While reviews of the national tournaments held by the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series powered by Program 15 over the first four years have been overwhelmingly positive, the staff is constantly looking for ways to improve their events.
With that in mind, this year’s grad class tourneys, which are once again set to be held in Lake Charles, Louisiana for a second consecutive year, will be offering a bunch of exciting, unique additions in both on-field activity and post-event honors for each week.
Each of the grad class events held from June 29-July 20 this year will now feature opening ceremonies for the programs participating in that week’s games, as well as a Home Run Derby that will allow for additional opportunities for players to be seen by staff and major-league scouts in attendance.
In addition, a multitude of awards will be given out at the conclusion of events, including fastest man, best base stealer, best defensive player of the event, top prospect, best hitter of the event, MVP and best pitcher. In addition, an All-Tournament first and second team will be named.
“I love the baseball being played, that’s the meat for me,” said NBBFSS/P15 CEO Jeremy Booth.
“But, we’ve got such good talent across the events that, to me, this is necessary for those programs and players to experience, to add to the event and the community feeling of Lake Charles, New Balance Baseball, and the Future Stars Series. I’m truly looking forward to the fun.”
While the goal remains – and always will be – developing the stars of tomorrow, this is all designed to create a more valuable experience for the partner programs and players, who will be able to add these various honors to their amateur résumés all while gaining invaluable knowledge and instruction while on site.
The NBBFSS/P15 National Tournaments have helped produce numerous MLB draft picks, including Mick Abel, Zac Veen, Drew Romo, Glenallen Hill, Jr., Dasan Brown, Markevian “Tink” Hence, David Calabrese, Marco Raya, Koen Moreno, Silas Ardoin and many, many others, not to mention future early picks like Dylan Crews, Brock Jones and Braylon Bishop.
41 players who have played in games for the Future Stars Series – including first-rounders like Veen, Abel, Romo, Justin Lange, Daniel Espino, Noah “Bo” Naylor and Grayson Rodriguez — have gone on to be drafted by Major League Baseball over the last three years, with a combined projection in signing bonuses of over $38M.
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