Josh Blum continues to make history on behalf of The Emery/Weiner School.

Two years ago, Blum became the first EWS Jaguar alum to be drafted by a Major League Baseball Team when the New York Mets selected him out of USC in the 16th round of the MLB Draft.

Earlier this month, the right-handed relief pitcher became the school’s first player to be named to Team Israel’s World Baseball Classic roster.

“I am super pumped up about it,” the EWS Class of 2021 graduate told the JHV. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Playing on this type of level is one of the biggest thrills.”

Team Israel is part of Pool D, which also includes Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The Games will be played March 6 to 11 at Loan Depot Park, home of the Miami Marlins.

“There’s a good mix of players on our team, from current and former major leaguers to people who still have something to prove,” Blum said. “Everybody on the team has definitely earned their spot.”

Blum, 22, went 5-0 with five saves for the Class A St. Lucie Mets before being promoted to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones last season.

He’ll receive his 2026 assignment upon the conclusion of Mets Spring Training in St. Lucie.

Raised a Houston Astros fan, Blum was just 5 years old when Brad Ausmus last played a game with Houston.

Ausmus – now the New York Yankees bench coach – will be manager for Team Israel.

Blum will head to Florida with a couple of familiar faces, fellow Mets system pitchers Ben Simon and Jordan Geber.

Blum grew up attending Congregation Beth Yeshurun, where he became a Bar Mitzvah in 2016. He could have played for perennial baseball power Bellaire High School, but he chose Emery/Weiner where his older siblings had gone to school.

“It was a pretty easy decision,” Blum said. “My siblings had great experiences at EWS. I knew a lot of people there. Judaism is very important to me, and it’s something I’m really proud of. It’s connected me with my parents, siblings, grandparents and people in my community. It’s always been a big part of my life.”

Blum, who went 5-1 in three seasons at USC, still makes his offseason home in Bellaire.

Although Blum has the deepest ties to the Houston area, he’s one of five Team Israel WBC players connected to Greater Houston in one way or another.

Former Texas A&M standout left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager, 23, was drafted in the ninth round last summer by the Cleveland Guardians. He’ll make his Team Israel debut this year. Prager earned All-Southeastern Conference honors in leading the Aggies to the 2024 College World Series Championship Series. He played some games at Daikin Park during his time with the Aggies and finished 12th on A&M’s all-time strikeout list with 250.

“Playing baseball has given me so many cool experiences, and this is one of them,” Prager told the JHV. “There’s the family element to it, because I am representing my family, our background and something I grew up on. To actually do it is unbelievable. Everything I’ve heard about the WBC has been good.”

Prager is a Dallas native, but his father, Howard, was drafted by the Astros in 1989. The elder Prager eventually reached Triple-A with the St. Louis Cardinals organization before retiring from baseball in 1995.

California siblings Garrett and CJ Stubbs, who preceded Blum in playing baseball for USC, both played with the Astros organization and will return to Team Israel after being part of the 2023 team.

Garrett, 33, is now a backup catcher with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was part of two American League Championship seasons with the Astros between 2019 and 2021 and even appeared against the Atlanta Braves in the 2021 World Series. He played in 51 games, starting 14 of them, with 14 hits and 11 runs scored during that span. The following year, he was traded to the Phillies, where he hit his first MLB home run – and then, four more that season – as Philadelphia won the National League title.

CJ, 29, and also a catcher, is now in the defending AL Champion Toronto Blue Jays organization. He primarily played with the Astros’ Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, but appeared in five games with the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys. Last September, CJ made his MLB debut in a single appearance with the Washington Nationals.

Former Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Zack Weiss, 33, pitched for the then independent Sugar Land Skeeters in August 2020. Weiss previously played for Team Israel in the 2023 WBC and the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021.

Matt Bowman, a 34-year-old relief pitcher who has played for seven MLB teams between 2016-2025, signed a minor league contract with the Astros last summer and was assigned to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys where he went 2-2 with 11 strikeouts. Bowman is currently in spring training with the Minnesota Twins organization.

Infielder Benjamin Rosengard, 26, will make his Team Israel debut in March. The Chicago native played 31 games for Rice University across the 2022 and 2023 seasons before transferring to UC San Diego. Rosengard had 10 hits, six runs and two home runs for the Owls. He’s played professionally the past two seasons with the independent Idaho Falls Chukars.