MTAG Brings Pro Ballplayers to Hilo

The California nonprofit More Than a Game (MTAG) has returned to Hawai‘i Island during the week of Jan. 7 through 12, 2019, with more professional athletes to conduct free baseball clinics and make improvements to the Boys & Girls fields which it restored in November 2017.

Among the volunteers are Boston Red Sox players Bobby Dalbec (3B), Ryan Fitzgerald (UI) and Jordan Weems (P), along with Sawyer Gieseke, Kyle Lewis and MTAG founder Marshall Murray.

California nonprofit More Than a Game (MTAG) has returned to Hawai‘i Island. Courtesy photo.

“Boys & Girls Club coach Koa Marzo asked us to come back to Hilo to run clinics and help out with more improvements, such as fixing the bleachers and dugouts,” said Murray. “Hawai‘i’s aloha spirit and sense of ohana are values very close to what More Than A Game is all about.”

Last year in October, 2018, MTAG invited Marzo to Puerto Rico to help restore the Alberto Ortiz Aponte Complejo Pequenas Ligas in Coamo, a baseball complex with three fields, concessions and grandstands that had been destroyed by Hurricane Maria. It was a life-changing experience for Marzo, who was born and raised in Hilo.

MTAG in Hawai‘i. Courtesy photo.

MTAG was founded in 2010 with the simple idea of helping others in its community through the game of baseball. Today, the nonprofit’s mission is to enlist athletes to unite, educate, and empower communities. MTAG has restored baseball fields and conducted free youth baseball clinics in Concord, Guadalupe, Rodeo, and has an ongoing weekly after school program in Richmond, CA. The nonprofit also has a presence in the state of Georgia, The Dominican Republic, Panama, and Colombia. Its main areas of service are Outreach, Programs, Mentoring and Exchange. Find more information about MTAG online.