Grambling State third baseman Cameron Bufford and second baseman Kyle Walker are veterans of the Ken Griffey Jr. HBCU Swingman Traditional.
And they’re excited to return to this 12 months’s recreation, which can happen on Friday, July 12, at Globe Life Subject in Arlington, Texas.
Bufford and Walker sat down with MLB Community on the Draft Mix at Chase Subject in Phoenix, Arizona, to debate the Traditional, an annual occasion sponsored by Baseball Corridor of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and his Nike Swingman model.
“It can be crucial as a result of with out these organizations I’d not be right here.. You place a highlight on youngsters like us that exit and compete.”@GramSt_Bsb infielders Cameron Bufford and Kyle Walker discuss concerning the HBCU Swingman Traditional.
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“It’s superior, a beautiful alternative,” Walker stated. “That is my second time doing it, and final 12 months, man…it was superb. It was simply superb, simply all of the followers and the ambiance; it was an excellent alternative.”
Bufford, the Tigers’ all-time home-run chief and the MVP of the SWAC baseball event, remembered his expertise from final 12 months’s recreation in Seattle when he met Ken Griffey Jr.
“That was my first time assembly him, and it was a surreal second,” Bufford defined. “I had enjoyable.”
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Bufford and Walker additionally credited MLB’s RBI Program and Breakthrough applications for giving himself, Walker, and lots of different HBCU baseball gamers an opportunity to be seen.
“I feel it’s crucial as a result of with out these organizations, I wouldn’t be right here,” he stated. “They put the highlight on youngsters like us to exit right here and compete.”
Walker added, “It permits us to place our skills to the forefront and be seen in locations that we’d not usually be seen.”
The Tigers gained their first SWAC baseball title since 2010 and not too long ago competed within the Faculty Station area of the NCAA event.