PHILADELPHIA -- Prior to some of the game's best descending on Philadelphia for this week's All-Star festivities, there has already been plenty of competition amongst the next generation of stars at locations throughout the city.
The City of Brotherly Love has played host over the past few days to both the Commissioner's Cup -- an annual 17U baseball tournament -- and the Jennie Finch Classic presented by Arm & Hammer -- an annual softball tournament for youth players from ages 13-17. Both tournaments are comprised of teams from the MLB Youth Academies from across the country, as well as Puerto Rico.
Commissioner Rob Manfred was in attendance on Sunday morning, taking in a game from each tournament at the fields at the University of Pennsylvania. He started his day at the softball field, where he watched an elimination game between Kansas City Urban Youth Academy and MLB New Orleans Youth Academy.
While Manfred was taking in the hard-fought battle from behind home plate, he also took the opportunity to meet with players and coaches from the MLB Compton Youth Academy -- the team that was awaiting the winner of the Kansas City-New Orleans game.
Players also spent time meeting and chatting with AUSL stars Baylee Klingler (Carolina Blaze), Michaela Edenfield (Texas Volts) and Karlyn Pickens (Carolina Blaze).
There have been a lot of those opportunities for the more than 200 athletes who have been immersed in all things baseball and softball since kicking off their respective tournaments at Thursday's opening ceremony.
"As much fun as we've had on the field, it's all this stuff off the field that is really the highlight to these kids," said New Orleans manager Kimi Smith. "They don't get these opportunities all the time, and so being able to give them that opportunity is really, really a special thing for both [assistant Jade Stafford] and I."
Monday morning Compton Youth Academy and Rangers Youth Academy will play each other to decide the champion of the Commissioner’s Cup, while at the Jennie Finch Classic, it’ll be Compton and the Astros Youth Academy competing for the title.
Compton Youth Academy’s presence in both championship games is a little extra special, considering they’re celebrating an anniversary this year. Twenty years ago, in 2006, the Compton Youth Academy opened its doors for the first time. Since then, nine more academies have been built in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The Commissioner’s Cup and Jennie Finch Classic so far have produced many highlights and big plays on the field, and also have shown how much fun the players have had throughout the weekend. There are the constant synchronized chants from both dugouts, plenty of camaraderie and sportsmanship -- and even some impromptu dance parties between innings due to a stadium soundtrack that had Coach Stafford calling up to the booth from the first-base coach's box: "Play that whole album!"
"This has been a very special weekend for our entire team, and we've heard the same thing from other teams and coaches here," Smith said. "I don't know that our team really knew what exactly this was going to be like, but they've really stepped up and kind of molded together and really kind of become a tiny little family this week. So it's been really cool, and just so fun to watch."
Though inclement weather has forced games to be either rescheduled or moved to different ballparks, both tournaments have forged on as they close in on naming a champion on Monday. Along with the fields at UPenn, the teams have also played games at both Ashburn Field and Dick Allen Field in FDR Park, as well as other gracious hosts across the greater Philadelphia region.
"We've been having a great time," Smith said. "This isn't stuff we get to do ever. This is once-in-a-lifetime, and they're making the most of it.”