THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,801 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,801 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story | 6/27/2021

5 Star Blends Culture and Talent To Win

Photo: Jacob Kendall (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- To say that 5 Star Baseball is a powerhouse on the national competitive scene is an understatement. Since they began playing in Perfect Game events over a decade ago, the baseball conglomerate has won 149 PG tournaments and had over 1700 players commit to college programs. Names like Buster Posey, Josh Reddick and Austin Martin are just a few of the 113 5 Star alumni that have been drafted in the MLB Draft. The organization started in Warner Robbins, Ga., but now has 298 teams nationwide across 12 age divisions.
 
Of the plenty, 5 Star National 14u RR may field one of the most talented rosters in the 5 Star system. The squad is the 33rd-ranked 14u team in the nation, featuring six players ranked inside the top-150 of their respective classes and some of the best talent the country has to offer. Head coach Daniel Torres said while the team has a plethora of highly-ranked talent, he builds his team based on the quality of his player’s performance in the dugout, not just on the field.
 
“For me, it’s all about character,” Torres said. “It’s all about buying into the culture of 5 Star and wanting to fight for one another. We want guys that will be here for the long haul and are looking to be a part of a family.”
 
On Saturday, Torres and his squad displayed that combination of talent and character in their quest for the 2021 14u BCS National Championship, securing a solid victory at CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers. After playing a close game through four innings, the 5 Star offense broke through for six runs in the fifth inning, leading them to a 10-8 win over Legit Baseball Club.
 
For the prestigious tournament, Torres pulled out all the stops for his roster. Among their top-150 ranked players are Jacob Kendall and Luke Pappano, who rank inside the top-15 in the 2025 class. Jackson Roper, Ethan Clauss and Gabriel Acevedo add to 5 Star’s 2025 top-150 representation, and Xavier Rivera, the 72nd-ranked player in the 2024 class, adds some experience to the young and talented roster. While each player on 5 Star’s roster is individually talented, Torres reminds his team that baseball is a team sport and selflessness is required for success.
 
“They understand that in the game of baseball, there’s more failure than wins,” Torres said. “They understand that being that talented, they make each other better by the way they act no matter how they perform on the field.”
 
Despite the victory, 5 Star faltered at the start of their game against Legit Baseball Club. In the top of the first, Legit’s Jake Merz hit a leadoff triple to begin the game and promptly scored on a wild pitch. Ben Schulman added on for the club in the second, poking an RBI single to give Legit a 2-0 lead. 
 
However, the 5 Star bats woke up in the bottom of the inning, as Randy Ruiz gave the squad their first hit with a leadoff double. While the next two hitters couldn’t do any damage, Rivera stepped up with two outs and lined an RBI single up the middle, scoring 5 Star’s first run. The top-ranked 2024 player in Puerto Rico said he was happy he could produce for his team in a tight spot.
 
“I was able to drive the ball today, and that let me get the runs in,” Rivera said. “I just wanted to play for the team and help us get the win.”
 
5 Star kept the train rolling in the third, as Cole Rambler drove a two-RBI double over the Legit center fielder’s head to give his team the lead. Ruiz then sent a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Rambler and making it a 4-2 ballgame.
 
Legit didn’t back down from the challenge, however, as they answered back with two runs in the fourth on an Ismael Tavarez two-RBI double. The team then retook their lead in the top of the fifth, advancing on a throw to put them back on top, 5-4. Heading into the bottom of the inning, Torres knew his team had to make some adjustments to get over the hump.
 
“We had to have the right approaches at the plate and come through with situational hitting,” Torres said. “We had to be a little bit more aggressive, and that allowed us to be successful.”
 
In the bottom of the inning, 5 Star came through with situational hitting when they needed it most. Kendall and Rambler began with back-to-back singles, setting the table for an Acevedo RBI single to tie the game. Ruiz and Andrew Alvarez then reached on hit-by-pitches, loading the bases, then scoring Acevedo. Mason Mojica then added for 5 Star, shooting an RBI single to left field to make it 6-4. Rivera wasn’t happy with just a two-run lead, as he smoked a three-RBI double to deep left-center to clear the bases. The Florida International commit said his approach was simple as he stepped to the plate in the pivotal spot.
 
“There were no outs, so I just wanted to get a runner in,” Rivera said. “I was looking to drive the ball the other way, and everything worked out.”
 
While the sixth inning would be the matchup’s last due to time constraints, Legit didn’t go down without a fight. The Glen Rock, N.J.-based club put up three runs in the inning, but in the end, Austin Denamen was able to induce a lineout to right to end the game, giving 5 Star a 10-8 victory.
 
Despite believing his team could perform to a higher standard, Torres was proud of how his team came back and hung around in a close game. The head coach credits his team’s ability to do so to their team chemistry and close-knit relationships.
 
“We believe in each other like a family,” Torres said. “Our name is 5 Star National Mafia, so when you are a part of a mafia, you are a part of a family. So, we have to believe in each other like we are one.”

Tournaments | Story | 12/19/2025

13u Tourney All-American Team

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
What a year it was in 2025 on the national landscape at the 13u level as Perfect Game continues to expand its reach around the country, providing an even bigger schedule of events coast-to-coast which has allowed players all over show out and gain their deserved recognition. Whether in Texas for the Houston 1000 or the 13u WWBA in West Palm Beach, we saw huge, eye opening performances from the players placed below, knowing that we could EASILY build a third team and likely a fourth without much effort.  As we do every year with this exercise, it's worth pointing out the trickiness of this age group and putting the teams together with the 13u group. While the players are all members of the Class of 2030, some are younger for the grade, which allowed them to play at the 12u level where's it's a smaller field, shorter mound distance and different bats, so we'll separate them out and...
Draft | Rankings | 12/23/2025

Top 2028 Collegiate Draft Prospects

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
The college players in the 2028 draft class have yet to step on campus, but they're positioned to make an immediate impact. Several high end talents either turned down significant money last year or honored strong college commitments, resulting in their arrival on campus this fall. The class is currently led by a trio of high-upside arms in Jack Bauer, Angel Cervantes, and Cameron Appenzeller. They are followed by a deep group of bats that rounds out a strong, high end Top-10. Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State 1 Jack Bauer C LHP L-L Mississippi State Frankfort IL 2 Angel Cervantes C RHP R-R UCLA Lynwood CA 3 Cameron Appenzeller C LHP L-L Tennessee Springfield IL 4 Brayden Jaksa C C R-R Oregon Fremont  CA 5 JD Stein C SS R-R Wake Forest Carmel IN 6 Mason Ligenza C OF L-L Pittsburgh Brockton PA 7 Ty Peeples C OF L-R Georgia Lavonia GA 8 Lucas Franco C SS L-R TCU Katy TX 9...
Juco | Story | 12/23/2025

2025 Year in Review: JUCO

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
Looking Back at the 2025 Top 10  Matt Barr (‘25 Niagara, ‘26 Minnesota Twins) Bursting onto the scene last winter, footage of an indoor bullpen rocketed Barr onto the radar of many. Explosive fastball reaches near triple digits with incredible spin numbers across the secondaries. Huge numbers at Niagara earned him the title of the first Juco player drafted in 2025. JC Vanek (‘25 Chipola, ‘26 Kansas City Royals) Just a professional hitter. Vanek for two years at Chipola was an impossible out. While there are questions if the power will ever reach what it takes to play first base at the big league level, the bat and quality defensive skillset at first base may carry. Donovan Becerra (‘25 New Mexico, ‘26 Texas Tech) One of the more high octane arms anywhere in the country last year. Can reach back for upper 90’s and has shown serious swing and...
Draft | Story | 12/22/2025

2025 Year in Review: Draft

Isaiah Burrows
Article Image
2025 Year in Review: Draft We’ve reached the end of the 2025 calendar year, and while we’ve already jumped in on the 2026 cycle with some of the fall events and post-draft content we’ve had here at Perfect Game, there’s still one more piece on the docket, and that’s the 2025 Year-In-Review piece here from the PG Draft staff.  The 2025 MLB Draft took place in July, when many highly talented players heard their names called and continued their journey through the game to the next level. There’s already been some of those names making noise in the minors and guys who are moving up prospect lists and becoming names to know for MLB fans digging deep into the future of their organizations. While we are going to “close the book” on 2025 with this article, these players still have many years ahead of them, and many blank pages to continue...
College | Recruiting | 12/22/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 22

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
Lucien Saint Cyr, INF, Class of 2026 Commitment: Bucknell Saint Cyr announced his pledge to Bucknell, giving the Bison an interesting blend of present tools and projection. Saint Cyr stands 6-foot-1 and offers room to fill in his medium frame, profiling in the middle infield defensively. The New York product starts wide at the base in the right-handed box, keeping his hands high behind the ear. He works into a subtle outward step load, firing through a compact barrel that showcases bat speed and gap-to-gap impact. For head coach Scott Heather and Bucknell, they land a high-quality Northeast infielder in the ’26 cycle, adding to a class that takes the quality over quantity approach. Patrick Diaz ('26, NY) 102 EV off the bat. Impact to the pull side. #PGNational @PGMidAtlantic @PG_Uncommitted pic.twitter.com/NN0L3FRdO9 — PG Showcases (@PGShowcases) July 9, 2025 Patrick Diaz,...
High School | General | 12/19/2025

Huntington Beach HS World Series Recap

Steve Fiorindo
Article Image
MVPitcher: Duncan McLeod The uncommitted junior toed the slab in three of the four games for Team Mick, tossing 3 2/3 innings.  Zero walks, zero hits and 6 punchouts for the lefty who was used both as a starter in the series clinching game 4 and he closed out game 3 on Friday in quick fashion.  McLeod was very efficient as well, needing just 42 pitches over all his outings.  In the game 4 start, over two innings he punched out 3, with one strikeout with all of his offerings.  The mid 80’s fastball regularly played up, set up with efficient use of the secondaries, with the breaking ball 73/74 and fading change-up 72-74.   Owen Bone (2026) at it again... Solo shot in the 5th to tie things up. Back to back days with a home run for Bone. #PGHS pic.twitter.com/2JC9qETI5h — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) December 13, 2025 MV Hitter: ...
Tournaments | Story | 12/18/2025

14u Tourney All-American Team

Tyler Russo
Article Image
Player of the Year: Asher Williams It was an incredible year for Williams that was rewarded with a trip to the 14U Select Fest, before some more impressive play in the fall. He came to the plate almost 250 times in PG tournaments throughout 2025 and reached base in well over half of them, hitting to a .500 AVG while slugging a 14U circuit best 12 bombs and driving in 113 runs. The numbers on the surface are ridiculous, but when you look at the high-level events he put them up in, it makes it even more impressive. Pitcher of the Year: Tristan Blalock Blalock earns this honor after a dominant 2025 where he struck out 85 batters in just 48.2 innings of work with a minuscule 1.58 ERA. This included several strong performances at many national level tournaments and showcases where he was able to bully some of the best hitters in the country. It’s hard not to fall in love with...
Draft | Story | 12/18/2025

PG Draft: Gut Feel Guys

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
While we are nearing the turn of the calendar to the 2026 year, that means we are just inching closer to the beginning of the season for many high school players and college baseball is on the horizon. We are prepping for a reshuffle of the 2026 MLB Draft Board as well here amongst the PG Draft staff. But before we get to that, we sat down and have each picked a couple of players who are in the mix to get selected in a couple of different buckets.  We have prospects who could go into the Top 30 picks or so, prospects who could be selected in the Top 5 rounds, and prospects who could go inside of the Top 10 rounds. With the draft quite far down the road and a lot of re-shuffling to be done as these players play themselves into certain spots on the draft board, our scouts picked some players who fit into these “buckets” who are gut-feel guys. These are the guys that our PG...
Tournaments | Story | 12/17/2025

15u Tourney All-American Team

Jason Phillips
Article Image
Hitter of the Year: Landon Bonner The 2028 class saw many players from across the country take the next step in their development as they entered the High School ranks. There were huge performances from highly ranked players on the PG circuit as well as some under-the-radar guys who burst onto the scene. Landon Bonner came into Sophomore National as a Top 500 ranked player and after an impressive showing, left with all eyes on him as a rankings riser in the class. The left-handed hitting shortstop from The Colony, Texas, had a summer to remember with All-Tournament Team selections in three of his next four events culminating with a historic performance at the 2025 PG 15U WWBA National Championship. The Hebron High School prep went 20-for-24 in nine games for 5 Star Mafia 15U Black with four homeruns and 12 runs batted in. He also scored 17 runs and finished with a mind-boggling 2.500...
Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

16u Tourney All-American Team

AJ Denny
Article Image
Hitter of the Year: Koa Romero is the Hitter of the Year for the 16u group, as he would come to every premier event of the summer and earn All-Tournament honors (Beast of the East, 16/17u WWBA, Jupiter) in every single one. Over 82 plate appearances, Romero would pump ten homeruns with forty two RBI and sixteen walks, good for a .378 average and 1.339 OPS. The performance on volume at the best events of the year pushed Romero over the edge here, as he’d hit a pair of homeruns in Jupiter (one of them at 112 EV) as an underclassmen and collect double digit hits in BOTH WWBA events with a combined six jacks over the two tournaments. It was a summer that combined performance and winning on the biggest stages for Romero. It’s a quiet left-handed swing that packs a punch. He would reap the benefits of his performances, earning a commitment to LSU and jumping to the #74 prospect in...
Loading more articles...