D-backs to Host City Connect-Themed High School Showcase

The Arizona Diamondbacks will host a unique, City Connect-themed high school baseball showcase on Wednesday, May 28, the team announced in a press release.

The event will take place at Kendrick Family Field in El Oso Park. D-backs center fielder Alek Thomas will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. The teams will be made up of alumni, players and prospects of Arizona's Nike RBI program, a program designed to increase the reach of baseball to inner city kids.

The Nike RBI program is described as follows, per the team website:

"The D-backs Nike RBI program, administered by MLB's Baseball & Softball Development Department, is designed to provide youth in under served communities opportunities to play baseball and softball."

"The D-backs Nike RBI program was launched in 2020 under Major League Baseball's Nike Jr. RBIrecreational program. The mission is to re-introduce, revive, and rebuild interest and participation in baseball and softball among underserved youth in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs."

The showcase game will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, themed with the D-backs' past and present City Connect uniforms. One team will don Arizona's former sand-colored City Connects, while the other will have the privilege of wearing 2025's revamped purple Serpientes City Connect jerseys.

The full press release from Diamondbacks Communications reads as follows:

"The Arizona Diamondbacks’ City Connect uniforms of past and present will be on full display for a full-scale big-league takeover at El Oso Park during an epic high school baseball showdown on Wednesday, May 28, hosted by the D-backs and kicked off by Alek Thomas, who will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

"The two teams will consist of Diamondbacks’ MLB Nike RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) alumni, current players and prospects, and each will proudly don a D-backs City Connect uniform, with one team repping the Sonoran-sand Serpientes jerseys and the other in the just-released purple and teal uniforms. The Diamondbacks will pull out all the stops highlighted by Thomas’ first pitch and including entertainment from emcee Chuck Drago, organist Bobby Freeman, mascot Baxter, hype-team Rally-backs, and the Legends Racers."

"The D-backs Nike RBI program, administered by MLB's Baseball & Softball Development Department, is designed to provide youth in underserved communities opportunities to play baseball and softball. For more information about the program, visit dbacks.com/rbi."

Player introductions and warmups will begin at 6:00 p.m., with first pitch coming at 7:00 p.m.