With over 50 teams slated to take the field between the American and National divisions, Lauren Nunez takes a look at some of the talented rosters that'll be in attendance, though given the sheer depth of teams and talents competing, who's left standing at the end of the tournament is anybody's guess at this point!
National
The Duran Baseball 17U National team currently has a 14-2-1 record and rank No. 27 in their region, hailing from Fort Worth, Texas. This year they’ve taken part in two events, advancing to the quarterfinals in both. This will be their third event hoping to come out as champions. Players who can make that possible are Midland college commit Dylan Myrow who leads with a .654 average, Amarillo commit Garrin Graves who leads with a 0.70 ERA, second best hitter at .550 Fabian Ortega, Jax Stockton with a 2.03 ERA who is also tied for second most punchouts with 22, and Texas Tech commit Holden Hering.
The Slammers Holzemer hold a 12-5-0 record and ranks No. 35 nationally and third regionally as Eaglewood, Colorado based. This will be their second tournament this summer and they are still looking for a championship crown. Some of their best players are the No. 4 outfielder prospect in Colorado Christian Lopez, No. 5 ranked pitcher in Colorado in Ethin Woltz, No. 12 ranked outfielder in Colorado Sam Harry, and Santa Clara commit and No.7 ranked pitcher in the state in Chase Ruden.
Baum Bat NW is undefeated right now with a 5-0-0 record after winning their last tournament in the Ultimate Baseball Championship. There’s a lot of talent to look at on this team such as Davidson commit Mathew Manjooran, Washington commit Jonah Aase, No. 1 Washington ranked pitcher Bryce Collins, No. 4 ranked Hawaii pitcher Greyson Osbun, Oregon State commit and 2024 National Showcase player River Hamilton, Washington commit Aspen Alexander, top ranked Washington catcher Ethan Swallom, Portland commit Erine Whelan, and South Carolina commit Bruin Agayani.
Prime is undefeated with a 5-0-0 record but this will be their first event of the year. Their last event was last year in the 17U PG Southwest Labor Day Classic in which they won the championship. They’re currently ranked No.15 in their region with their hometown being in Highland, California. Their star players consist of Cal State Fullerton commit Esteban Olazaba, UC Santa Barba commit Trevor Busby, and Matthew Bline who is an Oregon commit. They also had players in the 2024 National Showcase in LSU commit and Reagan Ricken and Miami commit Mason Green who are coming to compete as well.
The GBG National 2025 team will head into their second event of the year with a 3-1-0 record. They also hold a current ranking as the No. 6 team nationally and are the top ranked team in their region based out of Manhattan Beach, California. Their roster is full of talented players, many have already committed to college programs and 13 competed in the 2024 National Showcase. Their players to watch are Long Beach State commit Jase DeSantis and UCLA commits Ian Fisher, Aiden Aguayo, Zach Strickland, and Angel Cervantes. They have two USC commits Rohan Kasanagottu and Waltor Urbon, and two Texas commits being Grayson Boles and Anthony Pack Jr. Lastly, they have three Oregon and three LSU commits which are Tanner Johns, Angel Laya, Tyler Wick, Brady Ebel, Landon Hodge, and Quentin Young.
American
The Wow Factor NV 2026 team is coming from Las Vegas, Nevada with a 11-6-0 record and are going into their third event of this year. In those events, they won a game in the Memorial Day Classic and made it up to the semifinals in the BCS Challenge. Here are some players to look for this weekend: No. 5 ranked catcher in Nevada in Seth Asare, their top hitter with a .467 average in Nick Armstrong, No. 4 ranked third baseman in Utah with Vincent Dutton, No. 9 ranked Nevada shortstop Hunter Iverson, No. 2 ranked Nevada third baseman Nery Gonzalez, and their top pitcher Esteban Gonzalez who is leading in both strikeouts with 19 and ERA throwing 0.44.
The CBA Marucci American team from Temecula, California is coming into this weekend for their second event this year and with a 7-2-1 record. In their last event they made it up to the round of 16 where they unfortunately lost so this go around they’ll try their best to win it all. Looking at their roster they have three college commits, who are TCU commit Chase Hilt, LSU commit Sammy Kane, and UC Santa Barbara Evan Thomas. Other successful players to watch are their top hitter Ryan Jackson who's hitting .476 and two of their stronger pitchers Lincoln Evans and Thomas Rimoldi.
Recent 17U BCS Champion, the Marucci Athletics 2025 Orange will come into this tournament looking for another event win. Their record right now is 7-3-1 and have had some quality performers to thank for their title last month. They have UC Santa Barbara commit Braden Watson, No. 8 Arizona ranked third baseman Mark Duguid, No. 6 Arizona ranked pitcher Landen Nigg, and strikeout leader Jaeden Parks who has 29 to this point of the summer. To add on to their pitching talent, they also have Garrett Theile and Hudson Litz.
Entering their third event this year, Aggies Cruz 17u team will look to add to their 10-6-1 record hoping for a better championship ending. In their past two events, they have made it to the semifinals and the championship game but lost both. Luckily, their roster is packed with talent to keep an eye out for early July. Looking at their college commit players they have Austin Cushman going to Cochise College and Jaxen Maxey committed to the University of Washington. There’s also Josue Malave who is the No. 13 ranked shortstop in Arizona, Luis Mejia whose the No. 4 ranked shortstop in Arizona, Izaiah Moraga who's also their top pitcher and ranked as the third best third baseman in Arizona, and the No.10 ranked catcher in Arizona Devin Montes.
The Wow Factor NV 2025 team currently stands as an honorable mention nationally and is a top six team in their regional rank with their hometown being in Las Vegas, Nevada. Having competed in two tournaments already this year, they're going into this one with a 9-7-1 record overall. In those events they haven’t made it to the finals, but they have plenty of strong players who can take this team all the way to the championships. Players such as Ace Hensen who is a Wofford commit, Tyler Jackson who plans on attending Seattle University, Nathan Keyes who's going to Brigham Young, and Jordan Watkins who ranks as the third best pitcher in Nevada. They also have the top pitcher Kanoa Wolfgang and Landon Blais who is leading in strikeouts with 27 and the No. 7 ranked outfielder in Nevada.