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
Tournaments  | Story | 9/26/2011

It's Show time!

Photo: Perfect Game

Also see: Mt. West 2013 claims 2011 Perfect Game/EvoShield National Underclass Championship

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The San Diego Show boasts a roster with no fewer than eight players who have already committed to NCAA Division I schools and includes a couple of elite prospects that could go early in the June 2012 MLB draft.

But every player on the Show is a top prospect, and it was two young men in the class of 2012 who have yet to commit to a college that shined the brightest under the hot Arizona sun this weekend.

Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Josh Estill and Most Valuable Pitcher Zack Wilkins, the Show won the 2011 Perfect Game/EvoShield National Championship (Upperclass) with a 3-1 victory over their southern California neighbors, the San Diego Gamers, in the championship game played mid-day Monday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

It is the second Perfect Game national title for the Show in the last two-plus months. They won the WWBA 18u National Championship in Marietta, Ga., in mid-July.

The Show finished the four-day tournament with a 6-0-1 record after recording a tie in its opener Friday night. Six straight wins followed, including four in the playoffs by a combined score of 25-5. Estill had a lot to do with that run production.

A stocky 5-foot-10, 185-pound catcher/third baseman who is a senior at Santa Fe Christian High School in Carlsbad, Calif., Estill had a tournament for the ages in the seven games he played in 100 degree-plus temperatures. He finished 14-for-20 at the plate (.700) with six doubles, one triple, seven RBI and eight runs scored. His on-base percentage was .727 and his slugging percentage 1.100.

“It’s fun to come out here and play in Arizona,” Estill said. “I saw the ball well, hit the ball well and I got picked up a lot by my teammates. We got some awesome pitching performances, gutsy pitching performances by this guy Zack (Wilkins), right here. We all banded together and we kind of pulled it through that last inning. We were tired and its 100 degrees. It’s hot!”

The heat didn’t seem to bother him, however.

“I like hitting the heat. It’s nice,” Estill said. “We could be playing in 72 degrees – San Diego heat – but this is fun. We got it done out here.”

Wilkins, a 6-2, 185-pound right-hander who is a senior at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, also had an impressive weekend, although the vast majority of it came Monday morning in the Show’s 4-3, eight inning win over 520 Elite 18u in one of the tournament’s semifinal games.

Wilkins pitched all eight innings of that game, giving up six hits and three earned runs while striking out four. In an earlier tournament appearance, he pitched two hitless innings and gave up no runs with two strikeouts.

“It was a great experience,” Wilkins said. “We played well and we played as a team and I just thought everyone bonded real well up here. We just played real well as a team.”

Like Estill, Wilkins said he was unfazed by four days of 100-plus temperatures.

“I’ll throw in any weather,” he said. “I just go out there and do my best and see what happens.”

He also wasn’t surprised San Diego Show was playing for the championship Monday morning.

“We’re one of the top teams in the nation and we always go out and play hard,” Wilkins said.

The Show’s head coach Brian Cain also wasn’t that surprised, even though he came to Monday’s table with less than a full deck.

The Show was playing without five regulars who were with them Friday, Saturday and Sunday because those players had to get back to school. Cain said he was concerned about a lack of depth on a long tournament’s final day, but those concerns turned out to be unfounded.

“Today we were missing a few guys, and I’m making no excuses, but I didn’t think we played our best baseball by far,” he said. “We left 11 or 12 guys on base this last game and we should have scored more. But everybody here is a very good baseball player. They’re all going somewhere at the D-I level or the four-year school level or even pro ball. I knew they would come and give me everything that they had today.”

The Show jumped to an early 2-0 lead when Kevin Newman smacked a two-run home in the top of the first inning. They added an insurance run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single from Estill.

Right-hander Michael Martin threw five solid innings to pick up the win, giving up five hits and one earned run while striking out five. PG All-American Corey Oswalt pitched the final two innings and allowed only one hit.

The Gamers managed six hits and one run against Martin and Oswalt, and a double from Austin Hensley the only extra-base hit. Right-hander Kyle Teachout and lefty Michael Kaufman struggled, combining to surrender 10 Show hits.

Cain was not shy all week about the reason he brought this team here for the PG/EvoShield National Championship (Upperclass). He wants to get a good portion of the roster ready for the PG WWBA World Championship over in Jupiter, Fla., Oct. 20-24.

“I knew we needed the work getting ready to go to Jupiter,” Cain said. “A lot of these guys hadn’t played multiple games in a short amount time since the middle of August. I knew we had to rev it up to get ready for Jupiter. You could see them dragging a little bit there today. They didn’t play their best baseball but they played well enough to win.”

The San Diego Show is working with the powerhouse Ohio Warhawks to put together one entry for the WWBA World Championship. Cain wants to make sure his half of the roster is ready.

 “This was perfect as a stepping-stone to be competitive in Jupiter,” Cain said. “We’re looking forward to that trip. That’s something we’ve had in our plans for some time now, so we’re excited to go and compete there. That’s a great tournament with a lot of great players. It’s going to be challenging, but competition breeds the best players and that’s where we want to be – playing the most competitive baseball we can.”

San Diego Show, the tournament’s No. 8 seed, beat No. 5 seed 520 Elite 18u, 4-3 in eight innings in Monday morning’s semifinal round. The San Diego Gamers (6-1-0) also needed eight innings to beat the AZ Athletics, 2-1, in their semifinal game.

The Gamers’ right-hander Andrew Shultz, who earlier in the tournament was part of a one-hitter, threw all eight innings against the Athletics and gave up six hits and no earned runs while striking out five.

It was a great tournament for the two teams from the San Diego area (the Gamers are based in El Cajon).

“We enjoyed ourselves here. It’s nice to get away,” Cain said. “And like I said, anytime we travel more than two hours we like to come home with hardware, and we did. We’ve got our work cut out for us a month from now. It’s not going to be easy down there. Jupiter is going to be really tough (with) a lot of great players but we’re looking forward to it.”


Tournaments | Story | 11/6/2026

National All State Preview: Week 1

Hannah Jo Groves
Article Image
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

Article Image
Draft | Rankings | 11/6/2026

2027 MLB Draft Board Update: Top 200

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
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
Article Image
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
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...
Loading more articles...