-Tyler Henninger
Best Game I Saw
The second round matchup between East Cobb/SD Padres ST and CBU 2026 Scout Team - James down in Jupiter this past October was simply electric. Both rosters were littered with top prospects in what turned out to be quite the pitcher’s duel. A 1-1 tie was broken in the top of the seventh inning by none other than
RJ Cope, who launched a no-doubt solo home run over the right-center fence. The Vandy commit had also come up clutch for his team in the previous round with a 3-for-3 effort in what turned out to be an extra-inning victory. Right-hander
Victor Acosta put together seven strong innings with nine punchouts and just one run allowed, filling up the zone at a seventy-percent clip. With no hesitation, Acosta went right after hitters with his FB/SL mix, helping East Cobb/SD Padres ST advance to the quarter-finals.
Best Tournament Performance I Saw
Grayson Liddle—who put together a breakout year in 2025—got off to a roaring start with a simply dominant effort at the Jersey Shore Spring Championship. He hit .700 over the course of four games with a pair of doubles, four home runs and 10 runs batted in. Balls were flying off Liddle’s barrel despite the brisk April weather in New Jersey. He swings a consistent stick with plenty of evident bat speed and more power to come in the near future. The 2030 primary catcher has quickly risen up the class rankings and really progressed on the defensive side of the ball as well.
Favorite Single Game Moment
Royal Field up in Ontario, Canada played host to some of the most competitive PG games this year. In early June, clubs from multiple provinces battled it out in what was arguably the largest youth baseball event the country has ever seen. The 18u Canadian National Championship Tour saw the Great Lake Canadians and Brewers Langley Blaze meet in the final. The Brewers were down a run in the sixth inning and proceeded to go on a tear, posting six runs in the bottom-half. Four of which came from a loud no-doubt grand slam from
Keenan Parker, who opened the flood gates and helped his team secure the championship victory. The home run encapsulated the 2025 Canadian circuit and the direction in which baseball is heading up north.
Biggest Showcase Breakout Performer
Ryan Gaines received a massive jump in the recently updated 2028 class rankings and for good cause. The 6-foot-4 right-hander showed out on the mound at the High School All-State Select Championship, tossing three hitless innings with five strikeouts. His fastball lived in the upper-80s mph range with effortless carry through the strike zone. He topped the pitch out at 89 mph with heavy arm-side run and sink. He also showed impressive feel for mixing in his curveball, which had late depth and tight spin nearing 2300 rpm. Gaines looks every bit of the part on the mound and will likely continue his ascent up the class rankings next year.
Pick to Click
At 6-foot-5 240 pounds,
Enmanuel Acevedo certainly looks the part with a ton of intrigue from a physicality standpoint. The 2027 right-hander was up to 95 mph down in Jupiter with huge life and carry through the strike zone. He rang up 66 batters through 36.1 innings of work at PG events this year, showcasing that his arsenal without question fits the category of swing-and-miss. Walks have held Acevedo back from fully blossoming and making a case for top arm in the state. However if he cleans up the command issues this winter, another sizable jump in the class rankings could be in sight for the Virginia commit.
-Anthony Gambardella
Best Game I Saw
To say that the USA Prime 16u National/Detroit Tigers roster is loaded would be stating the obvious and it can be difficult to live up to the hype at a young age. That was not the case when I saw this club play in the WWBA National Championship at Sequoyah High School last summer. It was as if every star on this club recognized their moment to showcase their talent and did it in a profound way.
Chase Fuller (’27, FL) the No. 1 player in the class reached base every AB and showed off his elite power/speed combo with two doubles.
Jordin Griffin (’27, LA) hit a bases clearing triple as he floated around the bases. Meanwhile,
Frank Thomas III (’27, FL) showed off his sweet lefthanded stroke and advanced feel with the leather. However, the feat that
Samir Mohammed (’27, FL) and
Cooper Vais (’27, CO) accomplished on that day was quite extraordinary. The two right-handers threw a combined no-hitter but more impressive than that is the fact that they registered 13 of the 15 outs via the strikeout. Beyond that, they didn’t walk a single batter, throwing 76 pitches and filled up the zone at a rate of 70% strikes. Mohammed is an intimidating presence on the mound at 6-5/240 and is built for pure power. He translates his strength with relative ease and shows a smooth repeatable delivery that produces a FB that cruised in the 91-94 mph range. The heater dominates hitters, but he also has a low-80s slider that he landed at will and showed the occasional sinking CH in the low-80s as well. He went 2.0 IP and registered all 6-outs via the punchout. Vais has the true back end of the bullpen repertoire and is an athletic 6-0/180. He has a quick, explosive delivery with a full arm path and blended his 87-90 mph fastball with a devastating low-80s slider that was invisible to hitters. He cruised through 3.0 IP with 7 strikeouts and only needed 39 pitches to close out the victory.
Best Tournament Performance I Saw
With the prestige and history of Jupiter, it can be an intimidating and at times overwhelming venture even for the most veteran player. But to be an underclassman and take the ball in the starting role on the mound, it can be an even more monumental task. That is what impressed me so much about the outing Jassel Bermudez (’27, So Mex) put together for USG/Elev8 Rawlings National. An intriguing arm in the ’27 class, Bermudez shows an impressive amount of polish and mound presence for his age. He looks the part for sure at 6-5/205 and controls his body down the slope as he attacks hitters on the plate at an incredible rate of 80% strikes. He leverages the ball downhill with a high ¾ arm angle and elevates the heater effectively as he tunnels the breaker with it. Bermudez held upper-80s throughout with his fastball that day and grabbed 91 mph here and there. He throws a two-plane slider with late depth in the low-80s and flashed a quality changeup a few times. He maintained count leverage with first pitch strikes and is a steely competitor. Bermudez finished his outing taking an unfortunate loss, going 6.0 IP, allowing 4 hits, 3 runs, surrendering just 1 walk and punched out an eye popping 11 opponents. Bermudez remains uncommitted and is sure to have plenty of eyes on him heading into the spring.
Favorite Single Game Moment
This is kind of out of the box but was a full-circle moment for me after coaching college baseball for 25 years. Back in 2005 while at UCF, I had the privilege of coaching a young man (back then) named
John Michael Howell. He was a lefthanded hitter with insane juice in his bat, but it took him a while to find his stroke as he made stops at Florida and Seminole CC before coming back home to UCF. He put it all together that season batting .312 with 18 HR (UCF single season record at the time) and drove in 71 runs with a .647 slugging percentage before signing in the 9th round with the Washington Nationals. Fast forward 20 years to Jupiter this fall, and I got to see his son,
John Michael Howell II take the field for the Scorpions 2026 Scout team. While he’s not quite as physical as his old man yet, he runs better, has the same sweet lefthanded stroke and a more mature approach at the dish. The younger Howell is somewhat following in his father’s footsteps as he will take his talent to Seminole State next fall. If he continues to develop physically and finds the power in his stroke, he should be playing this game for a long time, just like his father did.
Biggest Showcase Breakout Performer
Organizational Showcases have been a huge success for Perfect Game and at times it affords you the time to give the participants an even more personal experience. That was the case with the 2025 Canes Baseball End of Summer Organizational Showcase in Greenville, SC. Due to the smaller number of pitchers, we had each pitcher throw their bullpens one at a time on the game mound for their evaluations.
Liam Purcell (’26, SC) looked the part as he took the mound at 6-4/200 and listed himself as a primary position infielder. He started his bullpen session from a very over the top arm angle, causing him to run away from his arm, getting very early into pronation. This was causing him to bounce a low-to-mid 80s fastball and run through his break on the slider losing most of its shape. We took a chance and asked him to move his arm angle and with his tremendous athletic ability and willingness to adjust, Purcell made an incredible jump. He immediately ran his fastball up to 88 mph, sitting upper-80s, with great life at the plate and lived in the strike zone. His slider jumped to 80 mph with late, abrupt break that tunneled well with his heater and flashed a serviceable change up. Uncommitted at the time, Purcell is now committed to Eastern Kentucky and should be an excellent two-way talent for the Colonels.
Pick to Click
I have been watching
Mikey Papciak (’28, NC) since he was 12 years old and the transformation he has made physically in the past year has been impressive. At 6-1/165, he is just beginning to develop his athletic frame, and he has added significant muscularity that has been a major reason for his uptick on the mound. The righty is loose and fluid on the bump with repeatable mechanics that allows for a lot of projection in his overall repertoire to come. He earned time on the mound at Wesleyan Christian last spring as a true freshman and with major losses to graduation he will be trust even more to the forefront this upcoming season. He already has a fastball that clips 90 mph and has the natural ability to spin the ball with a sweeping slider that misses barrels at will. He generates easy arm speed through his explosive core but there is much more in there. A two-way talent who can play most anywhere on the infield, he also has feel for the bat as he stays gap to gap with a line drive approach. Papciak is a steely competitor who has performed on the big stage and is primed to have a monster year on the circuit in 2026.
-Craig Cozart
Best Game I Saw
16u WWBA USA Prime vs. Wow Factor game was the highest level game I saw this past year. We’re all on fields with really good players quite often when I think about it. But this game took that to another level. It had the feel of “wow, this seems like we’re surrounded by a bunch of future big leaguers right now”.
Connor Salerno started for Wow Factor, he struck out a batter with a 96 mph fastball from the left side in the first inning. That’s certainly one of the top LHP’s in the 2027 class. Samir Mohammed started for USA Prime was up to 95 mph and struck out 7 over 6 IP. The game featured the current #1 prospect in both the 2027 and 2028 class in Chase Fuller and
Dexter McCleon Jr. One of the top 2-way prospects in the country,
Jake Turner threw 2+ scoreless innings and put together several good at-bats.
Cooper Goff hit a 2-run HR to RF, Deuce Jenkins hit a home run to straight away CF in a left-on-left matchup. Looking back on it, the game featured 15 of the current top 50 prospects in the 2027 class. I don’t even remember who won, but I do know it was really good.
Best Tournament Performance I Saw
This one was early in the year at MLK West in January. Current Minnesota Twins prospect
Bruin Agbayani had a 3 HR game and a 4 HR day in his last PG event. The one game ended by run rule after 4 or 5 innings so really he hit 4 HR in about 7 innings that day. Was obviously named MLK West MVP. I’ve seen a lot of HR’s and a decent number of multi-HR games but seeing a player hit 4 HR’s in a day is something I hadn’t seen before and certainly won’t ever forget.
Favorite Single Game Moment
This summer was the first time I’d seen current 2027 #1 overall prospect Chase Fuller play in person. He led off, swung at the first pitch he saw that game and hit a HR to left center field. It just seemed fitting for a player you hear so much about to make an impression that quickly.
Biggest Showcase Breakout Performer
2028 RHP Cooper Sanders showed up to Minnesota Indoor in March and put together what was for the age, the best showcase performance I have seen. Was up to 93 with the fastball multiple times, showed a 3 pitch-mix including a 2500+ RPM curve. At that point in time he had never even pitched in a high school baseball game. That’s pretty big time stuff for that age and that event sent him flying up the 2028 rankings list.
Pick to Click
Jean Josue Figueroa Medina. I was really impressed with him in Jupiter this fall. Was brought into a game in bracket play in the 1st inning, typically when teams are on their second pitcher of the 1st inning of a game they are in trouble. But he proceeded to throw 5.2 shutout innings and strike out 8 while earning a win. Showed a full 3 pitch-mix and one of the better change ups I saw at that tournament this year. He’s a real athletic mover on the mound, there’s definitely room to fill out and grow some too. The pitchability is already pretty evident and there’s a real chance for a stuff jump here too. I think a lot of people sort of assume a lot of us that are on fields are just velo chasers and that’s all we see and care about, but that just isn’t the case. There’s plenty of ways to stand out, and this dude did just that on a big stage without throwing a pitch over 90 mph that day. I think he makes a jump and becomes a much more well known prospect over the next year.
-Blaine Peterson