CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (January 27, 2014) –
The Perfect Game Sunshine Showcase series, the oldest of which will
mark its 14th anniversary this year, has added a fifth
event to bring even more exposure to prospects in yet another region
of the country.
The inaugural PG Sunshine Southeast
Showcase will run for three days May 30 through June 1 north
of Atlanta. The event will be at Perfect Game’s future permanent
address at the LakePoint sporting complex in Emerson, Ga., if the new
regulation-size playing fields currently under construction are
completed in time. If the fields at LakePoint aren’t ready to go,
the PG Sunshine Southeast Showcase will be held at nearby
Cartersville (Ga.) High School.
This showcase is designed to attract
the top high school prospects from the Southeast, including the
talent-rich states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Virginia and North and South Carolina. Its appeal could
conceivably reach up into the Ohio Valley region, as well.
The PG Sunshine Southeast Showcase
joins a lineup that this year includes the 14th annual PG
Sunshine East Showcase, May 31-June 1 in Fort Myers, Fla.; the 10th annual PG Sunshine South Showcase, May 31-June 1 in Tomball, Texas;
the 9th annual PG Sunshine Northeast Showcase, May 31-June
1 in Aston, Pa.; and the 12th annual PG Sunshine West
Showcase, June 7-8 in Chula Vista, Calif.
The PG Sunshine showcases have become
recognized as the unofficial kick-off events for the summer baseball
season at venues from coast-to-coast, and an average of 243 prospects
attended each of the four Sunshine events in 2013.
They provide an excellent opportunity
for prospects that will be high school seniors in the fall to earn an
invitation to the prestigious Perfect Game National Showcase, and for
younger players to earn one to the PG Junior National Showcase. Those
events will run consecutively June 9-16 at the JetBlue Player
Development Complex in Fort Myers.
Throughout their long runs, the
Sunshine East, Sunshine Northeast, Sunshine South and Sunshine West
showcases have graduated nearly 2,000 alumni that made verbal
commitments to continue their playing careers at colleges of every
level. More than 460 Sunshine showcase alumni were selected in the
June MLB First-Year Player Draft – two dozen in the first round –
either following successful college careers or directly out of high
school.
Twenty-one alumni of the Sunshine East
have made their Major League Baseball debuts, including the Red Sox’s
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Royals’ Eric Hosmer, the Reds’ Joey
Votto and the White Sox’s Chris Sale. Five Sunshine West alumni
have debuted in the big leagues, including the Pirates’
Gerrit Cole.