Congrats to Our Finalists for the HiCast Sports 2018 MVP Awards in Youth Baseball Presented by Rawlings

On December 1, 2018 at 12:00am ET, the polls closed for the online voting phase of the HiCast Sports 2018 MVP Awards for Youth Baseball Presented by Rawlings. The Top 25 Semi-Finalists (selected from more than 4,000 eligible highlights shared in the HiCast Sports Network from venues across America) representing the Most Valuable Plays for Offensive and Defense that received the highest number of votes secured their spots as Top 10 Finalists and now move on to the judging phase of our contest.

The contest is now in the hands of our judge, Legendary Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith. Former MLB player for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals from 1978 to 1996, Ozzie Smith set major league records for career assists and double plays by a shortstop, as well as the National League record with 2,511 career games at the position. He won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons (1980–92) and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002. He will select our Top 3 Most Valuable Offensive Plays and Top 3 Defensive Plays and we’ll announce the winners on Monday, December 10.

Tap to view each award-winning highlight covered by the HiCast Sports Network. Thanks to Youth1 Media for their commitment to ongoing coverage of the contest within the youth sports community.

Top 10 Best Offensive Plays

1. Jared Scharlat inside-the-park grand slam at Baseball Heaven shared by HiCast user caryscharlat

2. Kyle Urban Grand Slam. Bethpage Eagles 17U at Sports at the Beach shared by HiCast user kylurban

3. Doron Griffin's First Home Run. DE Diamond Kings 11U at Sports at the Beach shared by HiCast user doritrg

4. Ulisses' Base Running Skills Sends the Runner Home to Score. Jersey Boyz Baseball Club at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast User Jax61904

5. Connor's Grand Slam at Sports at the Beach shared by HiCast user lorjas

6. Erick Diaz's 2-Run Home Run. Jersey Storm 12U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user heriberto

7. Jacoby Harnen First Out-of-the-Park Home Run. MVP Bluejackets 11U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user ajharnen

8. Kingsten Davis' Grand Slam. Houston 24K at Traction Sportspex shared by HiCast user Kingsten8

9. Kevin Henrich's 2-Run Home Run. Bellringers National 13U in the NYBC at Baseball Heaven shared by HiCast user Henrich_kevin

10. Zach Turko Inside-the-Park Grand Slam. Diamond Studs 15U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user eturko

Top 10 Best Defensive Plays

1. Michael Scotto's Diving Catch in Left Field. South Shore Sharks 10U at Sports at the Beach shared by HiCast user rscotto

2. Vincent Fattore's Diving Catch in Center Field. Diamond Jacks 14U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user lisapooh9

3. Mitchel Kahlenburn's Diving Catch in Right Field. SBA - Mendez 14U at Shipyard Park shared by HiCast user tctiger33

4. Shortstop Lukas Loring's Diving Stop & Throw for the Out. Bagel Bombers 12U at Sports at the Beach shared by HiCast user Mloring

5. Jeremy Payne's Diving Catch at Shortstop. Stamo Storm Major Baseball 13U at Baseball USA shared by HiCast user divalishish24

6. Jonah James Rocha makes the game-winning catch that took the 8U Texas Mizuno into the semi-final game at Baseball USA shared by HiCast user rubtar

7. DP by Forrest Mitterbauer 1st, Pitcher Vince Cannizzaro, Catcher Joshua Nachmann. SKD Aces 10U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user mauracarland

8. Brayden Cole's Diving Catch in Center Field. Scorpions 10U at Baseball USA shared by HiCast user Pcole1128

9. Catcher Jacob Fontenot and Pitcher Conley Goodlife Play at the Plate. Leopard Dawgs 9U at Traction Sportsplex shared by HiCast user leoparddawg2018

10. Nate Spingler's Diving Catch at Shortstop. All Out Pack 9U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user dollardave96

We’ll announced the winners right here on Monday, December 10, 2018.

Awesome Prizes by

Top 3 Best Defensive Play Winners

Rawlings Custom Glove ($459.95 value) – Winners choose your leather, fit, size and pattern, and customize everything from stitching, laces, color, liner, break-in and more. Create your custom glove just like the pros!

Top 3 Best Offensive Play Winners

Rawlings 2019 Quatro Bat ($349.99 value) – Winners choose your certification, size and drop. More pop. More distance. There are no trade-offs with the NEW Quatro Pro. Hitters can be confident at the plate with the longest barrel in our lineup, an even larger sweet spot for more pop and now, incredible balance for faster swing speeds. Add the newly redesigned, stiffer handle-collar to reduce vibration and eliminate barrel drag and you have everything you need to Light 'Em Up! Check out the details.

Top 10 Finalists for Best Offensive Play & Top 10 for Best Defensive Play

Rawlings New Mach Batting Helmet ($64.99 value) – Winners pick Junior or Senior size and two-tone or tone-on-tone design in your choice of color with or without an EXT flap. Today's pitchers throw harder, and shots off the bat are faster than ever. As the industry leader in protective our engineers could not sleep until our gear matched the speed of the game. Engineered to perform. Check ‘em out!

Top 25 Semi-Finalists for Best Offensive Play & Top 25 for Best Defensive Play

Rawlings Sackpack ($29.99 value) – This player's drawstring-closure sackpack is the perfect bag to carry your must-haves to and from the ball field. It features an interior valuables pocket and an exterior zip pocket. Fits two water bottles and sunflower seeds, of course.