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Tournaments  | Championship | 6/29/2024

Close Knit BPA Takes 17u Crown

Photo: BPA (Perfect Game)
The championship final was a tale of two very different paths to the final game as Canes Nationa/Mets Scout Team and BPA squared off in the last game of the event. Canes National had won every playoff game by run rule except for two games and BPA had only won two of their playoff games via run rule en route to Championship Saturday.

The Canes had missed out on a bye and thus had to play one more game of bracket, but this is one of the deepest rosters in the tournament, with high level talent and ranked players littered throughout their roster page. The Canes had won the UBC East in West Palm Beach and pretty much cruised through bracket, leading to a matchup with Trosky/Brewers Scout Team in the semifinals. Another run rule victory was in the cards for the Canes, cruising to a 14-4 victory.



BPA cruised in pool play, allowing just four runs in five games, four of which were run rule victories, to secure a bye heading into bracket play. They were coming off a top three finish at the UBC West and the bats were raring to go this week. Their path to Saturday featured the top pitching matchup of the event against Wow Factor, a comeback win over Canes American, and a blowout victory over the Scorpions. They were down 5-0 in the semifinal before timely home runs pushed them across to win by one run over the East Cobb Astros.

The Canes got the ball rolling immediately in the first inning with three straight singles to plate a run, including one from Coy James who set a 17u WWBA record with 20 hits in a single week. With a 1-0 lead Canes southpaw Carson Bolemon went to work, striking out two of three hitters in a 1-2-3 first inning.

Gabriel Milano hit a solo shot in the third inning to up the lead to 2-0 but BPA starter Kelven Perera Arellano was limiting hard contact and working quickly on the mound. An Ole Miss commit, he’s a catcher by trade but typically only has to toe the rubber when the team is out of pitching.

“Kelven (Perera Arellano) pitched the championship game in Cooperstown, he doesn’t pitch, and he pitches the championship here; we joke with him that he only pitches championship games when we run out of arms,” said BPA founder and head coach Jared Sandler. “He’s a tough kid and competitor; he’s a guy that when he has the ball at the end we feel like we’re gonna win.”

Perera Arellano did that and more, getting a lot of weak contact from his hybrid mix of fastball, a solid changeup, and something in between resembling an eephus that clocked in as low as 48 mph. Regardless, BPA was able to answer in the third inning with a clutch two-run double off the bat of co-MVP Cooper Flemming. The Canes then responded again, this time in the form of an Ethin Bingaman solo shot, a missile over the left field wall.

Then the west coast small ball kicked in for BPA as Vaugh Coleman led the bottom of the fifth off with a double and then Sandler showed what he had under his sleeve. Flemming showed bunt, but then pulled back and hit a soft grounder through the left side, perfectly executing the hit-and-run.

“Cooper (Flemming), he handles the bat better than anyone on the team, every time he’s in a bunt situation he has a read,” said Sandler. “He’s got the freedom to slash and he made that read and it was a good decision he executed.”

Then followed a strikeout and an RBI ground out from Seth Hernandez tied the game at three runs apiece. Billy Carlson then provided the hustle play of the game, beating out a soft infield single to shortstop and plating the go ahead run. Perera then got right back to work, allowing an infield single then immediately inducing a ground ball double play and striking out the cleanup hitter to just get three more outs.

He didn’t need to get three more outs, however, as the BPA offense exploded in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring seven runs to secure a run rule victory. The big blast came from the No. 2 player in the country Seth Hernandez, who hit a grand slam over the wall in left field that left the bat at 104 mph per Yakkertech.

“I was struggling to see the ball in earlier at-bats so I was just looking for a heater and I got it and took advantage of it,” said Hernandez.

Hernandez and Flemming were named co-MVPs while Canes National’s Johnny Slawinski was named MV-Pitcher following his six shutout innings in bracket play. Hernandez hit .538 with an insane .649 on-base with three home runs and nineteen RBI while Flemming hit .486 with multiple home runs and six stolen bases.

This has been an extremely tight knit group for BPA, a team that has been playing together since they were twelve years old. This is also Jared Sandler and BPA’s first 17u WWBA championship trophy, a big marker for what is the crown jewel of the summer tournament circuit.

“Keep battling together, we’ve been battling thru the last few games and we’ve been sticking together and grinding games out,” said Flemming.

“This is a tight group, we’ve been together for four years now, even more than that, eleven games isn’t easy to do and we got it done,” said Hernandez.

“This group is really special,” said Sandler. This special group of guys who played together for about half their lives at this point were able to master the gauntlet and walk out of Atlanta as 17u WWBA National Champions.

Tournaments | Story | 1/9/2026

PG Leaderboard: Class of 2030

Jheremy Brown
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Complete PG Leaderboard Database PG Leaderboard: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2028 | Class of 2029 Today we wrap up our reviews of the 2026 thru 2030 class where we looked back on some of the eye opening metrics we saw from around the country, both in a showcase and tournament setting. To those not inside the youth baseball world, some of the metrics below would seem truly unattainable from current 8th graders, from the pair of 90 mph heaters courtesy of Amani Tuiasosopo and Kingston George, to upper-80s velocity from all over the field and multiple players north of 90 mph on the exit velocity testing (with wood), this 2030 class is one that has a chance to be special as we continue to watch it unfold moving forward.  Top Fastball Velocity  Rk Player FB Event School Hometown 1 Amani Tuiasosopo 90 2025 WWBA 14U World Championship Renton...
College | Story | 1/14/2026

2026 College Preview Index

Perfect Game Staff
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From Preseason All-Americans to a Top 25, make sure to check back daily as we will continue to pump out content as a staff. Every conference preview will include a Preseason All-Conference Team as well as Draft/Prospect lists for each of the next 3 years (2026, 2027, 2028) while also breaking down every team within each conference. Publish Date Content Wednesday January 7 Preseason All-Americans Thursday January 8 Preseason Top 25 Monday January 12 Top 100 Freshmen Tuesday January 13 Top 100 Sophomores Wednesday January 14 Top 100 Juniors Thursday January 15 Top 100 Seniors College Conference Previews Publish Date Conference Friday January 16 Atlantic Coast (ACC) Monday January 19 Southeastern (SEC) Tuesday January 20 Oregon State Preview Wednesday January 21 Big 10 Thursday January 22 Big 12 Friday January 23 American (AAC) Monday January 26 Atlantic Sun (ASUN)...
Softball | Softball Tournament | 1/14/2026

Perfect Game Softball Turf Wars

Ashley Mears
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2026 Perfect Game Softball Turf Wars January 9-11 Ashley Mears   The 2026 season kicked off in impressive fashion at the Fun City Dome in Burlington, Iowa, featuring a highly competitive field across both age groups. The 18U division was loaded with talent, including over 20 Division I and II commits and several high-upside prospects, leading to intense bracket play and multiple walk-off finishes. Iowa Nationals claimed the championship over a well-rounded Iowa Prospects Gold team. The 14U division brought together quality programs from Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. The tournament championship was an exciting matchup where Southeast Iowa Swarm edged a tough Black Dragons squad. 18u Lauren Hagedorn (2026, Adel, IA) of Iowa Nationals and future Iowa State Cyclone earned weekend MVP honors after a strong two-way performance. In the circle, she consistently kept hitters off balance...
College | Rankings | 1/14/2026

Top 100 Collegiate Juniors

Vincent Cervino
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Top 100 Collegiate Freshmen | Top 100 Collegiate Sophomores As we look ahead to another season of college baseball and continue our week of class-by-class lists, we look at the Junior class and we’ve got our Top 100 Juniors in the 2026 college season. This list aligns with the PG Draft lists we compiled at the top, with Roch Cholowsky, Drew Burress, and AJ Gracia rounding out the top three. There’s a litany of storylines to follow this year, with players who have tons of draft upside or players looking to be impactful players among their respective programs. These are the players who we feel are in a position to make some serious noise during the 2026 season. Talent is present all across the board, with players who could make some serious statements this year. Looking all the way up and down the board, there are impact bats, players primed for a breakout, Friday...
College | Rankings | 1/13/2026

Top 100 Collegiate Sophomores

Vincent Cervino
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Top 100 Collegiate Freshmen As we creep toward opening day here in a month or so, the draft team has put together the Top 100 sophomores on campus this spring.  This list is chalk full of talent, with future draft prospects littered top to bottom. The headliner of this group is Derek Curiel, a draft eligible sophomore that took the SEC by storm last spring. The Perfect Game All-American posted a .990 OPS over the course of a full season and is projected to vault himself further up the board during his ‘26 campaign. An electric arm in Dax Whitney follows up Curiel, with Strosnider, Lawson and Franco rounding out the top five.  Keep tabs on the draft eligible sophomores in this group come the summer. The rest of the pack are eligible for next year’s draft and figure to feature at the top of many draft lists in ‘27.  Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown...
Draft | Rankings | 1/12/2026

Top 100 Collegiate Freshmen

Vincent Cervino
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As we creep toward opening day here in a month or so, the draft team has put together the Top 100 freshmen on campus this spring.  Three high-end arms lead the way, starting with Jack Bauer. The Mississippi State left-hander reached triple digits as a prep and is sure to make an immediate impact this spring. UCLA right-hander Angel Cervantes was selected in the 2nd round of last year’s draft but held firm on his commitment and should be an impact arm for the Bruins. Following the arms, a collection of bats rounds out the Top 10. There is loads of upside to the group with the potential and they should draw considerable playing time as freshman.  As the list gets deeper, there are plenty of players that should pop up and make significant contributions both this year and years down the line. The class has both depth and talent, making for a very intriguing group of...
Tournaments | Story | 1/8/2026

PG Leaderboard: Class of 2029

Jheremy Brown
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Complete PG Leaderboard Database PG Leaderboard: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2028 These players below are just entering their freshmen year's of high school, a scary though as you scroll through the 11 categories and see some of the eye opening numbers from the fastballs to the infield and outfield velocities, down to the Diamond Kinetic testing and their three sub-categories.  Top Fastball Velocity Rk Player FB Event Commitment School Hometown 1 Brody McCorkle 92 2025 18U PG Mid-Atlantic Fall Elite Championship Uncommitted Ranney Forked River, NJ 1 Caleb Polk 92 2025 14U Perfect Game Select Festival Uncommitted IMG Academy Dallas, TX 1 Knox Myers 92 2025 PG WWBA Freshman World Championship Uncommitted East Bay Riverview, FL 2 Alex Bello 91 2025 16U PG Fall World Series Uncommitted Montverde Academy Orlando, FL 2 Alex Bello 91 2025 14U Perfect Game...
College | Story | 1/9/2026

LSU Reloads & Returns; Opens No. 1

Vincent Cervino
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“How do you get to success? You have to honor the process that you built to get to that success…The standard is how we operate, train, and get better each day.”” Process-oriented leadership is a popular coaching strategy here in the mid-2020s but no one exemplifies that more than LSU head coach Jay Johnson. He’s won the Tigers two national titles during his time in Baton Rouge and expectations won’t be any lower in 2026 as LSU is the No. 1 team in the country in Perfect Game’s Preseason Top 25.  Johnson is heading into his fifth season at the helm in Baton Rouge and it’s fair to say that he has already experienced enormous success. There have been two national titles in four years (2023, 2025), a Golden Spikes winner (Dylan Crews, 2023), a first overall MLB Draft pick (Paul Skenes, 2023), and five first-round MLB Draft picks during...
Press Release | Press Release | 1/7/2026

PG Announces Naming Rights in Chesterfield

Perfect Game Staff
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    667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923  www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    PERFECT GAME AND FIRST COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION ANNOUNCE CHESTERFIELD ATHLETIC COMPLEX    Landmark Partnership to Center on Community, Inclusion and Youth Sports    Chesterfield, Missouri (Wednesday, January 7, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, along with the City of Chesterfield, today announced  an exclusive naming rights partnership with First Community Credit Union (FCCU) for the Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex. Effective immediately, the venue will be known as the “Chesterfield First Community Athletic...
College | Rankings | 1/8/2026

2026 Preseason Top 25

Vincent Cervino
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With an interesting and action-packed fall behind us, a new college season is just around the corner. The college game continues to prove it is alive and well as the Division 1 team count has now ballooned to 308 teams for the 2026 season. With new legislation allowing teams 5-weeks to prepare for opening day, many student athletes have returned to campus and will begin skill related workouts soon. Opening Day, as usual, will fall on Valentine’s Day weekend and it is just six weeks away. After a fall of evaluation and months of research and discussion, we are ready to release our annual Perfect Game pre-season Top 25 poll. After winning 53-games, hosting the NCAA Regional and Super Region, and sweeping their way through the College World, the LSU Tigers will debut the 2026 season as our No.1 ranked team. Head coach, Jay Johnson, has now led the Tigers to two national titles in the...
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