NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Part of the Vanderbilt baseball team’s fall training will include a break away from campus this week.
Maybe the most-important break of the year for the Commodores.
“I think that’s going to be a very impactful experience for all of us, especially for me,” Vanderbilt senior infielder Harrison Ray said. “I’ve always wanted to go see the Negro League Hall of Fame and I think that’ll be very impactful for a lot of guys on this team.
“Playing in the Urban Youth Academy, that’ll be a good event for us. And it’ll be fun to get back out there on the field and be able to see what we got so far.”
Vanderbilt departs later this week for Kansas City for a memorable weekend of baseball, history education and perspective. Vandy will play Oklahoma State in an exhibition at noon Saturday at the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy, an event capping an important week.
The Commodores and Cowboys will also tour Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The weekend of activities is in conjunction with the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball.
“This is a great opportunity for us to all as a team to be able to go down there and not only able to play some baseball, but to be able to learn about the history of our game and what some players had to go through in order to play this game,” Vandy sophomore Justyn-Henry Malloy said. “It makes us reflect more on how fortunate we are to be in this environment and to be able to play here every single day.
“It kind of puts things in perspective. I’m very excited.”
Vandy is in its third week of fall training while it builds toward the David Williams Fall Classic (an exhibition against Michigan on Nov. 10) and the program’s annual Black and Gold series Nov. 12-16. Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin’s team is coming off a 59-win season, SEC regular-season and tournament titles and the program’s second national championship in six seasons.
The 18th season for Corbin in Nashville won’t officially begin until February, but building the foundation for the encore to an historic 2019 is well underway. And this week’s trip to Missouri is a major part of that process.
“I want their eyes open to African-American baseball players that didn’t have doors opened to them that they now have and how that individual navigated their way through athletics and through baseball at a young age,” Corbin said. “Because we’re going to be able to visit the museum, that’s going to allow us to learn a little bit of history about that culture, about that person and about the people that were prominent in making the sport move forward for that group of people.
“It’s a very unique museum. I loved it when I went twice. I took the USA team there in 2006 and I always told myself I needed to take Vanderbilt University. These are the people that I would want to see it the most.”
Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday served as an Vandy assistant under Corbin from 2010-12. He helped the Commodores reach the College World Series in 2011 before returning to his alma mater to take over the Oklahoma State program.
The Cowboys won the Big 12 Conference Tournament championship earlier this year and were one win away from advancing to the College World Series before falling to conference-rival Texas Tech in the Super Regional.
“Looking forward to being able to compete against someone I really enjoy in (Holliday) and knowing that his team will provide more competition than probably what we’re ready for right now,” Corbin said.
Saturday’s exhibition will take place at the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy which officially opened in 2018 to serve its mission of empowering Kansas City’s underserved youth through baseball and softball, as well as academic and social opportunities, to be the leaders of tomorrow.
TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets for Saturday’s exhibition will be available exclusively on-site Saturday from the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy. Reserved seating is priced at $15 while general admission tickets will be available for $5.
Gates will open to the public at 10 a.m. with Vanderbilt scheduled to take batting practice from 10:05-10:45 a.m. and Oklahoma State from 10:45-11:25 a.m.
Food and beverage will be available for purchase and fans will not be allowed to bring outside food and beverage into the Urban Youth Academy.
There will be parking available in the surface lots located at 1215 East Truman Road and on the corner of 18th and Lydia Ave., as well as street parking available on the northbound and southbound lanes of Martin Luther King Blvd., between 18th and Truman Road.
