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Tournaments  | Story | 12/24/2021

Regional Review: California

Steve Fiorindo
Alexis Gonzalez
Photo: Marcelo Mayer (Perfect Game)
Regional Review: Texas

With the Perfect Game scouting staff spread throughout the country and another action-packed season in the books, we'll take a look back at some highlights from individual states over the next couple of weeks, from the 13u level all the way up through the collegiate ranks and the MLB Draft.

Biggest 13u/14u Breakout Player
Zach Strickland is someone to keep an eye on as we enter the new year, as he won this year’s National 14u Pitcher of the Year. He features a tall, lean, athletic build with plenty of room to add more muscle as he matures. The right-handed pitcher can run his fastball up to 89 mph with good life and swing-and-miss ability. When I first saw Strickland in March his velocity was dominating his competition, but was still trying to find the strike zone here and there. He kept his head down and kept working and started to climb in the rankings, earning himself an invite to the 2021 14u Select Festival, where he was named the National Pitcher of the Year and is currently ranked the No. 1 right-handed pitcher in California and is nationally ranked No. 2. The UCLA commit has a promising future and will be fun to watch over the years.



Biggest Moment in College
Stanford hosted a regional for the fourth straight season, dominated their bracket, then had to travel to Lubbock, Texas to face No. 8 Texas Tech, where they dominated as well and took the series in the first two games to advance to the College World Series. In game one of the CWS they faced a tough loss to NC State, but came back strong and took it to the Arizona Wildcats to advance. Next facing Vanderbilt, they battled and took the lead early, but ultimately fell to the Commodores. The pitching staff dominated all year and got stronger as the season went on. Offensively, the team was led in every offensive category by sophomore Brock Jones, a strong, physically-built outfielder with great power and a lot of speed that played well on both ends of the ball.

Biggest Breakout/Ranking Riser
Ethan Hedges had a big summer, as he made some noise in the PG 17u World Series. He caught the attention of scouts early as he crushed the ball all weekend to all fields and had several home runs, pitched well, and made some awesome plays defensively. He came to the tournament under the radar, with not many scouts knowing who he was, and left with a few college scholarships offers. The USC commit features a lean athletic build with a very projectable body and room to add more muscle. He has a violent, compact swing that stays long through the zone, consistently generating line drives to all fields. Defensively, he moves well and has good range to both sides of the ball with good arm strength. When he gets on the mound, he'll get his fastball to 92 mph with good arm-side run.

Biggest Draft Moment
The first prep player picked in the 2021 MLB Draft came from California in shortstop Marcelo Mayer, who was taken by the Boston Red Sox with the No. 4 overall pick. Marcelo was ranked the No. 1 shortstop and overall player in California per Perfect Game, where he finished ranked No. 2 nationally in the final player rankings installment. He is very athletic, very smooth defensively, and offensively could do it all with good speed. Mayer was set to attend USC prior to getting drafted and he'll continue to rise and excel at whatever level he plays at and will be a good one to follow in this year’s season.

Top Travel Teams
There are a few organizations that rank in the top-five programs in California in a few age divisions. CBA Marucci National is ranked No. 1 in both the 18u and 17u divisions. The San Diego Show holds a top-five position in three different age groups, as they are ranked No. 5 in both the 18u and 14u age groups and ranked No. 2 in the 17u division. Alpha Prime is another top contender, as they are ranked top-three in four age groups; ranked No. 1 in 16u and 15u and No. 3 in 18u and in 17u. BPA has a top-five ranking in three different age groups. They are ranked No. 5 in 17u, No. 2 in 16u, and No. 3 in 15u. The MVP Hustle is ranked No. 2 in both 15u and 14u divisions. The ZT Prospects have a few teams in the top-five in the younger divisions, as they are ranked No. 1 in both 14u and 13u divisions and have a third place team in the 14u division as well. All these programs have great coaches across the board that produce good athletes years after year. These teams compete and usually have a top finish in the tournaments they play in.

A Look Ahead:


College
Youth may prevail at UCLA in 2022 as they had their best recruiting class in recent memory and there are many holes to fill. The Bruins return just 6 starts from last year’s staff, but they are armed with a bevy of talented arms in the freshman class, including Thatcher Hurd, currently the top-ranked collegian in the 2024 draft class. From the left side, Gage Jump came off an outstanding senior campaign at JSerra and looks primed for an impactful role. Ethan Flanagan, Alonzo Tredwell and Luke Jewett all had some injuries in their senior years of high school and could have roles in 2022.



The Bruins lost a lot of at-bats from last year’s squad to the draft and they have some freshman that could step in right away. Cody Schrier (ranked No. 5 in 2024 draft class) looks primed to have an early impact somewhere on the dirt (they have a lot of talent that can play multiple positions). In the outfield, Malakhi Knight and Nick McLain were both starting in fall looks.  



Long Beach State
Coach Valenzuela and his staff have recruited and developed a team that has gotten them back to their true Dirtbag roots, featuring pitching and a blue collar approach to the game. Luis Ramirez and Jack Noble return to anchor the weekend rotation and Team USA reliever Devereaux Harrison returns as closer and could also be stretched out to a longer role. Juaron Watts-Brown and Marques Johnson are two arms that impressed in fall looks. Connor Burns returns behind the dish, a standout defender that can handle the staff and can really throw. Sophomore Jonathon Long can swing the bat and is expected to be one of their key hitters in the middle of the lineup.
 
High School

In California the high school discussion generally starts in the Trinity League, and once again it will be loaded with talented teams and draft talent. Perennial power Orange Lutheran has three of the top-10 ranked players in California, led by Perfect Game All-American Mikey Romero (ranked No. 3), lefty Oliver Santos (ranked No. 4) and catcher Karson Bowen (ranked No. 9). Add 2023 infielder Casey Borba and Derek Curiel (No. 1 in nation for 2024 class) to that group and you have a very deep and talented squad. The Trinity League is a gauntlet with tough series every week. Look for Santa Margarita to make some noise with a young nucleus of talent. JSerra will plug in a new batch of talent and rely on some youth and two big arms in David Horn and Tyler Gough. Servite has some big arms and a deep lineup featuring 2022 Jarrod Hocking and Roman Martin.

Some of the usual suspects outside of the Trinity League that are expected to have big years, CIF Champions Harvard Westlake reloaded for 2022 and will have a pair of 2024 arms to lean heavily on in Bryce Rainer and Duncan Marsten to eat up innings. Huntington Beach has depth and talent led by Raffaele Velazquez (No. 13 in the state), one of the most pure hitters in the class. Yucaipa is loaded once again, with commits all over the field, including Jacob Reimer (No. 20 in state for 2022), Owen Egan (No. 14 in state for 2023) and Daniel Arambula (No. 22 in state for 2024). Corona will have one of the deeper lineups with three committed sophomores joining seniors Andrew Walters and transfer Troy McCain.

Further north, Buchanan is locked and loaded for 2022 with D-I commits all over, headlined by 2022 RHP Sam Tookoian (No. 34 in the state), an Ole Miss commit. Twin brothers Jared Lewis (No. 22 in state) and Jordan Lewis (No. 26 in state) headline a talented San Ramon Valley team chalked with D-I commits.

Some up-and-coming teams that will be exciting to follow for the next few years are San Dimas, which had nine freshmen on their varsity roster last year, five which are now committed (along with one 2025 commit). Aquinas, led by Eric Bitonti (No. 2 in state), is another young team establishing themselves as one of the better private programs in the Inland Empire.
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Tournaments | Story | 1/27/2026

MLK East Scout Notes Recap
Perfect Game Staff
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‘28 OF Jakob Groeschel (OH) continues to impress with the bat on the circuit, picked up 2 2Bs in the first game today. Really athletic, went 4.4 on turn; easy to dream on all the traits. #MLKEast @PG_OhioValley pic.twitter.com/wOIwnGKnkg — Perfect Game Florida (@Florida_PG) January 17, 2026 2028 OF Jakob Groeschel (Springfield, Ohio) broke out at this event last year hitting a casual .909, and although he didn’t turn in quite the same performance, he hit a strong .462 with 4 extra-base hits, 5 walks, 5 bags and only struck out once. He’s a pretty dynamic athlete who can do a lot of things well, but the bat is the calling card as he just lives on the barrel and has no problem handling all kinds of pitching. It’s a simple swing, but he’s got fast hands and he can really impact the ball without being overly physical yet.  2030 RHP Michael Vazquez...
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High School | General | 2/16/2026

Northeast All Region & Top Tools

David Rawnsley
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NORTHEAST REGION (NY, CT, MA, RI, VT, NH, ME)  The strength of the Northeast Region in 2026 is the number of high ceiling power arms, led by potential upper-90’s throwers in left-hander Brody Bumila and right-hander Bryce Hill.  The depth of quality pitching is such that two of the top pitchers in the 2028 class, right handers Gavin Chakar (Norwalk HS, Conn.) and Dylan Cunningham (Austin Prep, Mass.) didn’t have a spot on the team.  The weakness of the Region is the increasing number of players who leave to play baseball and continue their school work at Academy programs in the South.  Numerous players that fit under that umbrella would have a place on the All-Northeast Region if they weren’t in Florida or the Carolinas. C – Bradley McCafferty (Sr., Austin Prep, Mass.) McCafferty was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts as a...
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College | Rankings | 2/16/2026

College Top 25: February 16

Vincent Cervino
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It was incredible Opening Weekend across the nation with numerous upsets, tightly contested series’ and dominating sweeps. Beyond that, there were generational individual performances, lockdown pitching appearances and record-breaking runs scored as well. It feels like we have been saying this every year for the past decade, but our game is alive and well. More and more programs are getting massive returns on their investments and the fans are turning out in record numbers to see college baseball in its Golden Era. As is typical this time of year, there was very little movement within the poll, in fact, our Top 15 places in the poll remain unchanged. No. 1 LSU (3-0), No. 2 Georgia Tech (3-0) and No. 3 Tennessee (3-0) all took care of business at home, treating their fans to a show of their offensive firepower. No. 16 Coastal Carolina (3-0) and No. 17 UNC (3-0) both had perfect...
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High School | General | 2/13/2026

Mid-Atlantic Region Top Teams

Tyler Russo
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Mid-Atlantic All Region & Top Tools Rk Mid-Atlantic  Record 1 Delbarton (NJ) 24-5 2 DePaul Catholic (NJ) 21-7 3 Gloucester Catholic (NJ) 24-3 4 Malvern Prep (PA) 32-5 5 St. Augustine Prep (NJ) 18-8 6 Archbishop Spalding (MD) 22-16 7 Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 26-3 8 Cedar Cliff (PA) 21-6 9 St. John's College (DC) 30-1 10 Seton Hall Prep (NJ) 22-2 11 St. Joseph's Prep (PA) 10-11 12 Christian Brothers (NJ) 22-5 13 Hazelton Area (PA) 18-6 14 Sussex Central (DE) 16-6 15 Ranney (NJ) 12-10 16 Calvert Hall (MD) 20-10 17 Radnor (PA) 11-4 18 Governor Livingston (NJ) 28-0 19 The Haverford School (PA) 5-11 20 Bergen Catholic (NJ) 16-8 21 Holy Ghost Prep (PA) 10-9 22 North Hunterdon (NJ) 14-12 23 Northern Burlington (NJ) 28-2 24 St. Albans (DC) 23-14 25 Urbana (MD) 21-4
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High School | General | 2/12/2026

Mid-Atlantic All Region & Top Tools

David Rawnsley
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The Mid-Atlantic Region lost its only Perfect Game All-American when catcher Andrew Costello left his Pennsylvania high school early and enrolled at Wake Forest for the spring semester.  The Region ends up being dominated by underclassmen, with seven juniors and even a pair of talented sophomores getting recognition. The story of the spring could very well be watching the young power arms in the Region come outdoors and show their talents on the mound.  Pennsylvania juniors Cole Kuhn and Trent Lutz have been getting lots of off-season attention along with New Jersey senior Alex Weingartner. New Jersey has a trio of high schools represented in the Perfect Game Pre-Season Top 50 High School Rankings.  Delbarton HS, behind a very strong junior class, leads the group at 29th overall, followed DePaul Catholic HS at 41st and Gloucester Catholic at 46th. C – Braeden Lipoff...
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High School | General | 2/12/2026

Coastal Region Top Teams

Tyler Russo
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Coastal All Region & Top Tools Rk Coastal Record 1 Charlotte Catholic (NC) 22-6-1 2 Metrolina Christian Academy (NC) 28-3 3 James Island Charter (SC) 30-4 4 Battlefield (VA) 23-3 5 Charlotte Christian (NC) 26-6 6 Dorman (SC) 22-7 7 Marvin Ridge (NC) 21-8 8 Grace Christian (NC) 23-7 9 Berkeley (SC) 22-10 10 T.C. Roberson (NC) 27-6 11 Lexington (SC) 22-11-1 12 Providence (NC) 23-6 13 Southside Christian Schools (SC) 33-2-1 14 Bishop O'Connell (VA) 20-6 15 Cuthbertson (NC) 26-6 16 Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) 18-11 17 Blythewood (SC) 24-7 18 The Miller School (VA) 34-6 19 Stratford (SC) 22-6-2 20 Laney (NC) 25-7 21 Gaston Christian (NC) 18-4 22 Airport (SC) 27-6 23 Hurricane (WV) 28-7 24 Gainesville (VA) 23-4 25 Oceanside Collegiate Academy (SC) 27-8
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High School | General | 2/12/2026

Coastal All Region & Top Tools

David Rawnsley
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COASTAL REGION (NC, SC, VA, WV)  The first thing that stands out about the players on the Coastal Region team is that this is undoubtedly the fastest All-Region Team in the country.  There are four or five players who could legitimately have 80 grades on their running speed from the region and all have other tools to back up their speed. Another thing that jumps out is the quality of the juniors on the team.  While the region features only one 2025 PG All-American in left-handed pitcher Carson Bolemon, there are six juniors on the All-Region team who are ranked in the top 34 in the 2027 class, with plenty more talented underclassmen just behind them.  Three region high schools break into the Top 50 in the Perfect Game Pre-Season High School Rankings.  Charlotte Catholic at 33rd overall and Metrolina Christian Academy at 42nd represent the North Carolina schools...
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College | Story | 2/12/2026

2026 Staff Picks: College Edition

Perfect Game Staff
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2026 College Preview Index With the D-I season opening up right around the corner, our staff came together and took a shot at who they'd pick within 7 different categories. Most are self explanatory while the "Sleeping GIant" category is in reference to a draft prospect outside of our latest Top 50 on the MLB Draft Board. It's also worth noting that once a player was selected for a category, he was unavailable for others to choose, outside of the Golden Spikes category, where we do see some double-ups.  Enjoy the weekend, there's sure to be plenty of excitement as baseball is officially back across the country at all collegiate levels!  Category Cohen Sutherland Cervino Billock Henninger Rankin Russo Impact Freshman Mason Braun Angel Cervantes Cooper Underwood Marcos Paz JD Stein Alec Blair Sam Cozart Impact Transfer Jake Schaffner Will Gasparino Brady Frederick Andrew Whalen...
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High School | General | 2/11/2026

Southwest Region Top Teams

Tyler Russo
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Southwest All Region & Top Tools Rk Southwest Record 1 Casteel (AZ) 23-10 2 Basic (NV) 25-7 3 Corona Del Sol (AZ) 27-6 4 Faith Lutheran (NV) 22-18 5 Brophy College Prep (AZ) 16-13 6 Regis Jesuit (CO) 22-9 7 Queen Creek (AZ) 18-13 8 Spanish Fork (UT) 18-17 9 Mountain Ridge (UT) 20-12 10 Liberty (AZ) 17-13 11 Bishop Gorman (NV) 19-14 12 Rio Rancho (NM) 23-7 13 Cherry Creek (CO) 23-5-1 14 Palo Verde (NV) 24-10 15 Sandra Day O'Connor (AZ) 21-12 16 Pleasant Grove (UT) 23-6 17 La Cueva (NM) 25-4 18 Desert Mountain (AZ) 16-12 19 Snow Canyon (UT) 23-8 20 Hamilton (AZ) 25-9 21 Millennium (AZ) 21-10 22 Centennial (NV) 24-9 23 Valley Christian (AZ) 29-2 24 Mountain Vista (CO) 15-9 25 Williams Field (AZ) 15-11
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High School | General | 2/11/2026

Southwest All Region & Top Tools

David Rawnsley
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SOUTHWEST REGION (AZ, NM, NV, UT, CO)  The most dominant tool in the Southwest Region for the 2026 season is undoubtedly power at the plate, as most players featured below not only have the size and bat speed to drive the ball but have put up the numbers as well.  While that isn’t exactly surprising given that virtually the entire region plays at elevation, it certainly stands out on the individual top prospects. The Region features four Perfect Game All-Americans in OF Ryan Harwood, IF Rookie Shepard and C Alain Gomez-Gudino and RHP Dylan Blomker.  The 2027 class is looking very promising as well, with four juniors gaining mention on the All-Region team below and Arizona in particular having a very talented class.  Keep an eye out especially for 2027 3B Colton Floyd (Corona Del Sol HS, Ariz.), one of the best and biggest power hitters in that class. Two Region...
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Press Release | Press Release | 2/11/2026

Perfect Game Partners with Goodles

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 ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH GOODLES    Sanford, Florida (Wednesday, February 11, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a new partnership with  GOODLES, the brand that reimagined boxed mac and cheese, naming the brand the Official Mac & Cheese of Perfect Game. The collaboration will bring delicious, nutrient-packed mac and cheese to families and players during premiere events and tournaments.    While practice makes perfect, a player’s diet can’t be...
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