Extra Innings Travel, Everett, WA (2025)

08/18/2025

⚾️💙 Give it up for the Team Odyssey boys 🇺🇸🇯🇵

📸 Graphic by .5 ✨

08/14/2025

Another successful Play Abroad trip is in the books!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to all our hosts. We’ll cherish these memories for a lifetime.

🇺🇸🇯🇵⚾️

皆んなありがとう 🫶

08/10/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Day 8

For our final day together on this trip, we took an early bullet train ride from Kyoto to Shinagawa. Then, we spent the afternoon navigating some of the best places Yokohama has to offer including Yamash*ta Park, the Red Brick Warehouse, Cup Noodle Museum, and Cosmo World 🧱🍜🎡

In the evening, we met back at Yamash*ta Park then walked through Chinatown to get to Yokohama Stadium. Of the official 33,665 who attended the game, our large crew accounted for 40 of them! It was a great back-and-forth affair between the DeNA BayStars and Yomiuri Giants but the road team went ahead in the 8th inning and held on to win ⚾️⭐️🐰

And that does for this edition of Play Abroad! What an unforgettable week of baseball, friendships, food, sightseeing, and memories for a lifetime. Thank you to all our amazing hosts and thank you to all of you for being a part of this journey! Come again next year! 🙏

P.S. Thanks to for coming to the game 🙌 Give him a follow!

08/08/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Days 6-7

After finishing up playing ball, we left Nara and spent the last two days exploring Osaka and Kyoto. Both cities are very unique and represent some of the greatest aspects of Japan in different ways 🎌

Our first stop on Thursday was the Namba Parks Shopping Complex, the former site of historic Osaka Stadium. The pitching rubber and home plate are commemorated in the middle of the mall in honor of the place that hosted the Nankai Hawks from 1950 to 1988. It was still used for amateur baseball and eventually became the unconventional site of model homes in the 90s after the team moved south to Fukuoka ⚾️

We also hit the small Nankai Hawks Memorial Gallery on the top floor before making our way to the Sumo Hall Hirakuza for a fun and interactive workshop on Japan’s oldest and national sport. The retired wrestlers taught everyone the history and techniques of sumo and even selected a few lucky attendees to compete with them on the dohyo. Great job by Simon and Trenton from our crew!

They also provided us some delicious Chankonabe, which is often eaten in large amounts by sumo wrestlers, for lunch. Later, we took a stroll around Dotonbori and ate at Jumbo-Tsuribune Tsurikichi, where some of the boys were able to catch their own fish, which was then expertly prepared as fresh sashimi! 🐟

On Friday, everyone spent the day exploring Kyoto on their own, visiting various iconic sites like Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari, and Nijo Castle to immerse themselves in the rich culture and historical charm of Japan’s former capital! Afterwards, we got back together for an all-you-can-eat yakiniku (BBQ) feast 🏯

Tomorrow, we head back north to Yokohama for the final day of this incredible trip.

08/07/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Day 5

Our day with was amazing! Amazing baseball, amazing gear, amazing people, amazing food, and amazing memories. Fun fact: Their president was Shintaro Fujinami’s elder at Osaka Toin High School, historically one of the strongest and winningest baseball programs in Japan.

We kicked things off with a tightly contested game at Neyagawa Park in Osaka, where Team Odyssey edged out a 5-4 victory. That means we officially finished this trip with a 2-2 record. Not bad! Then, we shuffled the rosters and teamed up with our new Japanese friends for a fun mixed game that ended in a 6-6 tie ⚾️

After the doubleheader, we enjoyed a joint bento lunch with Amazing at the field and they even set up some nagashi somen (flowing noodles), which is a fun Japanese summer experience involving thin somen noodles being sent down a flowing stream of water for diners to catch with their chopsticks 🥢

Later in the evening, we got back together for a huge dinner at Bistro Standing Sushi Calimocho. They not only prepared a LOT of food for us but also brought in a funny magician (), firecrackers, and watermelon smashing! Thank you Amazing, you’re amazing! Let’s do it again next time 👊

08/06/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Day 4

Today was another action-packed day starting with a buffet lunch at Mahoroba Kitchen followed by a visit to the great Sports City Araki (.arakisp). Everyone had a chance to pick up everything from themed shirts to bats to gloves and much more.

The boys had a blast taking some hacks at the batting cages, which have tons of settings for different pitch types and velocity. They even had a softball machine, so Chihiro showed us her pro hitting skills 🥎

Afterwards, it was game time with our hosts, Sakurainishi Black Bears (), at Sato Yakuhin Stadium, the best stadium in Nara and one of the great highlights of our entire tour. Chihiro threw out the first pitch! It’s not everyday that you get to play in a professional stadium, and both teams were locked in from the first inning. We kept it close for most of the game but the Black Bears came away with the win. They were very fundamentally sound and made a lot of great defensive plays against us ⚾️

We then got back together on the field next door and had a picnic-style group dinner. Huge thanks to the Black Bears moms for preparing so much food for everyone! We also got a taste of an undoukai (Japanese sports day) after eating as everyone participated in competitive games including (adult) tug of war and tama-ire (nest ball toss) 🧺

This was an experience to remember forever and lots of new friends were made along the way. Of course, we exchanged gifts as always and are incredibly grateful to the Black Bears for their hospitality and friendliness. Arigatou!! 🙏

08/04/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Day 3

Another unforgettable day with !

We started our morning with an extensive walking tour of Nara. We hit many amazing spots including the famous Todai-ji, a temple with a 50-foot tall Buddah statue, Nara Park, featuring hundreds of friendly freely roaming deer, and Kofukuji, one of Japan’s most famous Buddhist temples that once belonged to the Fujiwara clan.

In the afternoon, we linked up with again and played a short yet competitive and fun game. This time, our hosts beat us 3-2, so we split the series! Afterwards, they gifted us sweets, potato chips that come with baseball trading cards, and Japanese rubber balls. Thank you!! ⚾️

Then came the highlight of the day…a joint buffet dinner with the Koriyama team! We enjoyed a great selection of food while our hosts performed songs, invited us to dance with them, shared stories, played games, and of course, threw a surprise party for Jackson’s 13th birthday! They brought out a beautiful cake and we all sang happy birthday together 🎂🎉🥳

Before leaving, we exchanged some Extra Innings merch with them for Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers jerseys. Though the two NPB teams are rivals, the majority of Nara’s inhabitants are Giants or Tigers fans because they’ve historically visited the city to play games. The boys also swapped self-introduction cards to become pen pals in the future ✍️

Thank you again for everything, Koriyama Fresh!

08/03/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Days 1-2

We’re right back at it with another Play Abroad trip! This time, we have a team of 10-12 year olds mainly from Washington, North Carolina, and a few other states. Let’s go Odyssey!

On Saturday, we got to know one another better with an elegant welcome dinner at the top floor of our beautiful hotel in Shinagawa. We had lots of unique and tasty dishes including teriyaki octopus, smoked duck, prawn, crab chawamushi (Japanese egg custard), and much more.

The following morning, we left Tokyo and got to Kyoto on the shinkansen before taking a private bus to Nara to meet with our opponents and hosts, ! They gave us an incredibly warm reception at their school with a ‘Welcome to Nara’ sign that the students made and decorated themselves. Thank you so much!

It was a hot day but everyone had a blast warming up together and tossing the ball around the diamond before we pulled off a hard-fought 7-6 walk-off victory! The Koriyama boys seemed super excited to receive our gifts post-game, especially the Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto trading cards.

Afterwards, we had nice dinner that included Korean-style hot pot and fried chicken and oysters. The boys also got to play in the nearby arcade and successfully took home some prizes on the claw machines. We’ll be playing Koriyama Fresh again tomorrow 💪

08/02/2025

🇩🇴 Last call on bookings for the Dominican Republic Winter Ball Adventure from November 7-17, 2025! ☀️

The Dominican Republic is more than just a tropical paradise—it’s the beating heart of baseball passion. Some say that the soul of baseball resides in the D.R. Our tours offer an insider’s look at béisbol dominicano, where the emotion and passion on the field reflect how the entire country feels about the game. Embark on a tropical baseball adventure to see the game come to life in its most vibrant form.

⚾ Visit our website (link in bio) and navigate to the Dominican Republic tours page for more information!

07/31/2025

🇯🇵 Play Abroad Tour Days 7-8

We’re done playing baseball…but now it’s time to watch baseball! On Wednesday, the group got their first taste of Japanese baseball at the highest level, seeing the Orix Buffaloes host the Seibu Lions at the Kyocera Dome.

Everyone had a great time trying ballpark food, connecting with local fans, and seeing the home team come away with a 6-4 victory. Hiroya Miyagi, one of the best starting pitchers in NPB, threw six strong innings with nine strikeouts and got the win.

We spent Thursday freely exploring Osaka, making stops at the Pokemon Center and MINT Trading Card Shop before browsing Selection for cool MLB and NPB gear. We then enjoyed some karaoke, where we celebrated the birthdays of Nash, Jordan, and Kaelyn! We also visited the old Osaka Stadium Home Plate and Pitching Rubber as well as the Memorial Gallery of Nankai Hawks.

Our last destination of the trip was the Hirakuza Sumo Show, where we were treated to an excellent cultural experience and dinner. We learned the traditions behind Japan’s national sport, saw real professional sumo wrestlers in action, and much more. Hunter was even picked to wrestle a pro!

So that marks the end of our second ever Play Abroad tour! Thank you all so much for joining us! We’re so grateful for all our amazing hosts and the wonderful memories we made along the way.

Extra Innings Travel

08/18/2025

08/14/2025

08/10/2025

08/08/2025

08/07/2025

08/06/2025

08/04/2025

08/03/2025

08/02/2025

07/31/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category