Prep Baseball Report

Become a Member

More +

Team California Junior Future Games: Game Two & Three Recap

July 27, 2026
Steven Hardesty
Assistant Director

   

New Episode LIVE now! - At The Yard Podcast

EMERSON, GA - The third part of the Future Games week at LakePoint, the Junior Future Games entered the game play portion of the event on Saturday evening. With players in the upcoming Fr. high school class or heading into eighth grade making up squads to represent their home states, competing against each other for three competitive games.

Team California's Junior Future Game squad picked up a resounding win over Team Arkansas to open their Junior Future Games slate and then rounded out a successful week in Georgia with two more games on Sunday afternoon when they played Team Missouri and Team Midwest.

For all the information on the players comprising Team California, click here.

GAME TWO RECAP:

Carrying their momentum over from the dominant win over Team Arkansas, the pitching for Team California remained dominant with the duo of RHP Connor Neimeyer and RHP Tank McCall combining to hold Team Missouri to just one run. Neimeyer impressed with a low-effort, clean delivery that filled the zone with 80-84 MPH FB, which showed spin rates north of 2100 RPMs during his outing while backing it up with confidence in a 66-68 MPH CB that maintained its shape and the occasional 73-74 MPH CHG. Over three innings of work, Neimeyer allowed two hits while striking out two with an efficient pitch count. Following him was McCall, who impressed with an athletic delivery showing quickness in his arm and a tempo that looks the part of a future standout starting pitcher. McCall used a FB up to 86 with spin north of 2200 RPMs at the peak that is backed by a tight 74-75 MPH SLD and 69-71 MPH CB that shows a consistent shape. McCall allowed one baserunner on a walk, while striking out two in his two innings of work.

Pitching wasn't the only dominant part of the Team California win, but the bats kept producing with another strong showing. C/RHP Cooper Frost got the offense started when he drilled a single through the backside, which was followed by a C/OF Mario Valle III walk and then McCall drove in a run with a single before OF Kyle Kelley drew a walk and INF Dylan Hall lofted a deep drive to RF for a SAC F-9. The early fireworks put the squad from California on top and then the bats broke out to put the game away with SS Aiden McGee-Visger drilling a double deep to RF followed by an excellent at bat from C/INF Bodie Pierce who dropped a single into LCF in a 2K count before C/INF Gavin Cruz broke the game open with a double to the base of the wall in deep LCF and OF Max Moreno followed with a single of his before stealing second base.

The defense for Team California was huge on the day, with SS Dallas Knothe making a pair of fantastic plays to keep Team Missouri off the bases, showing the defensive chops to be a name to follow as the next SoCal Shortstop on the rise. Kelley made a highlight-reel diving catch in the LCF gap to keep the Missouri squad from adding a second run, and Moreno showed off his top-of-the-scale speed to take away extra bases on a rocket into the RCF gap.

GAME THREE RECAP:

The pitching for Team California continued to be strong at the outset of their game against Team Midwest (Iowa/Nebraska) with C/RHP Cooper Frost being the highlight of the outing for the squad. Frost looks the part of a prototype pitcher with a solidly built body at present, longer limbs, and the type of operation a pitching coach can dream on. He moves cleanly down the mound with arm speed and demonstrated feel for three pitches in an 81-84 MPH FB, 75-77 MPH SLD, and 72-73 MPH CHG. Frost pounded the zone consistently while the balls put in play against him were softly hit, showing his ability to get off the barrel and pick up one strikeout. Behind him was SS/RHP JJ Gonzalez, who, after scuffling in his first inning, came back to throw a dominant second inning of work with a strikeout and a pair of soft outs put in play. Working with an athletic move down the mound and loose, natural arm speed, Gonzalez lived at 80-81 MPH on his FB while dropping in a 72-74 MPH CHG occasionally and flashing an interesting 66-69 MPH breaking ball which varied shapes between a SLD and a CB, but shows potential in the SLD shape.

The bats came out a little slower to open the final game of the event, but once they got settled in the middle innings, it was a strong offensive showing by the next wave of high school talent in California. C/OF Mario Valle III reached base twice in the game with a single, a walk, and scored one run. OF Kyle Kelley drove in the first run of the game with a single to RF, capping what an excellent three games and workout for him in Georgia. INF Dylan Hall was outstanding all week at the plate for Team California and wrapped up the week with another knock, this time going to the opposite way for a single. OF Ben Wallace brought some of the higher-end athleticism on the squad and got to show it off when he went deep over the right fielder's head and raced around the bases for a triple in the final game. Gonzalez capped his week with a laced double into LCF to drive in a run. C/OF Bodie Pierce was consistently strong at bat over all three games and drew a pair of walks, including a strong battle walk in his last trip to the plate in Georgia. C Gavin Cruz may not have had a hit in the final game, but once again delivered two of the hardest-hit balls, including a deep count line out to LF that almost put the squad on top, but an outstanding throw from the Midwest LF nailed the runner at home to keep the score tied at 5-5. 

Once again, the defense for Team California shined for Team California with excellent plays by several members of the team, but SS Dallas Knothe showed off again with multiple plays that make it easy to see him being an impact defender for a long time at the spot and reached base for the fourth time in five at-bats in Georgia when he drew a walk.

Overall, the Team California group put up an impressive 2-1 showing with their only loss coming in the final game of the event on a walkoff to Team Midwest. They posted two dominant winnings including throwing a combined no-hitter in their opener over Team Arkansas. Needless to say the future of baseball in the powerhouse state of California is bright!

RELATED CONTENT