WAIPI'O — Utah Valley's Taylor Murphy couldn't have found a better place to make up for lost time.

The son of retired big league slugger Dale Murphy will be playing for the Surfers of the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League, which begins play today at Patsy Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.

"I feel good about it," Murphy said. "A lot better weather than I'm used to playing in. Seems like we'll have some good competition, so I'm excited to play."

Murphy, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-handed hitting corner infielder, graduated from high school in Utah in 2006. But he spent the next two years serving his Mormon church mission in the Ukraine. He enrolled at Utah Valley this past school year, but red-shirted, thus missed the Wolverines trip here against Hawai'i about a month ago. So the HCBL will be his first chance at live pitching in quite a while.

"I want to get a lot of repetition in so I can reach my full potential and be ready for next spring," Murphy said. "I took two years off of baseball (for the mission). That's the reason I red-shirted this season, to try to get back into it. This summer will be my first competitive baseball in about three years."

A number of players in this league have similar situations in lack of playing time. Two of them are like Murphy with fathers who played professional sports.

Kansas pitcher Brett Bochy, who is assigned to the Waves, is the son of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, while Brigham Young outfielder Dane Nielsen, who is with the Paddlers, is the son of former NFL and BYU quarterback Gifford Nielsen.

Murphy's church mission might have taken him away from the game, but he said it helped him grow emotionally and physically.

"It helped me to be more mature and stronger," Murphy said. "When I was in high school, I was tall and skinnier. Over those two years, I filled out a little bit. I think I'm in better playing shape now than I was then."

Murphy, who was born in 1987, said he "vaguely remembers" his father's big league career — mostly with the Atlanta Braves — which ended in 1993 with the Colorado Rockies. He said his parents might visit for a week next month.

NOTES

Nine players who had been assigned to HCBL were selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. One is Saint Louis School graduate Cameron Bayne (White Sox, 13th round). Three others were picked in the first 10 rounds: Washington State pitcher Matt Way (Phillies, fifth round), Cal State Northridge pitcher Bran Slover (Blue Jays, eight round) and SUNY Old Westbury pitcher Robert Whitenack (Cubs, eighth round).

There are a number of players who are Hawai'i high school graduates in the league. Among them is Kansas pitcher Wally Marciel ('Iolani), who is returning to action after Tommy John elbow surgery. He red-shirted this past season.

The league plays every week day at CORP, while Saturday and Sunday games are held at Mililani High. There are no games scheduled on Fridays.