Prestigious 15U international tournament to alternate between the U.S. and Japan, shift to December calendar slot

SANFORD, Fla., Oct. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Perfect Game, the world's largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the next phase of its Pacific Baseball Championship (PBC) event, a global 15U tournament uniting the top amateur players from across the Pacific region.

Following a successful debut this past August at Japan's iconic Sapporo Dome, where the United States team, managed by three-time MLB All-Star Tom "Flash" Gordon, captured the inaugural title, Perfect Game confirmed that the event will rotate annually between the United States and Japan over the next four years.

The 2026 and 2028 editions of the Pacific Baseball Championship will take place on the U.S. West Coast, while the 2027 and 2029 tournaments will return to Japan. The specific host city for 2026 is expected to be on the West Coast and will be announced in the coming months. In addition, the event will move from August to December beginning with the 2026 competition, aligning with international schedules and providing an exciting year-end showcase for the world's top young players.

The selection process for the 2026 PG USA team will begin at next month's 14U National All-State Select Championships, taking place in Tomball, Texas, November 1-3. Approximately half of the PG USA team will be selected from the 14U All Tournament players from the event. The final roster for PG USA is expected to be announced in late Summer 2026.

The inaugural 2025 PBC brought together 15U national and regional all-star teams from eight Pacific countries, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and the United States. The event celebrated international friendship and high-level competition, furthering Perfect Game's mission to grow the game globally and provide unparalleled development and exposure opportunities for amateur athletes. Additionally, the semi-finals and final game were broadcast on PerfectGame.TV.

"The Pacific Baseball Championship represents the best of what Perfect Game stands for, which is elite competition, cultural exchange and lifelong connections through baseball," said Perfect Game CEO Rob Ponger. "We're honored to collaborate with our international partners to create an event that showcases the game's rising stars from across the Pacific."

"Managing the PG USA team at the inaugural Pacific Baseball Championship was one of the most rewarding experiences of my baseball life," said Gordon. "You could feel how much the players and fans from every country loved being part of something bigger than themselves. This event is going to inspire kids all over the world to dream bigger through baseball."

More details about the 2026 Pacific Baseball Championship — including venues, participating nations and event partners — will be announced at a later date.

Media contact:
Greg Casterioto / Gcasterioto@perfectgame.org / (267) 246-5709

About Perfect Game

Perfect Game is the world's largest elite youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, producing nearly 10,000 events, hundreds of thousands of games and showcases each year across the country. Perfect Game is dedicated to giving amateur players exposure to take their game to the next level, whether that be in college or in the professional ranks. At Perfect Game events, players perform with top-level competition in front of college recruiters and professional scouts from all over the country. Because of this, these events prove to be invaluable to college coaches as well as Major League Baseball, as they can scout a large population of talented ballplayers in one location. To date, more than 2,383 players that have played in a Perfect Game event have also played in Major League Baseball. Since 2003, 15,797 Perfect Game alumni have been selected in the MLB First-Year Amateur Player Draft. In the 2025 Draft, for example, 92 percent of all players selected had played in Perfect Game events, and every player selected on the Draft's first day had previously attended Perfect Game events.

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SOURCE Perfect Game USA