CINCINNATI – Derek Williams grew up playing baseball in Cincinnati in the 1980s and ‘90s. He loves the game and appreciates the extras that come with it: The life lessons, the social bonds and the variety of off-the-field opportunities.
What You Need To Know
- After an 80-year hiatus, Wilberforce University is restarting its baseball program
- The small college in Green County, Ohio is one of the oldest HBCUs in the country
- The program receiving support from the Cincinnati Reds and the Reds Community Fund
- The program will begin in fall 2022 with a plan to start play in the NAIA in spring 2023
Williams parlayed his four years on the baseball team at the former C.A.P.E. High School into a brief collegiate career at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. He credits baseball and athletics with helping him continue his education and find a career in athletics.
Derek Williams, AD at Wilberforce University, speaks at a press conference (Provided: Cincinnati Reds)
Now the athletic director at Wilberforce University, he is pleased to share his passion with a new generation of baseball players, while simultaneously helping young men get a college education.
Earlier this week, the private historically Black college (HBCU) in Green County, Ohio, announced plans to once again field a baseball team. The small school just outside Xenia discontinued its program nearly 80 years ago.
The official return of the program will begin in fall 2022 with athletes preparing for the spring 2023 season. Williams said the Bulldogs will play a full 40- to 45-game in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which caters to athletic programs at smaller colleges and universities across the country.
“We want to provide our youth with an opportunity to continue to play the game of baseball at a high level while working toward their degree,” Williams said. “That’s what college sports are all about.”
“We believe in the student-athlete. And to the extent that we can offer an additional sport for our students, that’s always a good thing with regard to recruiting students to come to the university,” added Elfred Anthony Pinkard, president of Wilberforce.
The revival of the Wilberforce Bulldogs baseball program is made possible by the support from the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Reds Community Fund and the P&G MLB Cincinnati Reds Youth Academy.
Officials from those organizations as well as the university held a press conference earlier this week at Great American Ball Park. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine attended as well.
DeWine, who owns a minor-league baseball team in North Carolina, said he understands the power of sports. He said adding a baseball program gives Wilberforce “one more tool” for attracting students, especially athletes. The school also plans to offer scholarships for baseball.
“For my wife Fran and I, this is a very exciting day,” DeWine said. “We are lifelong Reds fans and big baseball fans. But we also live about five miles from Wilberforce. It has an amazing history and amazing alums … I think this (program) is a great thing.”
Hall of Fame pitcher Ray Brown attended Wilberforce before going on to play for the Homestead Grays in the 1930s and ’40s. He appeared in two All-Star Games and led this team to eight pennants in one nine-year span. He tossed a one-hitter to help the Grays to the Negro League title in 1944 and pitched a perfect game in 1945.
Brown had a 122-45 career record. He earned induction into Cooperstown in 2006.
Williams expects the new team to be “competitive out of the gate” and the baseball program to eventually become one of the “top in the Midwest.”
The school is still evaluating sites for the Bulldogs’ permanent home field. Williams said he’s in discussions with several facilities in the Dayton-area. The partnership with the Reds includes the potential for training and playing games at the Youth Academy in Roselawn, about an hour drive from Wilberforce’s campus.
Roosevelt Barnes, a Wilberforce alum, is the Reds’ senior RBI baseball team at the Youth Academy. He led that program to its first World Series championship this summer.
“The overall goal is to continue to impact the lives of young men, and to do that through the sport of baseball,” said Barnes, who also coaches at La Salle High School on Cincinnati’s west side.
Williams said this partnership with the Reds is much bigger than just games and practices. The broader goal is to create opportunities for student-athletes to interact with the Reds organization on the business side of things.
He envisions student internships in fields like sports marketing and business management down the road.
Charley Frank, Reds Community Fund executive director, said this is the type of partnership they’ve been working to develop for years.
“Our academy and programs focus on youth development and educational opportunities as well as baseball and softball. And our coaches have made it a priority to expose more of our Black and Brown student-athletes to opportunities at HBCU schools,” he said.
The Reds Community Fund started in 2001 with a mission to grow the game and serve underprivileged kids and communities. That mission expanded in 2014 with the opening of the Youth Academy.
Over the past two years, the Reds Academy and RBI program have graduated six young men and women who continued their playing careers at HBCUs. They include Morehouse, Tuskegee and Kentucky State.
Frank said he expects those numbers to climb with the addition of a baseball program at Wilberforce.
“Having another regional option will open this door even further, and the expanded partnership will help create a pipeline from our Reds Academy to Wilberforce, as well as from the university to our front office,” he added.
The Wilberforce/Reds partnership is still in the early stages. Conversations already include topics such as equipment support and resources, to games and activations at the Reds Youth Academy, to an ongoing pipeline between the team and the university.
Additional information will be shared in the near future.
