Phoenix - CBA Marucci has been a well-known name in the National Team Championships Arizona for the past seven years. Two championships highlight a program built on the foundation of culture and resilience during the grueling week-long tournament.
The program only takes one “Marucci” team to the 17U age group for the Arizona Team Championships, but it’s one that has enjoyed success in bunches at the event. However, the past three seasons CBA Marucci has finished as the runners-up in the 17U division, coming closer and closer each year.
In 2021, they narrowly fell to the eventual champions Team Utah, 5-3, after late-inning heroics boosted Utah to the gold medal. The two years before that they were beaten by “better teams”, as head coach Jon Paino put it.
“I think this year it’s going to be about taking advantage of opportunities within the game, taking the extra base, and making the routine plays,” Paino said. “This team is close, and they’ve played together for some time so that’ll help us down the stretch of this tournament.”
The team boasts 17 college-committed athletes playing for the likes of Tennessee, LSU, and UCLA. However, one thing Paino said he’ll never do is over roster his team for the tournament no matter how much prospective talent is out there in California.
CBA Marucci has been the home of many current MLB players, including Nick Madrigal who competed in the National Team Championships Arizona in 2015. It’s a team that gets looks nationwide each year, and has brought a squad to the National Team Championships Arizona every year since the tournament’s formation in 2012
Along with the National Team Championships being one of the biggest and closest tournaments for CBA Marucci, Paino believes there’s more to take away from the tournament. It’s one of the reasons he continues to make the five-hour trip to Phoenix with a team ready to compete for hardware.
“Every kid growing up wants to be a part of USA Baseball so providing that opportunity for our kids is really something special,” Paino said. “With the increase of social media, what USA Baseball does is more visible than ever and we feel it’s our job to provide them that opportunity.”
Now with six days between the beginning of the tournament and the gold-medal game, Paino hopes to reverse history and leave the desert with his first gold medal since 2016. He knows what it takes, his players know what it’s going to take, and they’re ready to compete for the name on the front of the jersey.
“We’re excited more than anything to get out there and compete again after coming up a little short last year,” Paino said. This is a team that I know can get it done and now it’s time for us to prove it on the field.”
