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PG Select Baseball Festival | General | 8/30/2024

14u Select Festival Preview

Jheremy Brown

@lifeisgreatsut & @JBrownPG preview the 14U PG Select Festival https://t.co/hG2n3eH9R0
— Perfect Game USA (@PerfectGameUSA) August 29, 2024

One year from a decade of existence, the 9th annual 14u Select Festival is sure to be yet another “can’t miss” event if you’re a fan of looking ahead at what the game has to offer. Over the last couple of years it has become a regular occurrence on draft night to hear a handful of alum called in the first round and double digits throughout the first night.

It’s only fitting that during 14u Festival week that former #Festivaler Dylan Crews (2016 14u Select Festival) got the call up by the Washington Nationals and recorded a two-hit game in just his second career start. Just over a year since being drafted, Crews ascended the organization and in the process, became the 4th alum of this event to make the bigs, joining fellow East teammate from 2016 in Victor Mederos (Los Angeles Angels), Jordan Lawler (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Carlos Rodridguez (Milwaukee Brewers) who like Crews, made his debut in 2024.

Through the 11, 12 and 13u games this year, West has a 2-1 lead as the East looks to tie things up this Labor Day weekend while avenging last year’s walk off defeat. Should we take the Perfect Game All-American Classic into account, it’s 2-2 and this year’s 14u game will ultimately decide who claims bragging rights from the entire month.

This year’s 14u roster has a little bit of everything from low-90s fastballs courtesy of Dexter McCleon Jr, Striker Pence, Chase Cotton and Valentin Ceballos to triple digit exit velocities as we saw with both Francis Conners-Schmid (104 mph) and Angel Montas (102 mph) at the 14u National Showcase. Both Brennan New and Brayden Landry went deep during the live action portion of the showcase though it’s Aiden Kearney’s 12 home runs this summer that leads the circuit. From smooth defense in the dirt to game changing speed on the bases, innate barrel skills and very real two-way prospects, this group seemingly has it all.

That said, let's take a deeper dive into the two rosters as a whole. In total, 17 different states are represented alongside the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, truly proving the reach of this game at the 14u level once again. Leading the way this year is California with an astounding 9 picks, followed closely by Texas with 7 and Florida with 6, though neither of the three are surprising given their track record of producing high-end talent on a consistent basis. If Arizona was the surprise of the 13u Festival with 4 selections then the equivalent at 14u would be the not-so-traditional hot bed of New York which boasts a quartet of talent in Conners-Schmid as well as all three of the East catchers in Colin Raymond, Robert Mascia and Julian Martinez, a purely coincidental, but equally awesome, happenstance.

Speaking of Martinez and McCleon Jr., this year was the first year in which players who played in the inaugural 11u game back in 2021 have come full circle to the 14u Festival, making stops at both the 12u and 13u iteration, completing the Festival four-peat. Alongside Martinez and McCleon Jr., the 13u Player of the Year Kaleb Foster, the 12u MVP, and do-it-all Californian Dru Wilson became the first set of players to play in all four games.

While this is the quintets fourth Festival, 15 different players will be making their debuts in the prestigious game while four players are using this weekend as part of a three-peat. Sammy Garcia, Luis Olmeda and Robert Mascia all return after playing in the 12u game while Konnor Briggs was able to bookend his Festival career with an appearance in both the 11u and now the 14u game.

It’s worth pointing out that 10 players who were in attendance at last year’s 13u National Showcase and ultimately didn’t get the call returned to West Palm Beach this past July for the 14u National and sought redemption as they make the trip down to Fort Myers this weekend.

Leading up to the event the players once again raised funds for the patients at Golisano Children's Hospital, a standalone, state-of-the-art facility that opened in 2017 - who is on a mission to deliver vital and lifesaving care for children and their families throughout the region. Every penny raised will go directly to the hospital and the families impacted and if you'd like to help make a difference, you can do so here: https://p2p.onecause.com/14uperfectgame2024

As always, tune in on all Perfect Game social media platforms throughout the weekend for one-of-a-kind coverage from the moment players arrive to the final pitch of the game. The game itself will be on September 1st with an 11 am first pitch brought to you live on PerfectGame.TV from JetBlue Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida.

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From East Teammates to HS Teammates
Both Isaias Torres and Aiden Kearney were teammates on the East during the 14u Select Festival and will be again come high school as both are attending Hagerty in Orlando, Florida.

NYC = New York Catchers
Though they play on three different travel-ball teams, the trio of catchers representing the East in the 2024 14U PG Select Festival all hail from New York. However, their journeys into this event are all very unique and personal to them.

Different Perspective In Year 2 for Vargas
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Vargas said. “It’s just a big friend group and we’re all friends, East and West. It’s the event that I always wanted to be at.”

All Business for Brunson at Select Fest
“I was very motivated to make PG Select Fest ever since I made it last year,” Brunson shares. “The experience here is awesome. You get surrounded by all these good people and all these people that will help you in the near future.”

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