THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,449 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,449 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story | 11/11/2011

Tough July leads to historic October

Jeff Dahn
Photo: Perfect Game
The 2011 travel ball season couldn’t have ended on any higher note than the one Marucci Elite nailed over a 17 day period in October at venues in Fort Myers and Jupiter, Fla.

No screenwriter could have scripted it any better, not from a Marucci Elite perspective, anyway. Organization leader and head coach Chad Raley first took a young squad to the Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship, which ran in Fort Myers from Oct. 7-10. From there, a more veteran Marucci Elite team entered the prestigious PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, which covered five days from Oct. 20-24.

On two October Monday afternoons separated by two weeks and about 120 miles of south Florida highway, Marucci Elite players, parents and supporters reached the Promised Land – twice. First was their second straight championship at the WWBA Underclass World Championship on Oct. 10, followed in lockstep by their first title at the WWBA World Championship on Oct. 24.

It was the first time any organization had won the two prestigious Perfect Game WWBA World tournaments in the same year.

“This has been an unbelievable ride. I’m really proud of these guys, and they have a tremendous amount of character. We’re definitely doing some good things here,” Raley said after his squad escaped Central Florida PG Royal, 3-2, in the championship game at the WWBA World Championship.

He was just warming up:

“We just had a great group of kids who were able to jell and come together as a team. … They’re all great kids, they listen and they’re all humble kids and they all had something to play for. We had one goal in mind and we achieved that goal.”

Ah, yes – Florida sunshine, comforting breezes and warm fuzzy feelings all around. And in reality, those events of October offered a much-welcomed change from the events of mid-summer and the hard truths Marucci Elite experienced in hot and muggy Marietta, Ga.

Raley runs the Marucci Elite organization out of the Marucci Elite Training Center in Baton Rouge, La. In the early part of July, he took his premier 17u team to the blockbuster, 218-team PG WWBA 2012 Grads or 17u National Championship at the East Cobb Baseball Complex in Marietta. Marucci Elite fully expected to contend for the title.

What followed was beyond belief. Marucci stumbled out of the gate, never recovered and finished pool-play with an almost incomprehensible 1-5-1 record.

“We completely laid an egg in pool-play. It was really a learning experience for me to see all the things we did wrong,” Raley recalled in a Nov. 10 telephone conversation with Perfect Game. “I don’t know if the team chemistry was really there, and that was the craziest tournament I’ve ever seen. We found ways to lose that I didn’t think were possible.”

He spoke specifically of an 8-4 loss to the ABA Braves in Marucci Elite’s fourth game when it squandered a 4-0 lead by allowing eight runs on just one hit.

“We had walks, errors, strikeouts getting by the catcher that let guys get on base,” Raley said. “It was one of those games where our pitching completely dominated the other team’s hitting yet they scored eight runs. It’s just kind of mind-boggling when you sit back and look at it.”

Something was definitely out of a whack, considering Marucci Elite’s status as a top-10 national program. The 17u team was 37-3 going into its WWBA 17u National Championship opener against Yak Baseball (West), a game it lost, 8-3.

“We kind of rolled into that tournament pretty cocky and arrogant,” Raley said. “We were feeling pretty confident and we really overlooked our first opponent. With that loss, it kind of punched us in the mouth and kind of shocked us.”

Marucci Elite limped out of Marietta on July 14 and with essentially the same roster in tow, arrived in Fort Myers for the start of the PG 17u BCS Finals on July 17. The team was able to collect itself amongst still high expectations and earned a spot in the 16-team playoffs after skating through pool-play at 6-0. But it lost its first playoff game to Palm Beach County PAL 17u and exited the tournament.

After the round of 16 showing at the 17u BCS Finals, Raley and his assistants went to work assembling rosters for October’s WWBA Underclass World Championship and WWBA World Championship.

Raley lifted top-ranked 2013 prospect Christopher Rivera from Fullerton, Calif. – a Cal State Fullerton commitment – off the WWBA 17u National Championship roster and put him on the WWBA World roster, bypassing the WWBA Underclass World all together.

Marucci’s 24 roster spots for the WWBA Underclass World Championship were filled by top 2013 prospects – and two 2014s – from 12 states and Canada, including six 2013s who had already made Division I commitments: RHP/MIF Alden Cartwright, Baton Rouge, La. (LSU); RHP IF Trey Lee Cobb, Broken Arrow, Okla. (LSU); OF/1B Jarret DeHart, Medford, N.J. (LSU); SS/RHP Dylan Manwaring, Horseheads, N.Y. (Wake Forest); SS Oscar Mercado, Tampa, Fla. (Florida State); and MIF/3B/RHP Spencer Trayner, Tampa, Fla. (North Carolina).

In that group, Mercado is ranked 21st nationally, Trayner 48th, DeHart 60th and Cobb 78th.

One of the top 2013 prospects on the Underclass roster who had not committed at the time of the tournament was catcher Andrew Dunlap from Houston. Dunlap was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after collecting three game-winning hits, including a solo home run and a grand slam. He finished with nine RBI.

Playing with an organization that had won the same event a year earlier, Dunlap entered the tournament brimming with confidence.

“Chad (Raley) called me earlier this month and he told me how they won it last year,” Dunlap said after Marucci Elite beat Chet Lemon’s Juice, 9-6, in the championship game. “It sounded like we had a pretty good squad so we were all expecting to be here.”

Other top 2013 prospects on the Elite Underclass roster who also had not committed at the time included C/3B/RHP Adrian Chacon from Tampa (No. 54 nationally) and RHP Trevor Clifton from Knoxville, Tenn. (No. 121). MIF/RHP/OF Blake Hennessey from Ponte Verda, Fla., is the No. 20-ranked national prospect in the class of 2014.

Four prospects that were part of the Marucci Elite championship team at the WWBA Underclass World Championship in Fort Myers – Chacon, Dunlap, Hennessey and Mercado – also filled roster spots on the championship team at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter.

Marucci Elite’s Jupiter roster listed 25 prospects, including Perfect Game All-Americans OF/RHP Andrew Pullin and RHP Cody Poteet, Oregon and UCLA recruits, respectively. Sixteen other roster spots were filled with Division I recruits.

Eight of those were taken by prospects that were also part of the disappointing effort at the WWBA 17u National Championship in Marietta in July and five also played in the 17u BCS Finals. Those players included Rivera, Poteet, LHP/1B/OF Hunter Devall, Clinton, La. (an LSU commit); RHP/OF Gabe Gunter, Crestview, Fla. (Virginia Tech); Ty Moore, Baton Rouge, La. (LSU); RHP/INF Hunter Newman, Bloomington, Ga. (LSU); MIF Chase Nyman, Pascagoula, Miss. (Mississippi); and LHP/1B Kyle Twomey, Placentia, Calif. (Southern Cal).

Moore, Nyman and catcher Michael Barash from Boca Raton, Fla. (LSU) were Marucci’s position players named to the WWBA World Championship All-Tournament Team.

Marucci Elite pitchers RHP Marcus Brakeman of Tierra Verde, Fla. (Stanford), Newman, Poteet and Devall were also named to the all-tournament team.

Moore was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after hitting .350 (7-for-19) with five walks, five runs scored and three RBI. He obviously relished the opportunity he was given to play for Marucci Elite at the WWBA World.

“I had a couple of other teams … that wanted me to come and play for them, but you can’t beat Marucci. They offer the best teams and it showed today,” Moore said after the championship game victory. “It’s not always about putting together the (PG All-American) or the Team USA roster, it’s putting together a bunch of kids that go out and mesh well together and put some runs on the board.”

Brakeman was named Most Valuable Pitcher after throwing eight scoreless innings and picking up a win and a save while striking out eight and walking one. The other three all-tournament pitchers were equally effective: Devall threw 7 1/3 innings and picked up two wins with a 2.86 ERA and nine strikeouts; Newman pitched five scoreless innings and struck out 10 while picking up one win; and Poteet was 1-0 with a 2.47 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

The team came together and won a championship, and Raley credited the result to something else taken from the July debacle in Marietta.

“The biggest thing that I learned (in Marietta) as a coach was how important team chemistry was,” he said. “It was a wake-up call and I’ve got kind of brand new formula for building teams now.”

It was at the WWBA Underclass World Championship in Fort Myers where Raley first put his “new formula” into use. He said he had reached the conclusion he had too many players in the dugout and finding them all adequate playing time was becoming a burden.

“I wanted to try to carry the bare minimum of position players that I could so that everybody’s in the lineup at some point in time and they’re consistently seeing a lot of pitching and we’re not rotating guys in and out,” Raley said. “I thought that worked really well in both (World) tournaments because we only had one or two position players sitting on the bench each game.”

Raley is already well into his planning for 2012. During the Nov. 10 conversation, he said he had just about finalized his 17u roster and would begin work on the 16u and 15u rosters. He plans on taking a team’s worth of players to the National Underclass Showcase-Main event in Fort Myers Dec. 28-30.

“We’re looking forward to a good year and hopefully we can keep this momentum rolling,” Raley said.

He didn’t just now start thinking about the 2012 season. His thoughts were already on the future in the slap-happy moments immediately following Marucci’s WWBA World Championship title game victory.

“We just want to keep winning championships,” Raley said in Jupiter. “We want to keep winning championships and keep building the organization and make Marucci proud of us – just keep playing the game the right way.”

Give us your feedback
Tournaments | Story | 5/24/2026

East Memorial Day Scout Notes: Days 1-2
Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
‘27 IF Braylon Sheffield (FL) with an absolute 🚀 here, launching high off the RCF wall for a 3B. Super polished LH stick; hit over .400 last year on the circuit. #GoHoos commit. #EastMemorial pic.twitter.com/mdehqpR5v5 — Perfect Game Florida (@Florida_PG) May 23, 2026 Braylon Sheffield (2027, Fort Myers, Fla.) got the event started with the loudest swing of the night on Friday at Terry Park, rocketing a triple off the wall in the stadium. Sheffield, ranked 121 and committed to Virginia, is a super polished left-handed hitter with left side of the infield projection long term. The swing is tension-free with loose wrists and he generates easy bat speed with already present power to the pull side. This blast came inches away from being a home run and hitting a ball that far at Terry Park stadium is a significant shot. Sheffield also tripled in his second game of the weekend at...
Read More
College | Story | 5/25/2026

Field of 64 Projections

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
Last Four In First Four Out Next Four Out 61. Mercer 65. Kentucky 69. Kent State 62. TCU 66. Texas State 70. Gonzaga 63. Troy 67. Pittsburgh 71. Miami (OH) 64. UTSA 68. NC State 72. Campbell Auto-Bids ACC Georgia Tech A10 VCU America East Binghamton American East Carolina ASUN Lipscomb Big 10 UCLA Big 12 Kansas Big East St. John's Big South USC Upstate Big West Cal Poly CAA Northeastern CUSA Jacksonville State Horizon Milwaukee Ivy Yale MAAC Rider MAC Northern Illinois MVC UIC MWC Washington State NEC LIU OVC Little Rock Patriot Holy Cross SEC Georgia SoCon The Citadel Southland Lamar Summit South Dakota State Sun Belt Southern Miss SWAC Alabama State WAC Tarleton State WCC Saint Mary's  Teams by Conference SEC 11 ACC 8 Big 12 7 Big 10 4 Sun Belt 4 CUSA 3 American 2 Big West 2 SoCon 2 Los Angeles Regional Conference 1 (1) UCLA* Big 10 2 (32) Arizona State Big 12 3 Cal Poly* Big West...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 5/24/2026

West Memorial Day Scout Notes: Days 1-2

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
Colton Floyd (‘27,AZ) just misses a HR here. Can really impact the baseball & shows over the fence power potential. Took 3 QAB’s today. He’s the #1 ranked 3B in the state and #4 in the country. #MDWest https://t.co/ReMh7D0v4y pic.twitter.com/w1dzssSy8N — Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) May 23, 2026 Colton Floyd, 3B, Chandler, AZ. Canes West National (2027) Floyd is a high-upside prospect with physical tools and burgeoning power. His combination of size, bat speed, and raw strength makes him one of the top power-hitting third basemen in the country. Currently ranked the #1 third baseman in Arizona and #4 nationally in his class. With continued refinement of his approach and defensive consistency, he has all the ingredients to be a middle-of-the-order bat at Texas A&M and a legitimate MLB Draft prospect JJ Utash (‘27,AZ) with a triple here....
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 5/21/2026

Memorial Day Classics Set to Kick Off

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Southeast Memorial Day East Cobb Baseball will welcome more than 100 teams spanning the 13-17u age groups this weekend as summer baseball gets underway with the highly anticipated PG Southeast Memorial Day Classic, commencing on Thursday, May 21st. This weekend’s annual premier event will feature 11 nationally ranked teams across the five age groups with the No. 9 16u East Cobb Astros headlining the 17u division alongside top prospects such as No. 11 ranked Bryan Johnson Jr. And No. 22 ranked Georgia Tech commit, Malachi Butler. The No. 34 17u ranked 643 DP Cougars will also be a squad to watch as they will look to challenge the Astros for the championship amongst the other 14 17u division teams. While the oldest division will draw lots of attention with highly touted prospects, the 16u field is stacked with 29 total teams including three nationally ranked clubs. Over 30 top 1000...
Read More
High School | General | 5/22/2026

Northeast High School Notebook: May 22

Anthony Gambardella
Article Image
‘26 RHP Hunter Brown (@NHLionsBaseball - NJ) struck out 1️⃣5️⃣ thru 6 IP w/ 0 BB & 2 H allowed. FB lived 90-92, T93 w/ ASR & late life. Froze bats with his 11/5 CB both early/late in counts (2600rpm). Mixed in fading CH & short/tight SL. #WeAre commit. @PG_Draft#PGHS @PG_Scouting pic.twitter.com/NbSSOmCyD0 — Perfect Game Mid-Atlantic (@PGMidAtlantic) April 23, 2026 Hunter Brown - 2026 RHP, North Hunterdon Reg (N.J.) was utterly dominant in his start against Franklin last month, tossing six shutout innings with 15 strikeouts, zero walks and just two hits allowed. The 6-foot-5 215-pound right-hander has pitched to a 0.97 ERA this spring with 78 punchouts over 36 innings of work. Brown has been one of the many northeast arms receiving increasingly more buzz ahead of the MLB Draft this July. Brown’s heater lived in the low-90s throughout the duration of his...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 5/22/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 65

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
The Insidious Lie That Hurts Pitchers Thep Most How many of you have ever had a terrible outing and afterward couldn’t really explain what went wrong? And how many of you have ever had a great outing and couldn’t explain what you did differently either? That gap between what is happening and your awareness of what is happening may be one of the most important gaps in player development. Closing that gap has a name. It is called metacognition. In simple terms, metacognition means thinking about your thinking. It is the ability to understand how you learn, how you perform, how you respond under pressure, and how you make adjustments when things are not going your way. For a pitcher, that matters because no matter how good your coach is, he cannot stand on the mound with you. Your coach cannot take the ball with the bases loaded, two outs, and the best hitter in the league...
Read More
College | Rankings | 5/20/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: May 20

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
There is a reason the preseason pick to win it all rarely does. College baseball's postseason is a gauntlet — double elimination, best-of-three’s, then a full World Series format — and the team that looks unbeatable in February has to prove it again in May against opponents who have had just as long to get ready. Plenty of programs have entered the tournament as the obvious favorite and gone home early. It happens every year. Nobody should be shocked when it does. Top-ranked teams flaming out in regional weekends happens so many times it has become its own genre of schadenfreude Which makes this particular moment worth noting. The Perfect Game preseason picks to win the NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III national titles — Tennessee Wesleyan, UT Tyler, and the University of Lynchburg — are all still alive heading into the final rounds. All three...
Read More
College | Story | 5/21/2026

Coppy's Corner: May 21 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
Article Image
Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart  to discuss Top-25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.   Co-Player of the Week: Carson Tinney – University of Texas  As a Notre Dame alumnus, it pained me to see Tinney transfer from the Golden Dome to the University of Texas after an All-American sophomore season for the Irish. He’s picked up in Austin right where he left off in South Bend and is currently hitting .321 AVG, 20 HR, .475 OBP / .695 SLG / 1.170 OPS on the 2026 season. It’s plus right-handed power and a plus arm; with the numbers I have found indicating that Tinney has erased more than half of attempted base stealers over the past two seasons of college baseball. Tinney threw...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 5/19/2026

Best of the Best Event Preview

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
In simplistic terms, the Best of The Best tournament is an absolute gauntlet as seemingly every game brings a playoff game atmosphere. Coaches must strategically map out their pitching to ensure they can get through Pool Play while also making sure they have arms to make a deep playoff run. Each and every age group is loaded with the best teams, composed of some of the best players that travel baseball has to offer. The 9u & 10u age groups will respectively have 9 out of the Top 10 Teams within the latest PG National Team Rankings participating in the event. At 9U, LTP-Reign will look to hold on to their #1 ranking but will have plenty of competition with the likes of ZT National Prospects and HTX-Wildcatters 9U looking to take over that #1 spot. In the 10u age group, Elevate National will look to fend off plenty of talent with #2 ranked Kaos National, East Cobb Astros and ZT...
Read More
College | Story | 5/19/2026

College Players of the Week: May 19

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
May 19th Perfect Game/Co-Players of the Week:  Carson Tinney, C, Texas  The Texas Longhorns just finished off another stellar regular season and are heading to Hoover for the SEC Conference Tournament as the No. 2 Seed this week.  To secure their 2nd place finish, they had to sweep Missouri at home last weekend and did so in large part to the power bat of Carson Tinney.  The 6-4/240 catcher from Castle Pines, CO transferred to Austin after two sensational seasons at Notre Dame and has thrived in his draft year.  In the 3-game set, Tinney collected 7 hits in 13 at-bats, scoring 5 runs, with a double, 3 home runs and he drove in 10 runs all told.  With some of the most prodigious power in the college game this year, Tinney is now slashing .321/.695/.473 with 10 doubles an incredible 20 home runs and 54 RBIs while playing in the most spacious ballpark in the...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.