CEDAR
RAPIDS, IA (July 5, 2012) – On
July 6th 260 summer travel baseball teams will make their way to northwest
Atlanta to compete in the
2012 Perfect Game WWBA 17u National Championship. The tournament
is the fourth in a series of five WWBA tournaments being held
consecutively. Almost 500 of the nation’s top-ranked high school
baseball players will be in attendance to show off for fans, scouts
and college coaches and to help their teams fight to the championship
title.
The
event is going into its 10th year and has racked up an impressive
list of alumni. 44 current Major League players attended this event
at some point in their high school careers. Georgia native and Cedar
Grove High School graduate Xavier
Avery played for the 2007 champion East Cobb Braves 17u and went
on to be drafted in 2008 by the Baltimore Orioles. Avery made his
debut for the Orioles in May of this year. 64 alumni of the 2011 WWBA
17u Championship were drafted in June. Overall, 1,642 of the event’s
alumni have gone on to be drafted in the first 10 rounds of the Major
League draft.
The
East Cobb Braves 17u have a long history with the event, taking
home the championship in 2003 and 2007, as well as being the reigning
champs. The Braves always come with a talent-packed roster.
Right-handed pitcher Cameron
Varga played at the 2011 17u tourney, this year he’ll join the
defending champion Braves. The Florida commit is ranked sixth overall
for the class of 2014. Georgia native Cletis
Avery is among the top-ranked second-basemen in the country and
will be lending his talents to help the Braves secure another title.
Left-handed pitcher and Clemson commit Matthew
Crownover will represent the draft class of 2012 and is ranked
62nd overall. Third baseman Travis
Demeritte from Statham, Ga. has earned the No. 18 ranking for the
class 2013.
The WWBA 17u National Championship has grown from hosting primarily southern teams to including some of the top teams from all over the country. Plenty
of West Coast teams will be bringing some of their homegrown talent
to the tournament. San
Diego Show, ABD Bulldogs, San Gabriel Arsenal, So Cal Elite, So Cal Bombers, CCB 2013 Elite and Yak
Baseball West are among the top travel teams in California. San
Diego Show has had success in other age divisions in past WWBA. This
year they’re bringing a loaded roster geared to make a run at the
17u title. Left-handed pitcher Stephen
Gonsalves has impressed scouts at previous Perfect Game events, earning the No. 32 ranking for the class of 2013. Nationally ranked catcher Alex Jackson (57th for the class of 2014) will also be helping the Show. Left-handed pitcher and UCLA commit Brady
Aiken (ranked 36th for the class of 2014) is expected to pitch for the Show. Gosuke
Katoh is a player that improved his rankings after a good spring and summer, including a good showing at the 2012
Perfect Game National Showcase. The UCLA commit has jumped up to
No. 66 for the class of 2013.
Four
players from Yak Baseball West come into the tournament ranked in the
top 20 nationally for the class of 2013. USC commits Dominic
Smith and John
Paul Crawford, ranked second and 16th respectively, will provide some power to Yak’s offense. Christopher
Rivera (ninth)
and Kevin
Franklin (19th)
also showed off impressive hitting ability at the National Showcase. Rivera shows plenty of skill on the mound as well with is fastball reaching 92 mph. Right-handed pitcher Denz’l
Chapman will come in as the 32nd ranked player for the class of 2014.
Marucci
Elite will come into the tournament with a roster loaded with
talent. Justin
Williams comes in as one of the highest ranked players in the
tournament, ranked third nationally for the class of 2013. Williams
has already committed to Louisiana State and will be looking to
improve his draft stock with a strong performance. Shortstop Oscar
Mercado joins Williams at the top of the 2013 rankings at No. 7.
UCLA commit Dustin
Driver comes in as one of the top ranked pitchers in the country
for the class of 2013 and is ranked 20th overall. Alex
Lange and Anfernee
Grier will add even more to the roster, ranked 34th for 2014 and 57th for 2013 respectively.
FTB
Chandler Bats is another team looking for a shot at the championship
title. Two pitchers committed to the University of Central Florida
will be helping lead the Bats towards the title. Kyle
Marsh comes in ranked 12th overall for the class of 2014 and lefty Ian
Mckinney comes in ranked 75th for the class of 2013. A pair of highly ranked catchers will join the
pitchers. Clemson commit Chris
Okey comes in ranked 20th for the class of 2013 and USC commit Jeremy Martinez is ranked 33th.
Houston
Banditos-Black come into the tournament with a very real shot at
going far in the tournament. Pitcher Kohl
Stewart is the top ranked player in the state of Texas and comes
in at No. 11 on the class of 2013 rankings. Outfielder Nicholas
Banks joins fellow Texas A&M commit Stewart on the Banditos
and is ranked 35th overall for 2013. Texas-commit Jake
Jarvis, ranked seventh for the class of 2014, will also take the
mound for the Banditos. Stone
Garrett (ranked 11th for 2014) and teammate Nick
Buckner (ranked 15th for 2013) impressed scouts at the 2012 Perfect Game National Showcase
in June. They’ll be looking to bring some of that power to the
Bandito’s offense.
Orlando
Scorpions 17u Purple will make their way up to Marietta from
Florida with a roster packed with talent. Two top pitchers, Florida
State commit Carson
Sands and Florida commit Brett
Morales, will take the mound for the Scorpions. Tate
Blackman comes to the 17u WWBA ranked 31st for the class of 2014. Two top catchers from the class of 2014 will
also be assisting the Scorpions on their path to the playoffs. John
Jones comes in ranked 33rd and Jonah
Girand comes in 35th.
Other
teams bringing top-notch talent include Team Elite Black, the
Evoshield Canes, FTB Mizuno, Houston Heat Silver, Dirtbags, East Cobb
Astros 16u, Alabama Seminoles and Tri-State Arsenal Blue.
The
event has been enormously beneficial to northwest Atlanta
communities. Last year 10,673 nights were booked during the 17u WWBA
Championship. Total economic benefit from all of the Perfect Game
WWBA Championships is estimated at $33,433,450. The number of teams
attending the event has increased from 216 to 260. This increase
should result even larger economic benefits to the area.
The
tournament begins July 6th and runs through July 13th.
Every team will play seven pool games in the first six days of the
tournament. Playoffs will begin July 11th with the 32 teams battling to move forward in the championship. Rounds of 16
and 8 will begin at 9 am on July 12th. Semifinals and
championship games will take place on July 13th, with the
Championship game beginning at 11:30 am. The East Cobb Complex in
Marietta, Ga. will host the bulk of the games on its three fields,
with several area high schools picking up the rest of the games.
Specific
information about the event, including schedule and game locations,
will be available on the WWBA 17u National Championship event page. Game scores and
blogs will available on the website as the tournament progresses. For
fans interested in attending, a tournament pass will cost $55. The
cost per day (good for all games on one day) will be $10. Programs
will be available for $5.