Eight members of the Marucci Founders' Club begin play today at the 2017 Perfect Game WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, FL. The annual event showcases the best amateur baseball in the country competing for four days in front of over 450 professional and college scouts. Read more about each Founders' Club team vying for the World Title this week.

CBA

CBA Marucci enters Jupiter fresh off championship wins at the California Underclass World Series and Under Armour Southwest.

The team includes 17 Division I commits to programs such as Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Southern California, Baylor, Washington, Cal State Fullerton, St. Mary’s, Long Beach State, San Diego State, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, San Jose State and San Diego.

Based in Temecula, CA, CBA is led by John Paino has produced over 300 college commitments since 2013 and 29 Big League Draft Picks since 2015.

DALLAS TIGERS

The Dallas Tigers have attended the Perfect Game WWBA in Jupiter every year since its inception in 1999.

This year’s Jupiter roster includes mostly 2019 grads with commitments to the University of Texas (4), TCU (2), Texas State (1), Baylor (1) and a 2020 grad committed to the University of Oklahoma.

The Club was founded by Tommy Hernandez in 1993 and since that time has seen over 100 players drafted with 10 currently playing in the MLB, including both 2014 Cy Young winners, Clayton Kershaw and Corey Kluber.

EAST COAST SOX

After a third-place finish in the 17U WWBA National Championship, the East Coast Sox are back in Jupiter with another loaded roster.

25 of their 31 players have made their college commitments to programs including LSU, Mississippi State, Louisville, Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas A&M, ULL, Auburn and Southern Miss. Based in Columbus, MS, the Sox roster includes players from all over the Southeast.

The East Coast Sox boast back-to-back WWBA 15U National Championship teams, as well as the 2016 WWBA 16U National Champions. The organization was founded in 2013 by Joe Caruso, Greg Sykes and Eric Dubose and has had over 400 collegiate signees and 20+ professional players.

GARCIAPARRA BASEBALL GROUP

The Garciaparra Baseball Group, aka GBG Marucci hails from Manhattan Beach, CA and is led by Michael Garciaparra.

This year’s Jupiter roster consists of 26 players, including 25 college commits from programs such as UCLA, TCU, Oregon State, Arizona, North Carolina State, USC, Oregon, Michigan, Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State.

In the last four years, GBG has produced over 325 college commits and over 65 MLB Draft picks while winning multiple National Championships and earning 10 Perfect Game All-Americans.

HOME PLATE CHILI DOGS

The Home Plate Chili Dogs are from Peachtree City, GA and founded in 2002 by former pro Lloyd Thompson.

This year’s team is coached by Kevin Mobley, a five-year pro veteran with Detroit and Texas and former pitching coach at GCSU, and Toby Black. The roster includes six college commits to programs such as Georgia Tech, Auburn, Kennesaw State, and Wofford.

Home Plate was founded in 2002 by Lloyd Thompson, who has four year of professional baseball experience with Montreal and Chicago White Sox. Walker Searcy, a four-year starter at Piedmont College, and former assistant coach at Gordon State College is the current owner.

LOUISIANA KNIGHTS

The Louisiana Knights are based in Mandeville, Louisiana and were founded in 2007 by former major league pitcher, Jack Cressend.

This year’s Jupiter roster consists of 19 players including 18 college commitments to programs such as LSU, Mississippi State, Washington, Nebraska, Kansas State and Southern Miss. Players from 9 different states including one from Canada will take the field on Thursday.

The Knights will be managed by Chad Raley, Chris Pool and former major leaguer Chad Durbin, who will serve as the pitching coach. Durbin pitched 9 plus years in the major leagues and won a World Series in 2008 with Philadelphia.

Over the last twelve years, the program has helped several hundred players reach the college level and have had over 50 players drafted in the MLB Draft. The Knights are well known nationally and are widely considered one of the top select programs in the country. 

ONTARIO BLUE JAYS

The Ontario Blue Jays were founded in 1996 and are currently the top rated amateur program in Canada.

Since 1996, OBJ has placed 422 players in US colleges, had 108 MLB draft picks, 83 National Team members, 5 Big Leaguers, and in 2017 they had 7 players play in The World Baseball Classic.

In 2015, Josh Naylor became the highest drafted Canadian position player when Miami selected him with the 12^th pick in the first round.

This year’s Jupiter roster boasts seven players that are on the Canadian National Team and one committed to Texas A&M.

STARS BASEBALL

Stars Showcase Baseball, Northern Virginia’s premiere showcase baseball organization, will be sending its 18U Red team to compete in the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship, in Jupiter, FL.

To date, the Stars class of 2018 has committed nearly three dozen of its players to college programs around the country, including North Carolina, Virginia, East Carolina, Arizona, Maryland, and the U.S. Naval Academy.

The team will be coached by Stars Baseball President, Carson Carroll, and former Big League pitcher, Shawn Camp. Coach Carroll has led numerous Stars teams to top 10 finishes in elite national tournaments across the country. Last year, in Jupiter, Carroll and Camp led their team to the round of thirty two, before falling to Florida Burn Platinum.

Coach Shawn Camp joined Stars Showcase Baseball after a successful professional baseball career. Coach Camp played professionally from 1997-2014 with San Diego, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Toronto, Seattle, Chicago, Arizona and Philadelphia. Shawn spent 11 of his 18 seasons pitching in the Big Leagues, making 541 appearances and compiling 405 strikeouts.