Chicago – More than 90 teams from 31 of the most elite travel baseball clubs in America will face off in the fifth-annual Wilson Premier Classic (WPC) September 10–14 in Emerson, Ga. The Classic will take place at LakePoint Sports, the premier youth sports destination located north of Atlanta. This invitation-only baseball tournament will feature national championship travel ball teams, D1 prospects and projected top Major League Baseball® draft picks.
The WPC offers the country’s best young players the opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities for college and pro scouts while playing in the highest-level competition in their age group. Since the inaugural event in 2016, the WPC boasts 11 first-round draft picks – including Jo Adell, Ethan Hankins, Anthony Seigler, Brett Baty and Xavier Edwards – more than 800 D1 college commits and 40 Perfect Game All Americans. 2019 WPC defending champions returning to play include Canes National, Arizona Sandlot, RakeCity and BPA.
MLB® scouts will be among those in Georgia to see how these players fare against top-level competition. Rosters feature highly regarded prospects including Casey Saucke (Rochester, NY) 2021 Graduate – North East Baseball; Cody Schrier (San Clemente, CA) 2021 Graduate – Canes Baseball; Daniel Corona (Brooklyn, NY) 2021 Graduate – EvoShield Generals; Noah Smith (Chicago, IL) 2021 Graduate – Team Ohio Pro Select; and Michael Braswell (Mableton, GA) 2021 Graduate – East Cobb Baseball. All are potential top 2021 MLB Draft picks according to Baseball America and other sources.
The sons of three former Major League Baseball players will participate: Andruw Jones, son of former Atlanta Brave Andruw Jones; Carsten Sabathia III, son of former Yankee CC Sabathia; and Cam Collier, son of former Pirate and Brewer Lou Collier. Sabathia III and Jones will be teammates on the EvoShield Generals.
In another link to MLB, the Chicago White Sox ACE (Amateur City Elite) program will send seven players to participate in the WPC. The ACE program provides resources and hope to more than 100 inner-city youths each year who otherwise would not be able to experience the travel team culture that permeates today’s youth baseball. WPC is also providing scholarships to nearly two dozen talented players from underserved communities to participate in this year’s event.
In total, the WPC will feature approximately 1,800 sought-after players from powerhouses including BPA, East Cobb, Elite Squad, Canes Baseball, Dirtbags, FTB/Giants Scout Team, Power Baseball, North East Baseball and US Elite National, among others.
The WPC has also become a leader in sponsorship activation and partnerships. The Wilson Baseball family of brands – DeMarini®, Louisville Slugger®, EvoShield® and Wilson® – sponsors all participating teams. The four brands will showcase equipment and products for participating teams and create a best-in-class experience for those who attend.
Most of the teams playing in the Wilson Premier Classic are either DeMarini Platinum and Gold Squads or Louisville Slugger Prime and Authentic Clubs players. In 2020, the WPC will also include other non-Wilson, highly ranked organizations that have been selected based on a merit-based invitation system. Trophies for members of each of the three championship teams will be custom gloves from Wilson. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) in each division will receive a specially designed MVP Silver Bat™ Award similar to those Louisville Slugger, the Official Bat of Major League Baseball, annually presents to the batting champions in MLB.
Full tournament details can be found by visiting WilsonPremierBaseball.com. Follow the event on Instagram and Twitter via @wilsonpremierbb.
