Chase Haglund of Frewsburg leaves for the Baseball Youth All-American Games in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this week. Submitted photo

Chase Haglund won’t be playing modified baseball at Frewsburg Central School until next spring, but the 12-year-old soon-to-be seventh-grader has already built a significant resume on the diamond.

He’ll be padding it even more in the next several weeks.

First on Chase’s travel itinerary is a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he’ll participate in the Baseball Youth All-American Games, which will run from Thursday through Sunday this week. One of 66 players in his age group, the son of Eric and Krystle earned a berth on one of the six competing teams earlier this year.

“I hope he completely enjoys the experience,” Eric said Sunday night. “Going down south and seeing the different caliber of baseball and baseball players (will be beneficial), because they get to play more year-round than we actually do. He’ll get to compare himself to other competitors out there and see what he needs to work on.”

Chase will arrive with some pretty high marks after recently being chosen to play in New York’s Top 100 Sports Elite Games in Oswego, also this month, after two successful showcase performances in Syracuse and Rochester.

“You can go to 12 showcases a year, and as long as you do well and stay up on the leaderboard, you have an opportunity to be invited,” Eric said. “The day it starts is the day we’re coming home (from Myrtle Beach), so (Chase) won’t be able to participate in it.”

The excitement to head south comes just weeks after participating in an Under Armor Baseball Factory Showcase at UPMC Park, the home of the Erie Seawolves.

“He did extremely well in that,” Eric said.

Chase did so well, in fact, that he was invited to the Under Armor Showcase in Florida in December.

But first thing’s first.

Myrtle Beach awaits.

“The nerves haven’t completely kicked in yet, but he’s super excited,” Eric said. “We’ve got the rosters, we’ve got the schedule. He’s got three games and then it goes to bracket play and individual assessments they have. He’s excited.”

In addition to finding success on the field — Chase has been working with hitting coaches Joel Dombkowski and Mark Burchanowski out of Erie and Pittsburgh — he is becoming educated on the success of the Frewsburg baseball program that spans decades.

“Every once in a while we break out the old newspaper clippings, and he’s like, ‘Wow, that’s you?'” said Eric, who played for Frewsburg coach Bob Schmitt from 1996-99. “I’m the old, gray-haired guy now. It’s like shocking to him that I could actually play back in the day.”

The Bears’ baseball tradition runs deep indeed.

“There are so many things I learned from (Schmitt), Bud Foust and (former assistant coach) Tim McMullen back in the day. … Those ‘Frewsburg secrets’ are what I try to instill in our community. They worked hard with me and my teammates (in high school), and it’s my way of giving back all their knowledge to our community to someday be back in that state championship run again.”