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College  | Story | 4/2/2025

Midseason Collegiate Awards

Photo: Kyson Witherspoon (Oklahoma Athletics)
Midseason Player of the Year

Alex Lodise – IF - Florida State

Lodise, the 6-1/190 infielder from St. Augustine, Florida, started his career down I-10 at the University of North Florida where he was an everyday starter at short stop and First Team All-ASUN award winner. He had a monster season batting .306 with 14 doubles, 16 home runs and 63 runs batted in. Transferring to FSU for his sophomore season, he started 62 games in 2024 and went through an adjustment period to ACC competition batting .281 with 14 doubles, 9 home runs and 44 RBI. Fast forward to this year and he is on pace to double most of his personal single season highs in virtually every batting category. Lodise is currently 4th in the nation with a .466 BA, leads the nation in average hits per game, tied for 22nd in home runs with 11, and his .871 slugging percentage is 7th in the nation. Beyond helping his club get off to an impressive (23-4) start to the season, he has played himself into late Day 1 to early Day 2 consideration in the coming MLB Amateur Draft.

Midseason Pitcher of the Year

Kyson Witherspoon – RHP – Oklahoma

At 6-2/207, the right handed pitcher from Jacksonville, Florida, started his career at Northwest Florida State College where he made 17 appearances, going 69.2 innings pitched with a 3.10 ERA. The following year he found himself in Norman and would lead OU with a 3.71 ERA in 80.0 innings pitched, 11 starts, 17 appearances and 8-3 record while accumulating a 90:40 strikeout-to-walk ratio. After a stint with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, Witherspoon has taken his craft to another level. Armed with a fastball that lives in the mid-90s and will touch 98 mph and backing that up with a tight cutter and devastating mid-80s slider, he has emerged as the top starting pitcher in the country. He is (5-1) on the year in 7 starts with a 2.31 ERA in 39.0 innings pitched, holding opponents to a .189 batting average with a tremendous 64:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Sooners looks like national title contenders and Witherspoon could be the first college arm off the board in this July’s MLB Draft.



Midseason Freshman of the Year

Derek Curiel – OF – LSU

Ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 1 Top 75 Freshman for the 2025 season, Curiel has somehow surpassed all expectations. Leading the Tigers in batting average at .408, runs scored with 38 and on-base percentage at .555, he has been the sparkplug for their explosive offense. He uses the big part of the field, driving the ball gap-to-gap on his way to 9 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 24 runs batted in. Adding significant physicality to his 6-2 frame, he now weighs 182 pounds, and the results have been him doing more damage with the stick. While it would be anticipated that his performance may take a hit once the challenge of SEC play began, Curiel continues to lead LSU in most offensive categories in league plays. In 9 conference starts, he is slashing .371/.629/.500 with a double, triple, 2 home runs and with 7 RBIs and a team leading 11 runs scored. The Tigers are an elite team with their sights on Omaha and with Curiel producing like he is, they would be a pretty safe bet to reach the promised land.

Midseason Two-Way Player of the Year

Ethan Hedges – IF/RHP – Southern Cal

The physicality and athleticism required to be a legitimate two-way player in D1 baseball are rare to find but the 6-1/185 Hedges is an elite example. The junior from Fountain Valley, California is putting together an epic season for the Trojans after being a position player only for his first two seasons. In 2025, he is thriving on both sides of the ball and the bat may be his loudest tool. So far this year he is slashing .413/.817/.508 with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, 34 runs batted in, and he has also swiped 7 bags. He leads the Trojans in every major offensive category with the exception of doubles, has hit safely in 25 of 27 games and he has been their stopper on the mound at the end of games. Using his low-to-mid 90s fastball and quality breaker, Hedges has made 9 appearances and registered 8 saves with an opponent’s batting average of .188 so far. Southern Cal is looking to make some noise in their first year of play in the Big 10, and Hedges will be in the thick of it.

Midseason Coach of the Year

Tony Vitello – Tennessee

Having picked up just about every coach’s award out there in 2024, it would have been reasonable to think Vitello may not be able to duplicate last year’s success. Well, nothing could be further from the truth as the Vols once again find themselves atop every Top-25 poll across the nation. Vitello has his club sitting (26-2) as well as (8-1) in SEC play, which has them in a 3-way tie for first place in the conference. Tennessee set the all-time SEC record for consecutive wins in the season following a national title as they reeled off 20 victories to open up 2025. In the transfer portal era, it is vital to attract the best transfer talent in the nation, but it is equally as important to retain your best players. Vitello and staff seem to have figured out the formula for both and at mid-season are the odds on favorites to win the national title yet again.

Midseason Team of the Year

Tennessee Volunteers

Life of the SEC defending national champion in the previous 4 years has been a difficult road to navigate. In 2021, the Mississippi State Bulldogs followed up their title run with sub-.500 record and failed to make the SEC tournament. The Ole Miss Rebels won the national title the following year and followed the same path only winning 25 games and fell short of reaching Hoover. So, the LSU Tigers took home the hardware in 2023 and followed up with a quality season of 43 wins but saw their season end in the Chapel Hill Regional. The Vols won it all in 2025 and have shown no signs of a hangover, racing out to a (20-0) record to start the season and are (26-2) overall with their sights on another SEC Regular Season title. This year’s club is an offensive juggernaut, batting .317 as a team, having hit 68 home runs (3rd in the nation) on their way to scoring on average 10.5 runs per game (2nd in the nation). They have scored 211 more runs than their opponents and an almost 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio as a team with an outrageous .447 OB%. As good as they are with the sticks, they may be better on the mound as they lead the nation in team ERA with a 2.54 and also lead the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 4.28 as a staff. They are as deep as they are good with 15 pitchers having made at least 5 appearances as they spread the workload and keep arms fresh down the stretch. This team plays with freedom but remains disciplined and they thrive under the expectations that they are the frontrunners for another national championship.

College | Rankings | 3/25/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: March 25

Nick Herfordt
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Every preseason, analysts and voters pour enormous effort into ranking the small college baseball landscape — poring over returning rosters, transfer additions, coaching changes, and historical trends to assemble the most accurate picture they can of who will be contending when the postseason arrives. And most years, they get it largely right. But the nature of college baseball, with its massive rosters, unpredictable development arcs, and ever-churning transfer portal, guarantees that a handful of genuinely elite programs will slip through the cracks every spring. A team loses too many seniors. A key transfer hasn’t yet suited up. A new coaching staff hasn’t had the chance to prove itself. The voters see the question marks and leave the blank space, and then the season begins and the blank space starts filling itself in — loudly. As the 2026 season heads into its...
Juco | Rankings | 3/25/2026

JUCO Top 25: March 25

Blaine Peterson
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Another strong week of Juco baseball for teams in our Top 25, and as you may see, our field is the same from a week prior with each and every team handling business in their weekend sets to hold fast to their spots on the board. Some notable movement though inside the Top 5 with Gaston jumping up to number 2 after a 33-2 start to the 2026 season as well Cloud County cracking the Top 15 for the first time all year. Looking forward to watching conference play around the country as we approach the final stretch of the regular season. Rk. School Record 1 Johnson County (KS) 30-2 2 Gaston (NC) 33-2 3 Florida Southwestern (FL) 26-7 4 Walters State (TN) 26-6 5 Chipola (FL) 29-5 6 Florence-Darlington (SC) 29-6 7 Blinn (TX) 22-8 8 McLennan (TX) 20-7 9 Cochise (AZ) 28-6 10 Pearl River (MS) 25-7 11 Georgia Highlands (GA) 30-8 12 Southern Nevada (NV) 24-6 13 Northwest Florida (FL) 21-12 14 Cloud...
College | Story | 3/24/2026

College Players of the Week: March 24

Vincent Cervino
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March 24th Perfect Game/Player of the Week: Quinton Coats, IF, Cincinnati The Cincinnati Bearcats (19-7) are on the cusp of the Top 25 and are playing their best ball of the season. The offense has been the driving force behind their success, and it has been incredibly consistent having averaged 8.5-runs per game. In the middle of it all, Quinton Coats, is on pace for a historic season both within the program and on a national level. The 6-3/225 infielder from Olathe, KS has been launching home runs at a record pace and opponents seem to be powerless to stop his onslaught. With incredible strength in his hands, Coats creates easy loft and in 5 road games last week he collected 9 hits in 20 at-bats, with 4 home runs, 9 runs scored, and he drove in a total of 9 runs as well. As for his pursuit of history, the modern day BBCOR bat standard single season home run record is 34, set back in...
College | Recruiting | 3/23/2026

Recruiting Notebook: March 23

Ryan Miller
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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....
College | Rankings | 3/22/2026

College Top 25: March 23

Vincent Cervino
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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...
Draft | Rankings | 3/20/2026

2026 Draft Board: Top 300

Vincent Cervino
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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....
High School | General | 3/23/2026

High School Notebook: March 23

Perfect Game Staff
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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...
Press Release | Press Release | 3/19/2026

PG Teams Up with OZ Ball Tournaments PTY

Perfect Game Staff
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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 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...
Press Release | Press Release | 3/18/2026

PG Introduces Individual Player Entry

Perfect Game Staff
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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 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...
Juco | Rankings | 3/18/2026

JUCO Top 25: March 18

Blaine Peterson
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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...
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