While much of the high school and college sports world has already shifted its attention toward football, some of the Northeast’s most promising young baseball players spent Saturday making sure they weren’t overlooked. Unhidden Baseball NYC, powered by Lincoln University alum Max Guadalupe, brought together four programs from New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia for its inaugural HBCU Baseball Showcase at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, giving high school upperclassmen an opportunity to put their tools on display directly in front of a college coaching staff.
But this wasn’t simply about running 60-yard dashes and playing baseball; it was about creating a pipeline. Hosted at the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University, the showcase gave prospective student-athletes and their families an up-close look at what playing college baseball at an HBCU can offer both on the diamond and in the classroom.
North Jersey’s Willis Otanez Baseball Academy, Baltimore’s Vision Select/Charm City program, Virginia’s Delmarva College Prospects Baseball, and Unhidden Baseball NYC made up the four-team field. The day began with players testing their speed in the 60-yard dash before transitioning to live game action, allowing Lincoln University head baseball coach Vince Connor and others in attendance to evaluate players in an actual competitive setting rather than simply through isolated drills.
Coach Goodwin, who leads Vision Select and also serves as Mid-Atlantic Director for Minority Baseball Prospects, pushed back against one of the most persistent narratives surrounding Black participation in baseball—that Black and Brown kids simply aren’t interested in the game anymore. “The stigma is that our kids aren’t playing baseball, but they are. You just have to know where to go to find them,” Goodwin said. “If you go down South, that’s all you see, and we are trying to get that happening here. And it’s happening…slowly but surely.”
Connor made one point particularly clear to every player in the room: baseball ability alone won’t keep you in a college uniform. “I don’t care how good you can play. You won’t stay on this team if you’re f*****g off in the classroom,” Connor told the players, while pointing to the Lions’ 3.68 cumulative team GPA. “I sent four guys home in the past two semesters who didn’t want to do their work in the classroom. And three of ’em were starters.”
The event also highlighted the success of current players like Washington, D.C. native Solomon McKinney, who made Lincoln history this summer when he became the first Lions player ever selected to participate in Major League Baseball’s HBCU Swingman Classic, an annual showcase created by Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and presented by MLB and USA Baseball. As the organization looks ahead, Unhidden Baseball NYC is already preparing for the Blue Chip Northeast Elite Tournament on Long Island, continuing its mission to provide young players with legitimate routes toward college baseball.
