Experience and exposure will hold far more value than final scores for local ballplayers on a late-summer trip in Southern California.

Sure, wins are always nice, but the Hawaii Baseball Group is looking for more enduring rewards for a team comprised predominantly of rising high school sophomores and juniors. The team departed on Friday with the objective of giving the players an opportunity to see mainland competition and be seen by coaches and scouts over a packed two-week stay.

"I told the kids for us the wins and losses is not what it is about," said team manager Keith Komeiji. "It’s the experience to showcase what you can do.

"It’s just opportunity. A lot of times these kids don’t get that opportunity, and that’s what we wanted to try to do."

The HBG trip is a new venture for former University of Hawaii assistant coaches Komeiji and Chad Konishi, who put together a 24-player roster with nine schools represented.

Contacts gathered during their college coaching stints helped them set up a schedule of at least 13 games in the 15-day trip. The team opened the slate on Sunday at USC and will visit Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and San Diego before closing the trip in the Phil Singer Summer Series, a San Diego tournament annually attracting travel teams.

The group has also planned campus tours to give the players a glimpse of what to expect beyond high school.

"A lot of it was for the parents and the kids to understand how important academics is," Komeiji said. "It’s not only the baseball side but getting them acclimated with academics and just looking at different schools."

Although most of the players fall into the 16-and-under age range, the team will play in the 18-and-under division in the San Diego tournament.

Once on the other side of the recruiting process, Komeiji said HBG structured the team’s age range, "so they could be seen earlier in their high school career rather than waiting until after their junior year."

The HBG roster includes three players from Division I state champion Saint Louis, as well as first-team All-State second baseman Matthew Campos of ‘Iolani. Maryknoll pitcher Joshua Muneno, who threw a one-hitter in the Division II state championship game, is one of the few seniors on the team. ‘Iolani pitcher Ezra Heleski, part of Waipio Little League’s United States champion team in 2010, also made the trip, along with players from Kalani, Kamehameha, Leilehua, Mililani, Moanalua and Punahou.

Komeiji will be assisted by Konishi, Garrett Yukumoto and Daryl Kitagawa.