Perfect Game To Host Inaugural Pacific Baseball Championship Tourney
In this Sept. 21, 2019 photo, Sapporo Dome where the baseball matches will be held in Sapporo, ... More Japan. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Perfect Game had long considered holding an international tournament for baseball players 15 and under.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. That caused Perfect Game, the world's largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, to put those plans on hold.
However, the Perfect Game Pacific Baseball Championship will finally come to fruition this summer. The eight-nation tournament will be held from Aug. 8-11 in Hokkaido, Japan.
The United States will be part of a field that includes Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, South Korea and one team to be announced.
Pool play will be held at Chitose Baseball Stadium then the Sapporo Dome will be the venue for the semifinals and championship game. The Sapporo Dome is the home of the Nippon Ham Fights of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team that Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani played for before coming to the major leagues in 2018.
The tournament 'represents and exciting new chapter for youth baseball, providing young athletes from diverse countries with a platform to compete at the highest level while gaining invaluable international experience,' Perfect Game chief executive officer Rob Ponger said. 'We look forward to witnessing the talent and passion of these rising stars.'
Dustin Shindo, Perfect Game's liaison in the Pacific Rim, hopes the event will become the equivalent of the Little League World Series for players 15 and under. The LLWS involves players 12 and under and has been held since 1947 in South Williamsport, Pa.
'Obviously Little League has done a great job building up that entire event over many years,' Shindo said. 'We see that we can do something pretty similar and in doing so, the kids get a very unique experience. The same type of global experience where we get to meet players from other countries, we learn about their culture, we exchange baseball ideas, but at 15 years, which is a little older and more developed. So, I think it's going to deliver a pretty special experience.'
The games will be televised nationally in Japan. They will also be broadcast in the United States on PerfectGame TV and the PGTV app.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have professional baseball leagues that include former major-league players. However, the Pacific Baseball Tournament will also include countries where the game is just beginning to gain popularity -- Indonesia and the Philippines.
'I think that is a reflection of the increase international baseball is having right now,' Shindo said. 'Outside of the Latin American countries, baseball really wasn't as big or developed. Certainly, Japan and South Korea are starting to catch up, but I think it's also spreading to other countries.
'I was actually surprised that we had Indonesia actually coming and am pretty excited about that. I think in the future we'll be able to hopefully add some other countries that you might not even expect as the event grows.
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