THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,446 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,446 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story | 9/4/2021

Select Obermueller home of the Hawks

Jeff Dahn
Photo: Kooper Schulte (Perfect Game)

MARION,  Iowa – The start of the high school and college football seasons in the state of Iowa was on the minds of a lot of folks at the Prospect Meadows Sports Complex on Saturday morning, but not quite as much as the first full day of play at the Perfect Game Midwest Labor Day Classic.

It was a fall-like day at The Meadows with cool temps and mostly cloudy skies but for guys playing for top PG MWLDC Upperclass (18u) entrant PG Iowa Select 2022 Obermueller, this was perfect baseball weather. Even while the players’ and coaches’ beloved Iowa Hawkeyes were throttling Indiana, 34-6, in the Big Ten football opener for both top-20 programs.



“It’s a great atmosphere,” Select 2022 outfielder Cade Obermueller told PG on Saturday. “We love playing ball so we want to come out here and make the best of it. We know we have a good team and we’re going to try to win the whole thing.”

The champions in the four age divisions (Upperclass, Underclass, Sophomore and Freshman) won’t be crowned until Monday, but the Iowa Select 2022 Obermueller (Select 2022 O’s for our purposes) came into the Upperclass event well-positioned for success.

There are six PG Iowa Select teams in the Upperclass MWLDC field, with Wes Obermueller, John Renning, Tim Evans, Todd Huckabone, Gordy Nordgren and Eric Munson doing the coaching. The Iowa Select program has grown in leaps and bounds during the 2021 season, with numerous teams from Central Iowa coming on board.

The Eastern Iowa teams’ rosters are constantly in flux with players revolving from one manager to the other during the course of the season.

“There’s so much good talent in Iowa, and we’ve used PG as a resource to develop our talent; it’s just catapulted all these kids to have these opportunities,” Wes Obermueller said. “These rosters could just be flip-flopped in and out, and on my roster we’ve got a quite a few commitments already to D-I’s and jucos. With these ‘22s, the talent pool is so thick anymore; Iowa has developed so much good talent recently; it’s just awesome.”

The Select 2022 O’s roster lists six players who are seniors at City High School in Iowa City, including top-500 Iowa Hawkeyes commits in outfielder Cade Obermueller (Wes’s son) and middle-infielder Gable Mitchell; uncommitted left-hander Jay Kennedy, catcher John Klosterman and shortstop Gavin Koch are other City High seniors ranked as top-500 national prospects.

Mitchell was not available on Saturday because he is also a standout on the Little Hawks’ football team, which played a game Friday night. In fact, Obermueller said, his squad was without seven guys Saturday who also played football Friday night, although they are expected back on Sunday.

“A lot of the football players are pretty sore on Saturday,” Obermueller said. “They want to come out, but they need pretty much a day just to shake out the cobwebs from the night before. But we like a lot of multi-sport athletes, especially in the state of Iowa, and I’m all for that.

“All I’m here to do is try to pass on the knowledge that I’ve learned out of my pro career with anything I can offer and any advice I can give to any of the kids when they can show up.”

There were many other top prospects on hand ready to contribute for Obermueller on Saturday, including PG All-American and No. 39-ranked Kentucky commit Tommy Specht and top-500 Iowa commits Aaron Savary and Kellen Strohmeyer, all from Dubuque.

Also, there’s top-500 Hawkeyes commit Drew Prokovec and top-500 Southeastern CC commit Mason Behn from Cedar Rapids; top-500 Iowa commit Reese Moore from Van Meter; top-500 Iowa Western CC commit Kooper Schulte out of New London; and high follow catcher George Sherlock, a Southeastern CC commit from the Dubuque-area town of Asbury. Don’t be surprised if those juco guys end up being Hawkeyes themselves one day, much like their head coach here this weekend.

Wes Obermueller, an Iowa native, was a second round pick of the Royals in the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft out of the University of Iowa, after starting his career at Kirkwood CC in Cedar Rapids. A 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander, Obermueller pitched parts of five seasons in the major leagues and parts of nine seasons in the minors, while also enjoying stops in Japan and Korea late in his career.

And he really likes this roster, especially its versatility. It’s like one big, talented team of utility players, guys who can play multiple positions even while they are now starting to slot themselves into their positions of choice.

“That’s where my experience comes in where I was a catcher in high school, a shortstop and outfielder in junior college that pitched a little bit and then I got drafted as a pitcher,” Obermueller said. “That’s what I like to do with this team is give them an opportunity because you don’t know what’s going to open up for you at the next level.”

The Select 2022 O’s opened play Saturday with a decisive 12-2 win over the Midwest Halos out of Milwaukee. Iowa Select totaled 12 hits in the win, led by Schulte with three singles, two RBI and two runs scored; Specht with three singles, two RBI and a run; Strohmeyer with a triple, single, two RBI and two runs; and Savary with a pair of singles, two ribbies and two runs; they hit in the top four spots in the order.

Behn, a 2022 right-hander, threw five shutout innings, allowing three hits while striking out four without a walk; he also drove in a pair of runs without the benefit of a base-hit.

“It’s exciting to be out here and start playing again with this team; it’s going to be fun,” Behn said. “I’ve played with these guys for a few years now and it’s a bunch of good guys. … It’s nice to compete against them in the summer and now I get to play with them, so it’s great.”

The Iowa Hawkeyes are the only D-I baseball program in the state, so it only stands to reason that the top Iowa prep talent would choose to take up residence with head coach Rick Heller in Iowa City.

“Coach Heller and his staff have just done an amazing job,” Obermueller said. “Their track record is one of success no matter where they’ve (been) and they take notice of a lot of these kids. They recognize the talent and it’s just been amazing; it’s a great opportunity for these kids to stay home and compete at a high level.”

Added Cade Obermueller: “It’s awesome playing with a bunch of Hawkeye commits. We have other (commits) too, and it’s awesome playing with other college players and people that you know you’re going to play with in the future.”

Age-group tournaments like the PG Midwest Labor Day Classic are a great way to kick off what can be a busy fall season, Obermueller believes, because it gets the guys back on the field against top-notch competition that they can gauge themselves against.

A lot of the players on this Iowa Select 2022 O’s roster are the best players on their respective high school teams so it’s important that they see other talented players who will challenge them at every turn. With the exception of Specht, every one of these guys is considered a top-500 talent, a designation that just screams blue collar grit and gumption.

“I consider it the small-town mentality,” Obermueller said. “You’ve got work harder than the next guy and that’s what these guys do. They always want to fine-tune their skills and be better than the next guy.”

He was quick to add that these are players very coachable and especially receptive to the lessons he shares based on his own extensive experiences. Keeping an open-mind is essential for any prospect who hopes to keep climbing the ladder and Obermueller sees that with this group.

“I don’t know everything but I have experienced quite a bit. … They’re getting to the point where they’ve got the talent and now it gets into the mental aspect of the game.”

PG Iowa Select 2022 Obermueller dropped its second game of the day Saturday, falling to the Illinois-based Cangelosi Sparks 2022 White, 8-0. Sparks 2022 right-hander David Auw threw a six-inning five-strikeout five-hitter effectively silencing the Select 2022 O’s bats in impressive fashion; Savary had two of the 2022 O’s five singles off of Auw.

But the Select 2022 O’s will live to fight again on Sunday and they’ll do it together: “These (teammates) are guys we compete against all season in high school and they’re all awesome guys; great players,” Cade Obermueller said. “And now that we’re all together we just love being (here) and it’s like we just all wait for this moment, being together and playing because we know what we can do together; we’re all great ballplayers.”
Give us your feedback
Tournaments | Story | 5/24/2026

East Memorial Day Scout Notes: Days 1-2
Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
‘27 IF Braylon Sheffield (FL) with an absolute 🚀 here, launching high off the RCF wall for a 3B. Super polished LH stick; hit over .400 last year on the circuit. #GoHoos commit. #EastMemorial pic.twitter.com/mdehqpR5v5 — Perfect Game Florida (@Florida_PG) May 23, 2026 Braylon Sheffield (2027, Fort Myers, Fla.) got the event started with the loudest swing of the night on Friday at Terry Park, rocketing a triple off the wall in the stadium. Sheffield, ranked 121 and committed to Virginia, is a super polished left-handed hitter with left side of the infield projection long term. The swing is tension-free with loose wrists and he generates easy bat speed with already present power to the pull side. This blast came inches away from being a home run and hitting a ball that far at Terry Park stadium is a significant shot. Sheffield also tripled in his second game of the weekend at...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 5/21/2026

Memorial Day Classics Set to Kick Off

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Southeast Memorial Day East Cobb Baseball will welcome more than 100 teams spanning the 13-17u age groups this weekend as summer baseball gets underway with the highly anticipated PG Southeast Memorial Day Classic, commencing on Thursday, May 21st. This weekend’s annual premier event will feature 11 nationally ranked teams across the five age groups with the No. 9 16u East Cobb Astros headlining the 17u division alongside top prospects such as No. 11 ranked Bryan Johnson Jr. And No. 22 ranked Georgia Tech commit, Malachi Butler. The No. 34 17u ranked 643 DP Cougars will also be a squad to watch as they will look to challenge the Astros for the championship amongst the other 14 17u division teams. While the oldest division will draw lots of attention with highly touted prospects, the 16u field is stacked with 29 total teams including three nationally ranked clubs. Over 30 top 1000...
Read More
High School | General | 5/22/2026

Northeast High School Notebook: May 22

Anthony Gambardella
Article Image
‘26 RHP Hunter Brown (@NHLionsBaseball - NJ) struck out 1️⃣5️⃣ thru 6 IP w/ 0 BB & 2 H allowed. FB lived 90-92, T93 w/ ASR & late life. Froze bats with his 11/5 CB both early/late in counts (2600rpm). Mixed in fading CH & short/tight SL. #WeAre commit. @PG_Draft#PGHS @PG_Scouting pic.twitter.com/NbSSOmCyD0 — Perfect Game Mid-Atlantic (@PGMidAtlantic) April 23, 2026 Hunter Brown - 2026 RHP, North Hunterdon Reg (N.J.) was utterly dominant in his start against Franklin last month, tossing six shutout innings with 15 strikeouts, zero walks and just two hits allowed. The 6-foot-5 215-pound right-hander has pitched to a 0.97 ERA this spring with 78 punchouts over 36 innings of work. Brown has been one of the many northeast arms receiving increasingly more buzz ahead of the MLB Draft this July. Brown’s heater lived in the low-90s throughout the duration of his...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 5/22/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 65

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
The Insidious Lie That Hurts Pitchers Thep Most How many of you have ever had a terrible outing and afterward couldn’t really explain what went wrong? And how many of you have ever had a great outing and couldn’t explain what you did differently either? That gap between what is happening and your awareness of what is happening may be one of the most important gaps in player development. Closing that gap has a name. It is called metacognition. In simple terms, metacognition means thinking about your thinking. It is the ability to understand how you learn, how you perform, how you respond under pressure, and how you make adjustments when things are not going your way. For a pitcher, that matters because no matter how good your coach is, he cannot stand on the mound with you. Your coach cannot take the ball with the bases loaded, two outs, and the best hitter in the league...
Read More
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...
Read More
College | Story | 5/21/2026

Coppy's Corner: May 21 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.   Co-Player of the Week: Carson Tinney – University of Texas  As a Notre Dame alumnus, it pained me to see Tinney transfer from the Golden Dome to the University of Texas after an All-American sophomore season for the Irish. He’s picked up in Austin right where he left off in South Bend and is currently hitting .321 AVG, 20 HR, .475 OBP / .695 SLG / 1.170 OPS on the 2026 season. It’s plus right-handed power and a plus arm; with the numbers I have found indicating that Tinney has erased more than half of attempted base stealers over the past two seasons of college baseball. Tinney threw...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.