THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,444 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,444 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Tournaments  | Story | 5/30/2019

5 Star Baseball Experience

Photo: Branson Owens (Perfect Game)

MARIETTA, Ga. – 5 Star Baseball has grown into a national brand, literally spanning from coast to coast with facilities in Georgia all the way to California, and even in between in Ohio among others.

For owner and president Andy Burress, the 5 Star program will forever hold a special place in his heart. Then under the name of Chain Baseball, a name that became synonymous with one of the best travel organizations in the nation, the program gave him his start in competitive baseball in front of scouts in 1993.

Just two short years later, Burress was drafted in the sixth round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

“It forever changed my life,” Burress said. “This is why we’re here today because of that.”

What’s funny is that 5 Star Baseball, which made the name change from Chain Baseball in 2017, would not be in the place it is today without a few extenuating circumstances along the way.

Burress played his last year in professional baseball in 2001, making it as high up as AA ball with the Chattanooga Lookouts. A year later, he started his first indoor facility and ran it for three years before deciding to take his business prowess elsewhere.

Instead, Burress dove headfirst into the retail side of business, managing multiple Dairy Queens and carwashes. It was a thriving endeavor, as he helped turn a $600,000 Dairy Queen into a $900,000 Dairy Queen in gross sales in about a year and a half. It even landed Burress a conversation with Warren Buffet as he was named the owner of the year, but then the economy had other ideas.

“What ended up happening is in 2009 when the stock market crashed and everything went to crap, I sold everything I had and went back to baseball,” Burress said. “I had a good friend of mine, a mentor of mine… He always told me to stick to what you know.”

And baseball was exactly what Burress knew. Now, under his leadership, 5 Star Baseball has entered unchartered waters and taken the organization overseas.

“We opened up in Puerto Rico and that’s been a huge thing for us,” Burress said. “We opened up down there in the fall. Puchi Velasquez has done a great job.

“I had a connection down there, and it was just a unique thing. Went back over there a couple times and put up a facility down there. The people down there have really taken to it. We had three teams in the fall. There will be eight or nine teams 12 to 16 and under coming over to play in some of the events this fall and even this summer.”

And Burress doesn’t plan on ending the expansion anytime soon. He noted that Orlando will soon hold a facility, and Texas will be a home of 5 Star Baseball when it’s all said and done. So how is the program able to operate nationwide?

“The biggest thing is all about having the right people,” Burress said. “We’ve been able to get some great guys. Don Gullett Jr., his dad was a coach of mine in Cincinnati. We’ve had some great guys in the Carolinas. The key in any business is that you have to be able to have good people. I think we have across the board some of the best in this industry.”

It’s not just the sheer number of teams that 5 Star has across the board. It’s the talent that the program possesses.

So far, 5 Star Baseball has gone on to produce 965 college commitments and 112 drafted players. There’s also been nine players who have debuted in the MLB, the most popular being San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.

“You always say what’s you report card,” Burress said. “Your report card in this industry if you have 100 players and 20 of them go to college, that’s not a very good report card. If you go back and look… 80-90 percent of our guys are committed somewhere.

“We don’t take a lot of new 16 and 17u guys. We’ll fill in some spots, but the guys that are with us at 16 are with us at 14. They’re with us so they understand the system. Our coaches have played with us. About 80 percent of our guys that have come back and coached with us have played in the organization.”

Based in Warner Robins, 5 Star Baseball has given an outlet to those skilled players not located in the big metropolitan areas.

“Across the board, our guys are rural,” Burress said. “We don’t really have a lot of big city kids… So most of our guys, this is all new to them. They haven’t been doing this since they were seven or eight years old. A lot of these guys when they get 13 or 14, this is the first time they’ve been involved in seeing some of the things that PG and different groups get to do.”

And while that may be the case, it certainly hasn’t prevented positive results on the field. Last week at the 2019 Southeast Memorial Day Classic, 5 Star National 14u and 5 Star National Burress won their respective championships.

It was just the start of the summer season, one that continues with the 2019 Perfect Game-East Cobb Invitational this weekend. It all culminates in a summer where Burress and Co. expect to see a lot more success to come for 5 Star Baseball.




Tournaments | Story | 5/19/2026

Best of the Best Event Preview

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
In simplistic terms, the Best of The Best tournament is an absolute gauntlet as seemingly every game brings a playoff game atmosphere. Coaches must strategically map out their pitching to ensure they can get through Pool Play while also making sure they have arms to make a deep playoff run. Each and every age group is loaded with the best teams, composed of some of the best players that travel baseball has to offer. The 9u & 10u age groups will respectively have 9 out of the Top 10 Teams within the latest PG National Team Rankings participating in the event. At 9U, LTP-Reign will look to hold on to their #1 ranking but will have plenty of competition with the likes of ZT National Prospects and HTX-Wildcatters 9U looking to take over that #1 spot. In the 10u age group, Elevate National will look to fend off plenty of talent with #2 ranked Kaos National, East Cobb Astros and ZT...
College | Rankings | 5/20/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: May 20

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
There is a reason the preseason pick to win it all rarely does. College baseball's postseason is a gauntlet — double elimination, best-of-three’s, then a full World Series format — and the team that looks unbeatable in February has to prove it again in May against opponents who have had just as long to get ready. Plenty of programs have entered the tournament as the obvious favorite and gone home early. It happens every year. Nobody should be shocked when it does. Top-ranked teams flaming out in regional weekends happens so many times it has become its own genre of schadenfreude Which makes this particular moment worth noting. The Perfect Game preseason picks to win the NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III national titles — Tennessee Wesleyan, UT Tyler, and the University of Lynchburg — are all still alive heading into the final rounds. All three...
College | Story | 5/19/2026

College Players of the Week: May 19

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
May 19th Perfect Game/Co-Players of the Week:  Carson Tinney, C, Texas  The Texas Longhorns just finished off another stellar regular season and are heading to Hoover for the SEC Conference Tournament as the No. 2 Seed this week.  To secure their 2nd place finish, they had to sweep Missouri at home last weekend and did so in large part to the power bat of Carson Tinney.  The 6-4/240 catcher from Castle Pines, CO transferred to Austin after two sensational seasons at Notre Dame and has thrived in his draft year.  In the 3-game set, Tinney collected 7 hits in 13 at-bats, scoring 5 runs, with a double, 3 home runs and he drove in 10 runs all told.  With some of the most prodigious power in the college game this year, Tinney is now slashing .321/.695/.473 with 10 doubles an incredible 20 home runs and 54 RBIs while playing in the most spacious ballpark in the...
College | Rankings | 5/18/2026

College Top 25: May 18

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
The regular season is behind us, and it is now tournament time and wow, is there a lot to still be decided.  We are a week away from the Field of 64 being announced and hosting opportunities, at-large bids, as well as automatic bids are there for the taking.  The UCLA Bruins (48-6) continue their stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in the land, finishing the regular season without losing a series all year.  ACC powers, UNC (43-10) and Georgia Tech (45-9) remain at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively and SEC regular season champs, the Georgia Bulldogs (43-12) stick at No. 4.  After that there was a small amount of shuffling within the Top 10 with No. 5 Texas (40-12), No. 6 West Virginia (37-13) and No. 7 FSU (38-16) moving ahead of now No. 8 Auburn (36-18) after they were the only team in this group to drop their weekend series.   No. 14 Florida (37-18) and No. 15...
High School | General | 5/18/2026

High School Notebook: May 18

Jordan Gates
Article Image
‘27 RHP Grant Slater (@BoydCoBaseball) gets his 1st start of the year (3rd appearance) as he works his way back. FB opened 89-92 w/ ride & was still up to 91 in the 5th (run rule), while touching 93 in the 3rd. CT worked in the mid 8s & breaking ball in mid 7s (sweep). Big summer… pic.twitter.com/w9EXl6Jmrx — Perfect Game Ohio Valley (@PG_OhioValley) May 8, 2026 Grant Slater, 2027, RHP, Boyd Co (KY) Slater made his full start of the year back on May 7th. He had appeared in a few games in relief roles prior as he has come back from a few injury bugs. The Alabama commit went five strong innings, in a complete game fashion (run rule), only allowed a couple hits, one walk, and struck out 13 batters. Slater is beginning to ramp up at the right time with postseason right around the corner. Slater’s fastball peaked at 93 mph a few times, held velocity in the...
High School | General | 5/14/2026

CPBL Showcase Scout Notes

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
Logan Cummins (‘26 ON) Silky op with big arm speed and projection. Shaky FB command early, 91-93 T94. CH is present plus, weapon vs both LH & RH hitters at 83-84. Good arm side depth to it. SL has some length to the mostly lateral action @ 77. #KState commit.#CPBLShowcaseWknd pic.twitter.com/7TdJ2neOv6 — Perfect Game International (@pg_int1) May 8, 2026 Logan Cummins (‘26 ON) Very intriguing athletic upside here, came out early a bit juiced up leading to inconsistent fastball command but settled in and started dotting. Ran the fastball up to 94 with running life. Changeup is ahead of the rest of the arsenal  in terms of quality, and has a parachuting arm side dive that gets frequent swings over the top. Slider is tight with varying length at its best it does have an extra gear to garner a late count whiff. Should fit nicely at Kansas State if he decides to...
College | Story | 5/14/2026

Coppy's Corner: May 14 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
Article Image
Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart  to discuss Top-25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.   Player of the Week: Drew Burress – Georgia Tech  I love everything that Craig Cozart writes, and his piece on Burress is as good as it gets (link). Craig does a masterful job of showing us how Burress has (not arguably) the best career college performance of any current player. The body of work is consistent and impressive, and Burress has one of the highest floors in the 2026 MLB Draft with above average or better tools across the board.  I’m not going to do a deep dive on Burress’ numbers because there is no point: they are really good, everywhere. I would rather talk about...
College | Rankings | 5/13/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: May 13

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
The college baseball postseason has arrived for NCAA Division II, Division III, and the NAIA, bringing with it the most intense stretch of the season. Conference tournaments have wrapped up, national brackets are taking shape, and teams across the country are shifting from regular season positioning to survival mode, where one bad inning can abruptly end a year’s worth of work. The NAIA Opening Round is already underway, and some programs could begin packing for the national finals as early as tomorrow. Across all three divisions, the postseason field is loaded with experienced clubs, dominant pitching staffs, and lineups capable of changing a game with one swing. Now, the focus turns from building résumés to advancing through regional play and chasing national championships. These antepenultimate rankings provide a final snapshot of where the divisions stand entering...
High School | Rankings | 5/13/2026

High School Top 50 Update: May 13

Tyler Russo
Article Image
Another week has passed by in the high school baseball season and with that, we have another edition of the National High School Top 50 to bring to you. Playoffs are rolling in southern states and we have reached the final 4 in some of them already. Each week we have new teams break in and this week is no different with three new faces inside the top-50.   The top remains almost identical to a week ago with the top-10 remaining the exact same with Venice (FL) leading the way as the No. 1 team in the nation. North Paulding (GA) swept Buford in an Elite 8 matchup in Georgia and move up a pair of spots to No. 12 in the country. Another big mover is St. Laurence (IL) who jumps nine spots to No. 13 and boast a 30-1 record on the year. Waxahachie (TX) continues to move up and are up nine spots this week to No. 32.   The three new teams inside the National Top 50 are Etowah...
College | Story | 5/12/2026

College Players of the Week: May 12

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
May 12th Perfect Game/Player of the Week:  Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech  It would be hard to come up with an award that Drew Burress, the 5-9/185 junior from Houston County, GA, hasn’t achieved throughout his All-American career for the Yellow Jackets.  From being named the Perfect Game Freshman of the Year in 2024, to being a semifinalist for the Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Award in 2025, it would be a challenge for a mere mortal to live up to the expectations.  Burress has done that and more as he etched his name in the record books last weekend when he tied Georgia Tech legend Jason Varitek’s record for career home runs.  Launching round-trippers in each of their 3-victories against ACC foe Duke, Burress brought his total to an incredible 57 over his three seasons in Atlanta.  For the weekend, he collected 6 hits in 12 at bats, scoring 6...
Loading more articles...