Pennsylvania made its first appearance at the Prep Baseball Report Midwest Future Games on August 4-5 at the University of Illinois. The second-annual event, which featured the best Class of 2014 prospects from six states, drew schools from all over the country.

Pennsylvania opened up play on Saturday with a 5-5 tie against Michigan. Michigan went on to defeat Ohio and Indiana in its other two games. Sunday action began with Team Pennsylvania again finishing in a tie, this time with Missouri, which had scored 12 runs and hit five home runs on day one. The 3-3 final was a result of some outstanding pitching by both teams.

Pennsylvania's only loss came at the hands of Illinois, the only team to go undefeated on the weekend, 9-3. The score is deceiving in that the game was 5-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, but Illinois batted anyways in the showcase style event, allowing hitters to get some additional at bats. Illinois tacked on four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score a little more one sided.

Pennsylvania assembled a talented group of pitchers to make its first appearance in this event. Brendan McKay, a 6-foot-1 LHP from Blackhawk led the pitching staff going four innings, with eight strikeouts and only one hit on the weekend. McKay had the college scouts buzzing with his ability to locate his 86mph fastball, his 12/6 breaking ball and and his deceptive movement.

Dominic Cuoci, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound RHP from LaSalle College showed command of all of his pitches while topping out at 85mph in his three innings of work on the weekend.

Matt Gordon, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound RHP from Grove City topped out at 84mph with an effective change and curve ball that kept batters off balance. Gordon went two strong innings in a starting roll against the powerful Missouri offense, holding them scoreless while striking out two.

Eric Ligda, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound RHP from Avon Grove topped out at 84mph with a knuckle curve and split finger pitch that were both effective. Ligda struck out three batters in his four innings of work on the weekend.

Jamie Switalski, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound RHP from Pine Richland used an 84mph fastball and a sharp 11/5 breaking ball to work four effective innings. Switalski finished the weekend with four strikeouts.

Brandon Birkhead, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound RHP from Pennsbury topped out at 82mph, but suffered from the 98 degree heat. Birkhead became dehydrated, but still threw four solid innings on the weekend. 

In total, the Pennsylvania pitching staff gave up 17 runs over the three game weekend, 12 of which were earned.