If it's pine it could be soft and benefit from some thin CA as you turn.
I have dyed some plain wood blanks before to "spruce" them up.
Maybe Astro colors? I like to put some burn lines in, too, which can contain the dye from running....understandable if you didn't want to do that to a blank with baseball history attached to it.
I've made a couple of the Baseball kits sold by PSI and don't really like the platings or feel of the pen. I preferred a slim pen with a simple baseball bat clip I got from Beartooth Woods or Exotic Blanks (can't recall which, at the moment).
Not a great pic, but I'll attach a maple pen I burned lines into, dyed blue and orange segments in (for a Broncos fan) and filled in the burn lines with copper dyed epoxy before the final turn. Gives you an idea of what I meant above. Good luck!