FORT MYERS, Fla. – Most of the debris left behind in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma has been cleared away, electrical power has been restored and the area’s hotels, restaurants and MLB-quality baseball fields are open for business. Yes, indeed, a much-needed sense of normalcy is returning to Southwest Florida, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
With 210 teams from 30 states, Puerto Rico and Canada knocking on their doors, the Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Port Charlotte communities are welcoming the participants for this year’s 15th annual Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship. Games will be played at 15 venues in Lee and Charlotte counties over the course of the tournament’s five-day run, with the first action set to begin early afternoon on Thursday.
The PG WWBA Underclass World has grown into one of the nation’s top collegiate scouting events and invites many of the best 17u, 16u and 15u travel-ball teams in the land. The country's college coaches/recruiters and the MLB scouting community are set to show up at the games in full force.
5 Star National Baseball (Georgia), Canes Baseball (Virginia), East Coast Sox Select (Mississippi), Scorpions Baseball (Florida), Team Elite Baseball (Ga.), FTB (Florida), Elite Squad Baseball (Florida) and Tri-State Arsenal (New Jersey) are just a few among dozens of powerhouse programs that will have multiple squads in the 210-team field.
It is also worth noting that a team representing the New York-based MLB Breakthrough Series returns for its second go-around at the Underclass World, and the Indiana-based S.F. Giants Scout Team-Christman will be back to defend the championship they won in dramatic fashion last year.
The SF Giants ST-Christman beat the EvoShield Canes 17 in one of the most wild, wacky and improbable championship games in the event’s storied history. The Giants blew a seven-run lead in the bottom of the third inning in a game scheduled for only five innings, rallied from a five-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth, and then finally scored the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth in their dizzying 14-13 victory.
The talents of the top underclass (high school juniors, sophomores and freshmen) prospects in the country will be on display. As of early this week, six top-10s, 10 top-20s, 23 top-50s and 44 top-100s from the class of 2019; nine top-50s and nine top-100s from the class of 2020 and eight top-100s from the class of 2021 were on various rosters.
As of early this week, 24 top-100 prospects from the class of 2019, 15 top-100s from the class of 2020 and seven top-100s from the class of 2021 were on various rosters.
5-Star National Dobbs shortstop Rece Hinds (No. 2, Louisiana State), FTB Tucci Sindone outfielder Riley Greene (No. 3, Florida), Team GA/MBA 17u Gold outfielder Jerrion Ealy (No. 4, uncommitted) and On Deck O’s right-hander Brennan Malone (No. 5, North Carolina) headline the class of 2019.
Other top 2019s include Blackhawks National right-hander Wesley Scott (No. 6, Vanderbilt), Scorpions 2019 Prime righty Joseph Charles (No. 8, North Carolina), East Cobb Astros left-hander Hunter Barco (No. 11, Virginia), Scorpions 2019 Prime outfielder Judson Fabian (No. 12, Florida) and Blackhawks National righty DJ Jefferson (No. 13, Southern Cal).
Scorpions 2019 Prime outfielder Dylan Crews (No. 8, Louisiana State) and Richmond Braves National outfielder Alex Greene (No. 9, Virginia) are the two most highly ranked 2020s appearing on early rosters. 643 DP Sterling lefty Jackson Phipps (No. 13, uncommitted), Team Elite 16u Prime first baseman Kellum Clark (No. 16, Mississippi State) and Top Tier Americans catcher Jackson Miller (No. 19, Wake Forest) are also sure to garner plenty of attention.
Other notable 2020 prospects include Team Elite 16u teammates outfielder Jeffery Waters (No. 36, uncommitted), Elite Squad shortstop Jordan Carrion (No. 43, uncommitted) and catcher Jack Bulger (No. 45, uncommitted). Crews, Phipps, Miller and Waters are alumni of one of the first two PG Select Baseball Festivals played the last two years in Fort Myers.
MVP Beast right-hander Christian Moore (No. 8, uncommitted), Top Tier Americans catcher Ian Moller (No. 11, Louisiana State) and South Florida Bandits righty Irving Carter (No. 13, Miami) are the top 2021s; all three played at last month’s PG Select Baseball Festival.
More than 1,760 PG WWBA Underclass World Championship alumni went on to be selected in the MLB June Amateur Draft, including prospects that were at the event as recently as 2015; 168 have made their big-league debuts.
Carlos Correa, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, Eric Hosmer, Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado, Lance McCullers, Andrew McCutchen, Wil Myers, Addison Russell, Corey and Kyle Seager, Mike Trout and Justin Upton are among the most distinguished at this point in their major league careers, with many, many others set to follow in their footsteps.