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Emerson, Ga. - Today marked the opening day of game play at the 2025 Prep Baseball Junior Future Games where rising 8th graders and 9th graders travel to Georgia to compete in a tournament style event. Prep Baseball California is fielding a squad of players from around the state to compete in the event.

Facing off with a solid squad out of the state of Arkansas the California team ran out '29 RHP Jackson Todd who showed an impressive arm talent reaching 83 MPH on his FB while sitting between 79-82 MPH across his outing and spinning a solid SLD in the 73-75 MPH range. Todd competed through some erratic control to give the California team 2+ innings of work. Cole Grothues not only demonstrated his intriguing switch pitching talent over two innings of work by throwing up to 80 MPH with his righthand side and in the low 70's from the lefthand side to strike five total hitters. Enzi-Yaw Otieku completed one inning of work holding the Arkansas squad scoreless to put the California squad in position to earn a thrilling walk off win.

The California offense scored in four of the five innings they hit in and got loud offensive performances from Todd who tripled into the RCF gap and scored a run while also blasting a foul HR. Grothues opened the bottom of the fifth with a stung ground ball double down the LF and would eventually score the tying run. Otieku would collect a single up the middle to tie the score and then Anthony Daniel (a returner from the California Junior Future Games squad in 2024) would pick up his second hit of the day this time with a walk-off triple into the RCF gap.

The win puts the California squad at 1-0 in tournament and they will face off with Team Missouri in a 4:00 PM tilt in their second game.