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Tournaments  | Story | 6/6/2018

Weiner gem propels 643 Jaguars

Photo: Eli Weiner (Perfect Game)

EMERSON, Ga. – Eli Weiner tossed a complete game, and the 643 DP Jaguars Hightower used small ball to down the Dulin’s Dodgers Henson 5-1 on Wednesday. The win clinched a Pool G victory for the Jaguars at the 17u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational.

Weiner used a mid-80s fastball to keep hitters off balance all afternoon. He threw just 88 pitches in the complete game effort, minimizing seven Dodgers hits while also striking out three. On a day where Weiner wasn't feeling his best, he knew his intensity level needed to rise if his team was going to have a chance.



“Usually I’m more of an upper-80s guy, and today I was a little rushed in the beginning, so I knew that I needed to work the outside corner and the inside corner, and I think it also helped a lot that I let my defense work.”

Fitting to the team’s name, the Jaguars and defensive leader Trey Yunger (Wofford) turned a pair of inning-ending double plays on Wednesday, and were lights out behind Weiner for all seven innings.

“Go straight to my pitch count today, and the only reason I was able to go that whole game was because of my defense,” continued Weiner. “I think if I would have had a few errors behind me I definitely wouldn't have been able to finish it, so without those guys this wouldn't have happened.”

Weiner is also a member of Tulane’s 2019 recruiting class, and noted their strong academics and game day atmosphere as major selling points in the recruiting process. He is part of a Tulane class that ranks as Perfect Game’s 40th best in the country.

“I was looking for a great academic fit combined with great athletics, and I think Tulane was kind of like the perfect match for me. I’m a warmer weather type of guy and New Orleans is pretty awesome, and the facilities are amazing too. I think its one of the best fields in the country, and coach Jewett is awesome.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the Jaguars executed their small ball game perfectly for six innings, highlighted by a suicide squeeze from Jamel Rookard (Gordon CC), and a first and third steal of home that got them on the board in the third inning. Head coach Taylor Hightower was pleased with his team’s effort, and noted that they executed the day’s game plan to perfection.

“The way we try to profile our offensive system is that we want as many bullets in our offensive gun as we can. We knew coming in that their guy was going to be an upper-80s guy, and with two strikes you’re going to put yourself in a bind. So, when you do get guys on base as rare as that may seem, you have to push across runs.”

After striking for the two runs in the third inning, 643 went right back to work in the fourth inning, adding another pair of runs. After a leadoff walk from Luke Hughes, Jameson Rice was able to drop a single just beyond the reach of the shortstop, giving the Jaguars another great scoring chance.

Following a strikeout, Nick Block (2019) was able to execute a perfectly timed hit-and-run to score. Heads up baserunning from Block would force an error during the next play, stretching the Jaguar lead to three. Block, who also scored on the suicide squeeze, said that team baseball was the key in today’s win.

“Everyone is in the game, and everyone is doing their best to keep everyone else up. Whenever someone gets down, everyone else gets on their back to keep them up and in the game,” said Block. Block played right field today, and said that defensively it is easy to play well behind a pitcher like Weiner.

“When your pitcher is throwing strikes you always need to be on your toes because you never know when the ball is going to be hit to you. You have to back him up too because if he is filling up the zone, you don't want to let him down and not be ready whenever a ball is hit to you.”

After coming out of Pool G unscathed, the 643 DP Jaguars Hightower now have their sights set on winning the 17u PG/EC Invitational for the second year in a row. Coach Hightower thinks they have the pieces to do it, and is excited to see how the next two days plays out.

“We've just played clean. With the depth of this age group in our whole organization, if we just show up and throw strikes and play clean defense we give ourselves a shot.”



Tournaments | Story | 3/31/2026

14u East Spring Opener Scout Notes

Perfect Game Staff
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Roman Keister (2030, Dade City, FL) Could not miss the barrel this weekend tallying 6 hits including 2 triples and 4 RBI. Starts the load early and controls his body well, the up the middle approach really plays in game. Also worked from off the mound for an inning and picked up a punch out.  Colton Russo (2030, Coral Springs, FL) Showed off the power burning outfielders all weekend. 5 hits including two triples that carried over the CF and RF heads. Has a good understanding about using the lower half in the swing and the bat to ball skills really impressed.  Karson Blakney (2030, St. Augustine, FL) Made his impact in a big way this week, collecting the win in the quarterfinals. In his outing he went 5 shutout innings and struck out 5 while only allowing 2 hits. Worked in the mid 70s with the FB and topped out at 78. Also produced on offense driving in 5 RBI on 4 hits. ...
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Another week of JUCO baseball and another week full of wins for No. 1 ranked Johnson County . The Cavaliers have won 18 games in a row and have swept through the Jayhawk Conference to this point, setting a new school home run record along the way. Walters State returns to the top 5 this week on the strength of a 12-game winning streak. Both McLennan and Pearl River are coming off of undefeated weeks and look like strong top 10 caliber teams, while Midland (now 30-3) continues to climb in the rankings for the third consecutive week. For the first time all year this ranking will feature 4 California schools as Palomar joins Ohlone, Fresno City and Santa Ana in the JUCO rankings. Check back in next week for an update as most of JUCO baseball is now past its halfway point in the 2026 season. RK School Week Overall 1 Johnson County (KS) 4-0 34-2 2 Gaston (NC) 2-1 35-3 3 Walters State (TN) 3-0...
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High School | Rankings | 3/31/2026

High School Top 50: March 31

Tyler Russo
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Another pair of weeks has gone by this high school season and with that we have another High School Top-50 Update. Southern states are within a few weeks of the end of the season while some northern states are just getting started this week. Through the end of the spring, we will be bringing you updates to the Top-50 along with state rankings updates coming soon. For the first time in 2026, we have a new #1 in the country as Orange Lutheran (CA) takes over the top spot after winning the NHSI. Venice (FL) came in second place at the NHSI after a thrilling game against Orange Lutheran and comes in at #2. Previous #1 team in the country St. John Bosco (CA) rounds out the top-3 and will have a big showdown against Orange Lutheran starting tonight. Barbe (LA) boasts a 26-1 record and comes in at #4 while Corona (CA) continues to string together wins and holds down the #5 spot in this update....
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Midseason Awards  Perfect Game Midseason Player of the Year:  Landon Hairston, OF, Arizona State  The season sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston is putting together is generational, even amongst the Hall of Fame talent Arizona State has fielded over the years.  Hairston, the 5-11/195 sophomore outfielder from Queen City, AZ has his club on track for another postseason appearance and they will make plenty of noise in the Big 12 regular season.  To put things in perspective on Hairston’s season, he is currently 5th in the nation in batting average, 3rd in hits, 8th in hits per game, tied for 2nd in home runs, tied for 5th in runs scored and is 4th in runs batted in so far.  He holds a batting average of .469 while slugging 1.027 and reaching base over half the time with an OBP of .551.  Hairston walks more than he strikes out and has 12 doubles, 17...
College | Story | 3/31/2026

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High School | General | 3/27/2026

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Draft | Mock Draft | 3/27/2026

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The spring season is well underway and the board is starting to take shape. Last week, the draft team put together the Top-300 and this week we take a stab at our first mid-season mock draft. While there still is plenty of time for things to shake out differently, here is how we see things shaping up at this point in the draft cycle.  Pick Team Selection Position School 1 Chicago White Sox Roch Cholowsky SS UCLA 2 Tampa Bay Rays Justin Lebron SS Alabama 3 Minnesota Twins Grady Emerson SS Fort Worth Christian 4 San Francisco Giants Jackson Flora RHP UC Santa Barbara 5 Pittsburgh Pirates Vahn Lackey C Georgia Tech 6 Kansas City Royals Drew Burress OF Georgia Tech 7 Baltimore Orioles Ace Reese 3B Mississippi State 8 Athletics Jacob Lombard SS Gulliver Schools 9 Atlanta Braves Eric Booth Jr. OF Oak Grove 10 Colorado Rockies AJ Gracia OF Virginia 11 Washington Nationals Gio Rojas LHP...
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