BATON ROUGE, LA – Marucci Sports will host the 2^nd Annual Marucci World Series, an amateur baseball tournament featuring 48 teams in the 15U, 16U and 17U age divisions, from Wednesday to Sunday in Baton Rouge and nearby locations.

The 48 teams represent 19 Marucci Founders’ Club organizations from across the country. The Founders’ Club is an elite alliance of some of the nation’s premier amateur baseball programs selected by Marucci for their dedication to excellence on and off the field, reputation as a positive influence in their community, and commitment to growing their organization and, in turn, the Marucci mission.

Opening Ceremonies for the Marucci World Series will be held Wednesday from 6 PM – 8 PM at Catholic High. Following team introductions, Marucci CEO/Co-Founder Kurt Ainsworth, legendary LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman and Visit Baton Rouge’s Paul Arrigo will deliver opening remarks. A Home Run Derby and Fastest Man Competition will follow and will include at least one representative from each organization. Admission is free and open to the public.

Pool play begins on Thursday and continues through Saturday with the semi-finals and championship games played on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium, University High, and Catholic High. Other venues include The Shrine On Airline, home of the New Orleans Babycakes (AAA-Miami), Southeastern La. University, Dunham High, Dutchtown High, North Park, Runnels and Walker High. All games are open to the public.

College coaches from over 60 schools will be attending the tournament to scout the outstanding talent on display including Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Texas A&M, Baylor, Houston, Lamar, Texas-Rio Grande Valley, LSU, Southeastern Louisiana, Tulane, Nicholls State, Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State, Ole Miss, Miss State, Southern Miss, Alabama, Auburn, South Alabama, BYU, Memphis and Columbia University.

Last year’s inaugural event was held in Houston. Returning to defend their 16U crown will be Showcase Baseball Academy from Charlotte, NC. The 17U champions, Marucci Elite, will be represented by players from Catholic High, Barbe, U-High, Denham Springs and Zachary.

For more information on this year’s Marucci World Series including game times and field locations, please visit www.maruccisports.com/mws and follow @MarucciSports on Twitter for updates.

Marucci is excited to bring this event to Baton Rouge and would like to thank everyone in the community that has helped us with the World Series. VisitBR, the Louisiana Office of Tourism, Perkins Rowe, and Catholic High School have been extremely helpful.

2017 Marucci World Series Participating Organizations

.9ers Baseball Wall, NJ

Arizona Athletics Peoria, AZ

California Baseball Academy Temecula, CA

Cincinnati Baseball Club Cincinnati, OH

Dallas Tigers Dallas, TX

East Coast Sox Columbus, MS

Garciaparra Baseball Group Manhattan Beach, CA

Indiana Prospects Muncie, IN

Louisiana Knights Mandeville, LA

Marucci Elite Baton Rouge, LA

Marucci Elite Texas Houston, TX

Midwest Nationals Springfield, MO

Natural Baseball Academy Olathe, KS

Northwest Prospects Academy Seattle, WA

RBI Baseball Knoxville, TN

Richmond County Baseball Club Staten Island, NY

Showcase Baseball Academy Charlotte, NC

Stars Baseball Manassas, VA

Yalobusha Giants Oxford, MS