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Tournaments  | Championship | 6/9/2026

Swamp Baseball Cruises to 18U Title

Photo: Swamp Baseball (Perfect Game)
Swamp Baseball entered the Gulf Coast Classic looking to break through after falling in the championship game in each of the previous two weekends.

Their matchup against Florida Flames 18U was a rematch of the East Memorial Day Classic championship game two weeks earlier, when the Flames earned a 4-1 victory. This time, Swamp turned the tables, defeating the Flames 11-2 at JetBlue Park to claim the 18U Gulf Coast Classic title.



The game ended after the top of the fifth inning under Perfect Game’s mercy rule, which ends play when the home team leads by eight or more runs after 4 ½ innings.

Strong pitching from Payton Sturrup and Ian Long, combined with consistent offensive production throughout the entire lineup, helped Swamp take control early and never look back.

Nicholas Raber delivered Swamp’s first hit of the game, driving in two runs with a double. Anthony Reitler followed with another two-run double, and Jonathan Kacinas added the team’s third two-run double of the inning as Swamp built a 6-0 lead with only one out in the bottom of the first.

The Flames found themselves in an even deeper hole after RBI singles from Jayden Salazar and Logan Hawkins extended the lead to 8-0 before the inning ended.

Hawkins earned MVP Honors after going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored. He finished the tournament hitting .769 through five games.

“Hitting is the biggest thing for me,” Hawkins said. “I feel like I have to hit good in order to provide for my team. Put it in play, put it in play, that’s all I think.”

Sturrup pitched three innings, allowing four hits and one walk while helping limit the Flames’ offense. The top of the second inning went by quickly, as the Flames sent just three batters to the plate.

Swamp head coach Brian Porvaznik credited his team’s pitching for setting the tone throughout the weekend.

“Pitching has been good all weekend and our bats finally came alive,” he said.

Maddux Wolff continued the offensive surge with a double in the second inning. He finished 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored and is hitting .500 through five games.

Kacinas added another two-run double in the second inning, finishing 2-for-2 with two doubles and four RBIs. The hit pushed Swamp’s lead to 11-0 by the end of the inning. Kacinas is hitting .636 through five games.

The Flames got on the board in the third inning when Rocco Colombo delivered a two-run double.

Thomas Walsh provided quality relief for the Flames, allowing two hits and no walks across two innings after entering in the third.

Long took over the mound in the fourth inning and closed out the game, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out two batters over two innings.

After consecutive championship-game losses entering the weekend, Coach Porvaznik challenged his team to perform at a higher level.

“I printed out stats and showed them how terrible they’ve been and showed them that they are much better than those numbers and it was time to get it together and play baseball,” he said.

A lineout to third base ended the game in the top of the fifth inning, securing the championship for Swamp Baseball and improving their record to 11-2-1.

“I truly think we’re the best,” Hawkins said. “We took the best guys from all around the area. We’re all local kids and I think we have the best team around. When we play our top of the top game no one can beat us.”

Tournaments | Story | 11/8/2026

14u National All State Scout Notes: Day 1

Tyler Russo
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2031 C/OF Jace Winston (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.) had a really nice day at the dish as he picked up a couple hits in his first game, both well-struck, and then launched a bomb in game 2. He’s one of the more physical players here who can really impact the baseball already, and the consistency in which he’s hitting this fall is a great sign going into 2027. 2031 SS/RHP Weston Stalls (Blackstock, S.C.) came in for a couple innings of relief on the day and showed off the arm talent running the fastball up to 87. It’s a fast arm and he generates real life to the fastball, while the breaking ball is a good pitch as well.   ‘31 SS Parker Smith (NC) went 3-for-3 to open the weekend, this a line drive single the other way. 6’2/140 & can accelerate the barrel already, intriguing projection. #NatAllState @PG_Coastal https://t.co/Z7C5kDGdIM — Perfect Game...
General | General | 11/6/2026

Class of 2028 Rankings Update

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Tournaments | Story | 11/6/2026

National All State Preview: Week 1

Hannah Jo Groves
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This weekend, teams from all around the country in the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions will converge on the Houston area for the 2026 PG National All-State Select Championships. The 10U division will have 22 teams, 12U will have 23 and 14U will have 22. All ages have many different states represented - from Hawaii, to the Pacific Northwest, to Arizona, to New England, to Carolina to Florida and many more. “National All-State brings together the best players in the country across Houston,” national crosschecker and northeast scouting director, John McAdams, said. “It’s a fun atmosphere for ultimate bragging rights amongst all the regions the PG platform reaches domestically while serving as a good litmus test for myself, Jheremy Brown and Tyler Russo to see the players. We get another glimpse at the end of the year as we start to formulate our initial thoughts on the...
Draft | Rankings | 11/6/2026

2027 MLB Draft Board Update: Top 200

Tyler Henninger
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PG Draft Content Hub With the fall season winding down and the winter months approaching, it is time for another draft board update.  After getting more live looks and gathering information from the fall action across the country, we have expanded the board to a Top-200. The class continues to feature an intriguing mix of arms from both the prep and college ranks, along with an enticing position player pool.  There is still plenty of time for new names to emerge and established prospects to continue to improve their draft stock, but here is where things stand as we head into the winter.  * denotes draft eligible sophomore Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment 1 Dylan Seward H SS S-R Norco Eastvale CA Tennessee 2 Brendan Lawson C SS L-R Florida Toronto ON 3 Dax Whitney C RHP R-R Oregon State Blackfoot ID 4 Tomas Valincius C LHP L-L Mississippi State...
College | Story | 11/6/2026

College Fall Notebook: November 6

Craig Cozart
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Virginia Cavaliers  2026 In Review:  Under the leadership of first year Head Coach Chris Pollard, the Cavaliers won 37 games which was the second most victories by a first-year coach in program history.  Virginia went (37-23) finishing tied for 8th in the ACC and earned an at-large bid to the Hattiesburg Regional.  They fielded a talented offense that averaged over 8-runs per game, highlighted by AJ Gracia and Eric Becker who were both selected on Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft.  While the defensive squad wasn’t quite as elite as usual, they were ultra-competitive on the mound with a strong rotation and lock down bullpen.  With plenty of talent returning for Pollard and his staff in ’27, they should be a force on a national level once again.  Impact Returners:    Senior Antonio Perrotta (.266/.459/.431, 5 HR, 6 2B, 24 RBI) experienced...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 70

Ron Wolforth
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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
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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
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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
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Press Release | Press Release | 11/2/2026

PG Partners Up with Minority Prospects

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 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...
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