GLENDALE, Ariz. – The 2018 Perfect Game WWBA summer season officially gets underway over the long Memorial Day weekend with play in up to five different age divisions scheduled at venues in the Atlanta, Ga., Fort Myers, Fla., and Phoenix, Ariz., metropolitan areas from Friday, May 25 through Monday, May 28.
The PG WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint in Georgia, the PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic in Florida and the PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic in Arizona will combine to host 380 teams from every region of the country and Puerto Rico. Thousands of the top prep prospects in the nation will be in action, including a handful of 2018s who could heard their names called in next month’s MLB Amateur Draft.
PG WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint:
PG Park at LakePoint in Emerson, Ga., will serve as the hub for this 4th annual event, which features play in the 14u, 16u and 18u age divisions; 12 other fields in the area will also be used.
Fifty-two teams will be on hand for the 18u tournament, won last year by the Georgia-based 643 Cougars Pralgo. Sixty-four teams will be in attendance at the 16u event and another 56 are expected at the 14u level; the Georgia Bombers 16u won the 16u championship last year while the Louisiana Tigers captured the 14u title.
PG All-American 2018 right-hander Austin Becker from Sunbury, Ohio, is rostered with the Tennessee-based Rawlings Southeast Prospects in the 18u division. Becker is ranked No. 30 nationally in his class (No. 10 RHP) and PG also ranks him the No. 45 overall (college, juco, high school) prospect in this year’s draft.
The top 2019s at the 18u MDLP include right-hander Daniel Espino (No. 13-ranked, LSU commit) with Georgia-based GBSA, shortstop Myles Austin (No. 39, Alabama) with the Georgia Bombers Gaines 17u and left-hander Chris Villaman (No. 26, North Carolina State) with the N.C.-based Dirtbags SkrapPak.
Shortstop Thomas Keehn (No. 87, Duke) and left-hander AJ Wilson (No. 105, East Carolina) are teammates of Villaman’s on the SkrapPak.
The 16u Memorial Day at LakePoint will feature a pair of top uncommitted 2020s out of Suwanee, Ga., in outfielder Josh Shuler (No. 22) and catcher Corey Collins (No. 59). Shuler, an alumnus of the 2016 14u PG Select Baseball Festival, will be with the New Jersey-based Tri-State Arsenal 2020 Scout Team this weekend while Collins is playing for the Georgia Jackets 16u.
Top 2021s expected include Georgia-based 643 DP Cougars Montgomery outfielder Christian Smith (No. 44) from Atlanta and Georgia-based Game On Prospects 15 left-hander Tyler Franks (No. 55) out of Dublin, Ga.
PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic:
The EMDC features play in five age-groups, with a total of 135 teams competing at the 13u, 14u, 15u, 16u and 18u levels. The Lee County Player Development Complex will serve as the host site for the four older age divisions with the CenturyLink Sports Complex accommodating the 13u event; both complexes are in Fort Myers.
This is the 10th annual 18u EMDC (North East Baseball won last year’s championship), the 10th annual 16u (Top Tier Roos), the 2nd annual 15u (Florida Pokers Underclass Navy), the 4th annual 14u (Elite Squad Prime 2021) and the inaugural 13u.
Hundreds of highly ranked national prospects will take to the fields in Fort Myers in the 18u, 16u and 15u age divisions and quite a few of them will be wearing Elite Squad National jerseys in all three age-groups.
In the 18u tournament, the Florida-based Elite Squad National roster boasts eight 2019s ranked in the top-254 and four 2020s in the top-71.
Leading the list of 2019s are shortstop Tyler Callihan (No. 22, South Carolina), catcher Raymond Torres (No. 59, LSU), right-hander Jared Southard (No. 60, Texas) and third baseman Mykanthony Valdez (No. 67, Miami).
The top 2020s are first baseman Gavin Casas (No. 34, Vanderbilt), shortstop Jordan Carrion (No. 38, Florida), left-hander Timothy Manning (No. 69, Florida) and left-hander Nelson Berkwich (No. 71, Vanderbilt).
North East Baseball National has 12 2018s ranked in the top-500 on its EMDC 18u roster, including catcher Connor Pavolony (No. 91, Tennessee).
Carrion and Manning are also on the Elite Squad National 16u roster, which gives the Squad four 2020s ranked in the top-73 at the 16u EMDC; the other two are outfielder Enrique A. Bradfield Jr. (No. 25, Vanderbilt) and shortstop Giuseppe Ferraro (No. 73, Miami).
Florida Dodgers Scout Team shortstop Colby Halter (No. 65, Florida) is among the other highly ranked prospects from the 2020 class at the 16u event. The top 2021s include Elite Squad Prospects right-hander Alejandro Rosario (No. 3, Miami), BAM Baseball righty Carlos Rodriguez (No. 7, Miami) and Elite Squad National shortstop Dorian Gonzalez (No. 23).
Not conceding anything at the 15u event, Elite Squad National has rostered five 2021s ranked in the top-57, including right-hander Irving Carter (No. 14, Miami) and outfielder Justin Quintana (No. 25, Florida International). ELEV8 Banditos Select outfielder Bryant Colon (No. 29, Miami) is another top 2021 expected at the 15u EMDC.
PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic:
Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., the MLB spring training home of the Dodgers and White Sox, and the Goodyear Ballpark Complex, Cactus League home of the Indians and Reds, will be the venues for 8th annual 14u, 16u and 18u PG WWBA WMDC.
Twenty-five teams comprise the field at the 18u WMDC, won a year ago by Arizona-based Wilson Sandlot AZ. Twenty-four teams will compete for the title at the 16u WMDC while 28 teams will contend at the 14u WMDC. Nevada-based Las Vegas Recruits (LVR) squads have won back-to-back 14u championships while California-based Phenom Signature teams have worn the last two 16u crowns.
Padres Scout Team 2019 catcher Jared Thomas (No. 129, Miami) from Lakewood, Calif., is the highest-ranked prospect rostered in the 18u WMDC. Other high-profile 2019s on the Padres Scout Team roster include right-hander Wes Burton (No. 414, Mississippi), first baseman Riley Carter (No. 441, Air Force) and left-hander Seth Spencer (No. 457, San Diego State).
Several top 2020 prospects that helped LVR win those 14u titles the last two years are playing with either LVR 18u or LVR 16u at this weekend’s 18u WMDC. They include third baseman Jaden Agassi (No. 37, Southern California), outfielder Carson Wells (No. 146), catcher Emilio Morales (No. 264, Southern California) and shortstop Paul Myro (No. 473) with LVR 18u, and shortstop Joshua Johnson (No. 466) and second baseman Noah Carabajal (top-500, St. Mary’s) with LVR 16u.
Agassi, the son of former tennis greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, is also an alumnus of the 2016 14u PG Select Baseball Festival and was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2016 14u WMDC; he is a two-time winner of PG Most Valuable Pitcher awards.
At the 16u WMDC, California-based Dykstra Baseball boasts a roster with several top prospects including 2020 shortstop Parker Welch (No. 141, UC Santa Barbara) and 2021 catchers Maxwell Shor (No. 73, U. San Diego) and Josiah Chavez (No. 100).
PG South Championships:
We are also very excited to host 52 13u and 14u teams competing for our PG South Championship this weekend. The event will be held at Premier in Tomball, Texas, and features many of the top teams in the South.