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Tournaments  | Championship | 6/23/2026

ATL Lightning Go Undefeated, Claim Title

Following a riveting weekend of baseball with over 40 teams represented in the 16u field of the Southeast Select Championship, two nationally ranked squads met in the championship as ATL Lightning 16u Gold put on a dominating performance to take home their first trophy of the summer and complete the tournament undefeated, overcoming eXposure 16u National 11-5.

“Lot of compete,” ATL Lightning coach Jamie Palmer said on the successful weekend. “We got some guys that work really hard, get tired. I mean, these tournaments are so short, eight games in four days, they're tired, but they just kept competing and finding a way to get runs across and make plays when they needed to.



In the first inning, Cannon Mayes got the starting nod for eXposure and held ATL Lightning to a scoreless frame with a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play ball to send it to the home half of the opening inning. ATL’s starter, Oliver Spalding, manufactured many swings and misses due to deceiving off-speed, and was able to match his opponent’s performance in the first by keeping the game in a scoreless tie heading into the second inning.

Mayes struggled with command in his second inning of work, walking back-to-back batters to set up a prime opportunity to plate the first runs of the championship contest. Graham Reker, Lightning’s second baseman, took advantage of the ducks on the pond and delivered with a double in the right center gap to make it 1-0 with two runners still on base. Mayes traded an out for a run on the following batter with an RBI groundout from shortstop Ryan Dunham and eXposure was finally able to get out of the inning after forcing a flyout on the next pitch.

“I mean, it felt great,” Reker said after getting the scoring started with the go-ahead double. “It's always good to get that double with two outs, get the first runs of the championship game.”

eXposure came up to bat in the second inning looking to erase their deficit while trailing by multiple runs for just the second time all tournament and had a prime opportunity to claim the lead right back. A balk from Spalding followed by a walk loaded the bases with just one out, but Spalding was able to induce two flyouts to escape the jam unscathed and keep his team ahead by 2 runs.

Lightning center fielder, Graham Bean led off the third with a triple to the wall, and bases became loaded once again after back-to-back hitters reached with a hit-by-pitch and a 4-pitch walk. Mayes was able to record two outs without allowing a run due to groundouts that resulted in force outs at the plate, but another passed ball allowed the third run to score with ease. Mayes’ struggles continued in great form with yet another 4-pitch walk being drawn to load up the bases again and another hit-by-pitch to make the ballgame 4-0. Fellow southpaw, Wyatt Jones, entered the game in relief by swapping with Mayes who moved to center field, and was able to get his team out of the inning with help from Mayes who made a terrific catch in center field on a deep flyout.

eXposure had a runner just 90 feet away from scoring after shortstop, Tallen VanOrtwick hammered a one-out triple, but Spalding continued his dominance on the mound by stranding the runner and keeping his opponents at 0 runs.

The bottom of ATL’s order created chaos in the field for eXpsoure, reaching base safely with a single, then error, then a beautiful bunt down the line to make the bases full yet again with just one out. Another walk plated the fifth run for the Lightning, but Jones held the damage to just a singular run to keep his team in a manageable hole.

eXposure was able to inch closer in the fifth inning by holding ATL to a scoreless inning for the first time since the opening frame, and then a RBI double from Coleman Smith produced the first run of the game for the home team. The solo run was all the offense could score though, and they trailed 5-1 with just two innings remaining.

ATL was able to get the run right back, as a double from third baseman Anson Nguyen drove in two baserunners and extended his team’s lead to 7-1. Two more hard-hit balls from Mason Kennerly and Charlie Jones fell just beyond the outstretched arms of the Lightning outfielders to score another four runs, and Reker delivered with another hit to drive in yet another run and put ATL in a double digit run deficit before moving to the home half of the 6th inning.

Spalding’s outing came to an end after the fifth inning and finished the day with 5.0 innings pitched while allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 6 opponents.

“Spalding did a great job of keeping the team that I think can hit really well off-balance today,” said Coach Palmer.

“Just letting the defense work today, it was good to know my defense was behind me,” said Spalding on the team helping his performance.

Right-handed pitcher, Wyatt Garfinkle, entered the game for Spalding and allowed a pair of runs before being replaced by Tyler Wells with no outs. Wells did his job on the mound and kept the score at 11-4 with just one inning to play.

In the 7th, eXposure tallied another run with an opposite field home run from Smith, but Wells was able to settle down and close out the game to secure an undefeated weekend with a 11-5 victory in the championship.

With the 16u WWBA championships just around the corner, a great showing at the PG Southeast Select Championship this weekend for teams such as ATL Lightning and eXposure may have given them the experiences needed to make a deep run as the summer progresses.

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...
General | General | 11/6/2026

Class of 2028 Rankings Update

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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...
Draft | Story | 10/30/2026

2027 Draft Preview: Prep Middle Infielders

Ryan Miller
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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...
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