Announcing the Winners of Our 2018 HiCast Sports MVP Awards Presented by Rawlings

December 10, 2018 – HiCast Sports Network in partnership with Rawlings Sporting Goods is proud to announce the grand prize winners of the HiCast Sports 2018 Awards for Youth Baseball chosen by our judge, Legendary Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith. His comments follow each winning highlight below.

Most Valuable Defensive Plays

1. Jeremy Payne’s Diving Catch for Sta-Mo Storm Major Baseball 13U at Shortstop at Baseball USA in Houston, TX shared by HiCast user: divalishish24 from TX – “He had to range far to his left and go airborne. Showed great athleticism.”

2. Mitchell Kahlenberg’s Diving Catch in Right Field for SBA - Mendez 14U at Shipyard Park in Charleston, SC shared by HiCast user: tctiger33 from SC – “He made a great recovery on a ball that was hard to judge off the bat.”

3. Lukas Loring’s Diving Stop and Throw at Short Stop for the Out for Bagel Bombers 12U at Sports at the Beach in Georgetown, DE shared by HiCast user: Mloring from MD – “Good instincts and good reaction.”

Most Valuable Offensive Plays

1. Erick Diaz’s 2-Run Home Run for Jersey Storm 12U at Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ shared by HiCast user: heriberto from NJ – “Very big league.”

2. Kevin Henrich’s 2-Run Home Run for Bellringers National 13U at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, NY shared by HiCast user: Henrich_kevin from PA – “He had great approach and a great swing.”

3. Zach Turko’s Inside-the-Park Grand Slam for Diamond Studs 15U at Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ shared by HiCast user: eturko from NJ – “Ran hard right off the bat which forced the defense to make a play.

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Learn more about our 2018 HiCast Sports MVP Awards Presented by Rawlings and be sure to save your highlights in our app’s HiCast Feed throughout 2019 to be automatically entered in our contests and chances to be featured this year.

Announcing the Top 10 Finalists for Best Offensive and Defensive Plays in the HiCast Sports 2018 MVP Awards 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 Best Offensive Plays and Top 3 Best Defensive Plays and we’ll announce the winners on Monday, December 10.

All prizes are provided by Rawlings Sporting Goods. Offensive MVP Winners receive custom gloves and Defensive MVP Winners receive the new 2019 Quatro bats. All Finalists receive the new Mach batting helmet.

Congratulations to our HiCast Sports 2018 MVP Award Finalists! Tap to view each award-winning highlight covered by the HiCast Sports Network.

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 Tutko Inside-the-Park Grand Slam. Diamond Studs 15U at Diamond Nation shared by HiCast user etutko

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!

Legendary Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith to Judge HiCast Sports 2018 MVP Awards Presented by Rawlings

We’re honored and thrilled to announce that one of the greatest pro ballplayers of all time, Ozzie Smith, will judge our HiCast Sports MVP Awards for Youth Baseball. 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.

On November 5th, we selected the Top 25 Semi-Finalists for Best Offensive Play and Top 25 for Best Defensive from more than 4,000 highlights shared across our HiCast Sports Network of venues. On that day, the online voting phase of our contest began as we invited the general public to cast their votes for one or more of their favorite plays to help determine the Top 10 Finalists in each category. This Friday, November 30th is our final day to cast votes, and on December 1st at 12:00am, the Top 10 Plays in each category with the most votes will go before our judge, Legendary Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith. He will award our Top 3 Winners for Best Offensive Play and Best Defensive Play on Monday, December 10.

This contest wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of our partner, Rawlings Sporting Goods. They’ve provided an incredible lineup of prizes for our winners including new 2019 Quatro Bats for the three Best Offensive Play winners, custom gloves for the three Best Defensive Play winners; new Mach batting helmets for the finalists; and sackpacks for all semi-finalists.