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Tournaments  | Story | 10/16/2024

Jupiter: A 10 Year Look Back

The EvoShield Canes

Ten years ago, the big story at the WWBA World Championships was the EvoShield Canes. The Canes were on an unprecedented winning streak as an organization. They had won the 2013 WWBA World Championship, along with the 2013 PG 17U World Series and 2013 and 2014 WWBA 17U and 16U National Championships.



Dating back to 2000, no team had ever won two straight Jupiter championships. The Canes, of course, did go on to win the 2014 WWBA World Championship, beating the Orlando Scorpions 8-2 in the championship game to finish off a perfect 8-0 tournament run. They then went on to win the 2015 WWBA World Championship as well, along with seeing their junior based team, Canes Prospects, win Jupiter in 2017, completing a run of four out of five years for the Jeff Petty-ran organization. Only the Dirtbags in 2016 interrupted the Canes’ championship streak.

The key to the Canes dominance seemingly was that they assembled deeper pitching staffs than any other team, especially pitching staffs full of strike throwers. In tournaments like Jupiter, where a team has to win eight games in five days, pitching is almost always the key and the Canes usually had the deepest staff at any major event in that era.

But were the Canes really that much better as a roster than their top competitors? We took a look at their 2014 Jupiter roster compared to that of the runner-up Scorpions and there really wasn’t much of a difference; if anything, the Scorpions had a talent advantage.

The Canes had nine players ranked in the PG Top 100 in the 2015 class and 15 ranked in the PG Top 200. The Scorpions had eight players ranked in the PG Top 100 and 13 ranked in the PG Top 200.

But a closer look at the rosters reveals a significant tilt to the Scorpions in the most talented players.

Only three Canes players were 2014 PG All-Americans: Right-handed pitchers Ashe Russell and Beau Burrows and outfielder Ryan Johnson. The Scorpions featured seven 2014 PG All-Americans: Shortstop Brendan Rodgers (the #1 prospect in the 2015 class), right-handed pitcher Tyler Baum, outfielders Nick Plummer, Kep Brown and Carlos A Cortes, catcher Nick Fortes and third baseman Drew Mendoza.

Only one Canes player has gone on to play Major League Baseball; left-handed pitcher Logan Allen. On the other hand, six Scorpions players have seen big league time; Rogers, Fortes, Plummer, right-handed pitchers Cole Sands and Bowden Francis and left-handed pitcher Tyler Holton.

Regardless of the present and future talent on those two respective rosters, plus the rosters of many other talented teams, there was no question that during the mid-2010’s there was a different aura and mystique surrounding the EvoShield Canes. They pulled up to fields in their huge and gleaming Canes bus, largely intimidated opponents on the field and usually emerged with the championship rings.

Other 2014 Jupiter Highlights

Canes catcher Brad Debo won the Most Valuable Player award, driving in seven runs in four playoff games, including four in the championship game with a pair of doubles, after a quiet performance in pool play.

Scorpions left-handed pitcher Tyler Holton, now with the Detroit Tigers, won the Most Valuable Pitcher award by throwing 10 scoreless innings, allowing only 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 13 hitters.

2014 was before the explosion in pitching velocities and only a small handful of pitchers topped 93 mph. The late Donny Everett and future MLB hurler Nick Neidert claimed the top velocity at 96 mph. Some other notables included future 100+ arm Jordan Hicks (93 mph in Jupiter), Brady Singer (92) and Ian Anderson, Casey Mize, Braxton Garrett and Bowden Francis, all at 91 mph.

Two years ago in our look back at the 2012 WWBA World Championships, we noted left-hander Ethan Small, the future big leaguer who topped out at only 81 mph as a sophomore. As a senior in 2014, Small threw a complete game shutout, striking out 13 hitters while topping out at 93 mph.

The top offensive performance of the championship could be claimed by either Cardinals Scout Team outfielder Jason Heinrich or 2015 PG All-American third baseman Joe Rizzo. Heinrich, who was a fifth round pick of the Orioles in the 2015 draft and the 105th ranked player in the 2015 class, hit 8-16 with two doubles, two triples and two home runs. Rizzo, who notably didn’t make the Canes top team and starred for Team EvoShield, collected a tournament-high 10 hits in 17 at-bats while driving in five runs and scoring six. Rizzo went on to be a second round pick by the Mariners in 2016 and played seven years in the minors, topping out at AAA.

Not surprisingly in retrospect, the top exit velocity was registered by current Indians first baseman Josh Naylor at 107.9 mph.
 

Tournaments | Story | 1/27/2026

MLK East Scout Notes Recap

Perfect Game Staff
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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 SOFTBALL ANNOUNCES KEY LEADERSHIP HIRES    Charlotte, North Carolina (Monday, February 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the hiring of two industry-leading softball directors to lead and expand its footprint in the Charlotte, North Carolina market. The additions underscore Perfect Game Softball’s long-term commitment to North Carolina and its mission to elevate tournament standards, scouting opportunities, and player development across the region. Both were...
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Cam McElwaney
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High School Preview Index | High School Top 50 As we have finished unveiling the National High School Top 50, we now look at the abundance of high-level prospects that make up those rosters, building 3 teams at the Class of 2026 level and an underclass team, all made ONLY from players on the teams across the Top 50. Upperclass 1st Team Pos Name High School State Team Rank C Jorvorskie Lane Jr. Grapevine TX 7 1B Will Adams Hoover AL 43 INF Tyler Spangler De La Salle CA 12 INF Cole Prosek Magnolia Heights MS 16 INF James Clark St. John Bosco CA 1 OF Brady Harris Trinity Christian Academy FL 6 OF Malachi Washington Parkview GA 34 OF Trevor Condon Etowah GA 5 UT Matt Ponatoski Archbishop Moeller OH 35 2W Coleman Borthwick South Walton FL 8 P Gio Rojas Stoneman Douglas FL 2 P Kaden Waechter Tampa Jesuit FL 4 P Bo Holloway Nolensville TN 36 P Joseph Contreras Blessed Trinity GA 9 P Savion Sims...
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Ryan Miller
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Tyler Russo
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The start of another high school season is right around the corner in a handful of states and with that, as always, comes our Preseason High School Top-50. A whopping twenty states are represented in the initial Top-50, a number that is staggering when you look at the amount of depth some of these rosters have across the nation. Leading the group is St. John Bosco (CA), a team that brought home a CIF Southern D1 title in 2025 and bring back a strong group of seniors to look to repeat. Stoneman Douglas (FL) is a name most people should know by now in the high school ranks and comes in as our preseason #2 team, looking to win their sixth straight state championship in Florida. Orange Lutheran (CA) had a good case for preseason #1 but come it an No. 3, bringing a roster with seven seniors ranked inside the top-200 in the country to the table. Four other Florida schools are represented...
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Steve Fiorindo
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2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order*  School W L W L Cal Poly 43 19 23 7 Cal State Bakersfield 18 38 9 21 Cal State Fullerton 29 27 19 11 CSUN 15 34 10 20 Hawai'i 35 21 16 14 Long Beach State 22 31 15 15 UC Davis 27 28 13 17 UC Irvine 43 17 24 6 UC Riverside 16 36 5 25 UC Santa Barbara 36 18 16 14 UC San Diego 26 25 15 15 Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Nate Vargas UC Santa Barbara Honorable Mention All Big West performer, posted a 306 average with 10 HR’s and 50 RBI. ...
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Cam McElwaney
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High School Preview Index Top 50 Breakdown: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 10. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 2025 Record: 24-1 Head Coach: Dave Turgeon Notable Prospect(s): C Dillon Moss (Stanford), RHP Michael Ramsey, C Charles Messina (Northwestern), 1B Cy Chrisman (Oklahoma State), SS Dylan Messina (Pennsylvania), RHP Michael Todero (St. Joseph’s), SS Max Hemenway (Tennessee), OF Kyler Meccage (Mississippi State), OF Sebastian Wilson (Tennessee), 1B Frank Thomas III (Auburn), SS Juan Diaz (Florida State), C Ethan Armbruster (Mississippi State), SS Antonio Chavez (University of California, Berkeley), RHP Henry Britt, OF Aiden Choo IMG Academy rattled off an incredible season a year ago, finishing with a 24-1 record, and ended the season being named the national champion. It’s another year in Bradenton with some of the most talented players in...
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