MURRIETA — The Baseball Resource Group, which is a California non-profit corporation founded by former MLB scouts and coaches, is providing another local opportunity for student baseball athletes to display their talent.
An inaugural tournament, dubbed the Hawaiian Baseball Classic, is happening July 5-9 in the Murrieta/Temecula area, which will give local teams an opportunity to play against teams from Hawaii’s Big Island Wood Bat Academy. Owned by Kaha Wong, father of Seattle Mariners Kolton Wong, who is a Major League Baseball infielder, The Big Island Wood Bat Academy will be bringing teams in the 14U, 16U and 18U divisions.
Local teams and players will have a chance to compete with some of Hawaii’s best players and be seen by MLB scouts and college recruiters. So far, according to Mishael Israel, one of BRG’s founding members, MLB teams that will be providing scouts for the event include the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and the Detroit Tigers. Colleges in attendance will be Hope International, Cal State Dominguez Hills, CSU San Bernardino, Chaffey College, MSJC, Cal State Northridge, USC, and CBU.
The tournament kicked off with a college showcase on Wednesday, July 5, at 2 p.m. at Murrieta Mesa High School. Tournament play started on Thursday, July 6 and will continue through July 8 at the Murrieta Mesa and Murrieta Valley High School baseball fields. The Championship game is set to be played Sunday, July 9, at Temescal Canyon High School.
“On Saturday, July 8, there will be a Luau with dinner and an authentic performance from Hawaiian dancers,” says Israel. “There will also be paintball activities.”
The Luau and paintball competitions will be held at Jungle Island in Lake Elsinore. BRG’s goal is to provide optimum competition, training, and development to expose players to some of the industry’s best talent, college recruiters, and pro scouts.
For more information, please contact Coach Izzy at misrael@baseballresourcegroup.com, or go to www.baseballresourcegroup.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
