bats who produced at a high level while keeping their swing-and-miss numbers in check across a sample of at least 50 plate appearances. On the pitching side, the approach was equally straightforward in terms of identifying arms who consistently filled the strike zone while missing bats at a strong clip. Of course, not all...
Tournaments | Story | 10/29/2026

WWBA Underclass Prospect Recap

Kyler Peterson
Article Image
WWBA Underclass Scout Notes: Days 1-2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Stars Being Stars These are some of the more well-known names on the national landscape, playing across several big events in which they performed at the highest of levels. Their showings in Fort Myers were simply a continuation of what we've almost come to expect at this point from them!  Kasen Langerhans (2028, Round Rock, Texas) batted leadoff and stuck at the hot corner for Texas Twelve Red Sox 2028 in Fort Myers. The Texas native has the looks a young left-handed power bat and the swing is built for it. Langerhans produces easy bat speed, delivering a fast and leveraged barrel through the zone. He creates backspin and uses the ground well, really getting into the legs. The infielder has excellent power projection and took comfortable, intentful cuts in the box. Langerhans got the job done at the top of the order...
Tournaments | Story | 10/28/2026

WWBA Sophomore Prospect Recap

Kyler Peterson
Article Image
WWBA Sophomore Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Stars Being Stars These are some of the more well-known names on the national landscape, playing across several big events in which they performed at the highest of levels. Their showings in Fort Myers were simply a continuation of what we've almost come to expect at this point from them!  2029 MIF Easton Housewright (Knoxville, Tenn.) currently stands at 6-foot,175 pounds with strength in the lower half, present above-average athleticism. Continued to shine at the top of the lineup as the left-handed hitter is your prototypical leadoff hitter, consistently finding a way on and scoring. Takes quality at-bats with an above average awareness of the strike zone. Loose hands with easy bat speed that find the barrel often for hard line drives into the gaps that frequently turn into XBHs. Confident and balanced approach. Also...
Tournaments | Story | 10/27/2026

Beyond the Board: SS Malachi Butler

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
As the 2027 draft cycle moves through the fall and into the offseason, we kick off a new series called Beyond The Board. With each installment, we will provide an in-depth scouting report for some of the top players in the class, breaking down their tools, strengths, question marks, and overall projection. This week we take a look at Georgia prep shortstop Malachi Butler. The Georgia Tech put together an outstanding showing on the circuit this summer and has been a significant riser early in the 2027 cycle.  Player: Malachi Butler Position: SS B/T: L/R Height: 6-foot-3 Weight: 190-pounds School: McEachern HS Hometown: Powder Springs, Ga.  Physical Description: 6-2/190. Strong, athletic build. Well-proportioned body. Has strength with room to continue to add more.    High speed BP swing from '27 SS Malachi Butler (GA)... #PGNational @PG_Georgia https://t.co/M9OWUX9rPw...
Loading more articles...