PERFECT GAME LAUNCHES "BELIEVE IN BASEBALL" FOUNDATION TO EMPOWER UNDERPRIVILEGED YOUTH THROUGH TRAVEL BASEBALL

SANFORD, Fla., July 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Perfect Game, the world's largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the launch of the Perfect Game Believe in Baseball Foundation, a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing underprivileged children with the resources and support they need to participate in local travel baseball programs.

Overseen by Perfect Game Commissioner Dennis Gilbert, a renowned figure in philanthropic efforts throughout the baseball community, the foundation aims to eliminate financial barriers and ensure that young athletes of all backgrounds can access the benefits and opportunities of travel baseball.

"Baseball has the power to change lives," said Commissioner Gilbert. "The Believe in Baseball Foundation is our commitment to making the game accessible for every child who loves it. We're not just building better players we're also building stronger communities."

To celebrate the launch, the Perfect Game Believe in Baseball Foundation will host a kickoff event on January 31, 2026 at the iconic Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, California, hosted by actor and PG Believe in Baseball Board Member Ian Ziering. The evening will feature celebrity guests, athletes and prominent voices in youth sports all rallying behind this important cause.

As a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, the Believe in Baseball Foundation will offer tax-deductible opportunities for individuals and organizations to support its mission. Through financial aid, equipment grants and partnerships with local travel teams, the foundation will help ensure that deserving young players have every opportunity to thrive.

A former player, agent and longtime baseball executive, Gilbert has spent decades championing causes that give back to the sport. He was a founding member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation in January 2003. The foundation, which held annual fundraising dinners featuring some of the most legendary figures in MLB history, offered support to scouts who had provided longtime service to the game but had fallen on financial hard times due to illness, retirement or the non-renewal of their contracts. Gilbert's leadership of the Believe in Baseball Foundation continues his mission to make baseball inclusive and accessible to all youth.

In addition to Gilbert and Ziering, the Perfect Game Believe in Baseball Foundation Board of Directors is comprised of: Tony Conligliaro II (Higginbotham Financial); Bruce Flohr (Red Light Management); Josh Flyer (J.P. Morgan); Cindi Gilbert (Philanthropist); Jered Goodwin (Perfect Game); Adam Green (Green & Schafle); Kris Keach (Financial Advisor); JJ Lally (Chicago White Sox); Peter Levin (Griffin Gaming); Brett Longenecker (Higginbotham Financial); Wayne Lonstein (Lonstein Law Office); Darrell Miller (Major League Baseball); Glenn Milus (Fear of God); and Irv Zakheim (Zak Designs, Inc).

For more information, media inquiries, or to get involved with the Believe in Baseball Foundation, please contact the foundation's Managing Director, Cindy Picerni, at (480) 979-7324.

Media contact:
Greg Casterioto / Gcasterioto@perfectgame.org / (267) 246-5709

About Perfect Game

Perfect Game is the world's largest elite youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, producing over 9,800+ events, hundreds of thousands of games, and showcases each year across the country. Perfect Game is dedicated to giving amateur players exposure to take their game to the next level, whether that be in college or in the professional ranks. At Perfect Game events, players perform with top-level competition in front of college recruiters and professional scouts from all over the country. Because of this, these events prove to be invaluable to college coaches as well as Major League Baseball, as they can scout a large population of talented ballplayers in one location. To date, more than 2,240 players that have played in a Perfect Game event have also played in Major League Baseball. Since 2003, 15,134 Perfect Game alumni have been selected in the MLB First-Year Amateur Player Draft. In the 2023 Draft, for example, 95 percent of all players selected had played in Perfect Game events, and every player selected on the Draft's first day had previously attended Perfect Game events.

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SOURCE Perfect Game USA