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Tournaments  | Championship | 5/24/2023

Beast of the East Champs: 13 & 14u

ZT Prospects Stays Timely, Delivers Championship Win

When you come to an event like the Beast of the East, expectations are high, but so are the pressure packed situations as every game feels like a championship-type setting with top prospects littered throughout both dugouts. In the end, it was the ZT Prospects National who remained the last team standing in the 13u division and to say they rose to the occasion might just be an understatement. Their tournament run kicked off with a 2-1 thriller over SBA Bolts National under the lights at 8 PM, all but assuring it'd be standing room only as two of the top teams in the country battled it out immediately as the lone 13u game going on at the complex. A late rally sparked their win over SBA Florida Scout before slipping up and losing to a very tough Wildcatters Burgos team 6-4, pushing their record to 2-1 on the tournament. In a "can't lose" contest against the Backyard Ballers to wrap up pool play, ZT managed a 6-6 tie, plating all of their runs in the final two innings, including a huge 3-run home run by Zion Avina to knot it all up. 

The quarter-final matchup agains the undefeated TG DBacks is a game that will go down as arguably the best game of the summer and I'm saying that before the summer truly even kicks off. Down 6-0 after two innings, ZT plated 4 in the 3rd inning and another 2 in the 4th inning before taking a 4 run lead in the 7th where the tie-break rules were put into effect (bases loaded, one out). When it was TG's turn to hit, they plated 4 of their own and were still threatening with the bases loaded and one out before Dru Wilson was able to induce a ground ball back to him which he promptly threw home and then on to first base to complete the double play and move onto the 8th. In the 8th it was Lennex Minor's time to seize the spotlight as his triple cleared the bases, completely the 5 run inning to give is team a comfortable lead, though only for a moment. Kamauri Wilson kicked off the bottom half of the 8th in style as he launched a 2-0 fastball over the fence, immediately making it a one-run game, swinging the momentum back into the TG DBack dugout though Wilson would shut the down with the tying run on first to propel his team to the championship round.

It's again worth noting this is a 13u game but was played like anything but with quality defense and timely plays, huge momentum swings and and a clutch factor from both teams you won't see in your typical 13u content. Oh, and of the 8 arms to throw, 7 bumped 80 mph or better while Dexter McCleon Jr (TG DBacks), Ethan Torres and Jael Santos (ZT Prospects) put up some eye-opening numbers on the radar gun, topping out at 89, 87, and 86 mph apiece, respectively. 



Riding the momentum of a huge win, ZT once again locked horns with the Wildcatters Burgos club and looked to exact their revenge following their earlier contest and did just that with a 10-1 victory in 5 innings. After trading zeroes in the first inning, a couple of walks to open the frame swung the momentum into ZT's dugout and the bats came alive with five consecutive singles, putting up a 5-spot on the scoreboard, a lead they'd never relinquish. With two more runs in the 3rd inning and another 3 in the 5th (including Zion Avina's second big fly of the day) the ZT offense paced the club throughout their championship run before tournament MVP Angel Gonzalez jumped on the mound to close things out and did just that with 2 innings of one-hit baseball. 

A talented roster, ZT received timely hitting and clutch pitching (two must have ingredients when trying to survive a gauntlet like the Beast of the East) throughout their run, taking home the crown while heading into the summer on a very high note. 


The Beast of the East is from...the West?

What a run it was for BPA as the California based club survived as the lone undefeated squad through pool and continued their dominance throughout their playoff run in Panama City. A talented roster with several familiar faces, the pitching staff held their opposition to just 7 combined runs over the course of pool play before winning a nail biting semifinals contest against the Motor City Hit Dogs by a score a 6-5. They locked horns with Wow Factor Nation 14u, whose lone hiccup came during pool play against the same BPA squad, and were riding some serious momentum after decisive wins over Motor City to end pool play and USA Prime to kick things off in the playoffs behind a strong start from Zachary Tavarez on the mound.

The main storyline heading into the championship pitted the BPA pitching staff against a potent Wow offense as the BPA arms allowed just 7 runs through pool play, a tournament best, while the Wow bats pushed across 37 runs, also an event best. It was Wow Factor who jumped out to an early lead as they were able to plate a run in the first inning via a John Berry Upton single following a pair of free bases, however that's all the offense was able to generate, never sending more than four runners into the box the rest of the way. However, following that initial run, Perfect Game Select Festival alum Nomar Torres locked it in and went the distance in the run rule shortened 6 inning affair, scattering just three hits while striking out 7 alongside those two walks. His performance was simply a continuation of what we almost came to expect whenever a BPA arm was on the mound, though their offense was equally as impressive throughout their run.

It wasn't until the 3rd inning that BPA was able to tie things as Dyson Grant provided an immediate spark with a one out triple before, who else, Nomar Torres came to the plate and singled in his first of two RBI on the day. The club did a majority of its damage the following frame as they put up a six-spot and truly never looked back. At one point in the inning they sent five hitters to the plate and came away with five consecutive singles and all five of those bats (Wilson Shaw, Griffin McKain, Dyson Grant, Nomar Torres and Logan Schmidt) enjoyed a multi-hit performance in the championship game. In totality the offense connected for 14 hits, yielding 9 runs with a pair of three baggers from both Grant and Schmidt. 

It's not often you see a club take the No. 1 seed in pool play and carry that momentum all the way through and into a championship win, especially in a gauntlet like the Beast of the East, but it speaks to the composition of the roster, a certain clutch factor scattered throughout, and a true brand of team baseball to get the job done. 

Tournaments | Story | 12/19/2025

13u Tourney All-American Team

Jheremy Brown
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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...
High School | General | 12/19/2025

Huntington Beach HS World Series Recap

Steve Fiorindo
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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...
College | Recruiting | 12/15/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 15

John McAdams
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Tucker Rice (27 MS) bumping up to 91; living hi-80s from real fast arm. Good SL @ 77-79 w/ depth & sold w/ intent. Loads of traits & strikes. #WWBA @PG_Uncommitted @PG_DeepSouth pic.twitter.com/DEjFqRcsIY — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 6, 2025 Tucker Rice, RHP, Class of 2027 Commitment: Alabama Alabama has continued to stay red hot in the recruiting trail ever since August 1st rolled around on the calendar and have continued to stack major pieces in their ’27 class. They dip into Mississippi to land one of the premier arms and one that’s stood out on the circuit for quite some time. It’s a fast arm and the athleticism certainly shines working down the slope. The velocity has continued to tick up over the last calendar year and reached into the low-90s towards the end of the summer. He’s confident in his changeup and the breaking ball is...
Tournaments | Story | 12/15/2025

17u Tourney All-American Team

Vincent Cervino
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There’s a lot of talent throughout this 2026 class, filled with the big-name stars, to talent that spreads across the nation. It’s been a lot of fun seeing these prospects grow and develop over the years, from the days of watching some of these guys at the 13/14u days at events on the circuit, to now where they are all graduating seniors in 2026. There’s been new faces who have popped along the way over the years, even in 2026, where some players who were relatively undiscovered, have come out and made a name for themselves with a statement performance. Between the familiar and the new, there’s a lot of names on this list that are going to be quite regularly talked about on the circuit, and for good reason.  Whether it’s PG All-Americans or not, there’s a lot of names with superstar potential at the next level. We’ve got 14 PG All-Americans...
Tournaments | Story | 12/13/2025

Finest in the Field: Class of 2029

Tyler Russo
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Finest in the Field: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2028 These guys might just be entering high school, but they've certainly already made a name for themselves on the national circuit, especially with their abilities on the defensive side of things.  C: Xavier Rodriguez (Logansville, GA) Rodriguez is a polished defender with real arm strength behind the dish, while showcasing the ability to impact the baseball with authority to all fields evident by thirty of his sixty-five hits going for extra-bases including seven bombs. He handles high-level pitching extremely well, commands his staff and his offensive prowess makes him a true two-way asset. 1B: Cooper Knight (Buda, TX) Knight is a smooth operator at first base with plenty of range, fluidity and agility in his footwork around the bag. Add-in a rocket for an arm, the ability to change slots and to...
Tournaments | Story | 12/12/2025

Scout Stories: Part 5

AJ Denny
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Best Game I Saw: The Dream NTL 18U vs. MBA Scout Team Murphy Jupiter always brings out the best, and we got fireworks from the jump. Turner Marshall gave The Dream an outstanding 4+ innings of work on the mound, holding a lethal MBA team at bay with Chance Dixon, Derrick Carter, and Ellis Appling providing an offensive spark out of the gate for the Georgia based boys. However, it was only a matter of time before the talent on the other side got going, as MBA erased a 3-run deficit in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead led by a Parker Loew HR. The Dream then took command again in the Top of the 6th, before MBA punched right back with a huge 5-run inning in the bottom half capped off by a clutch RBI single from Matthew Kerrigan, ending a wild sequence with tons of notable performances from two very competitive rosters. Best Tournament Performance I Saw: Surely someone has already brought this...
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