The Arizona Diamondbacks Nike RBI team is playing the Houston Astros at 2p (Arizona time) to determine if they'll play in the Nike RBI World Series on Friday.
To play on a major league field takes hard work that typically only major leaguers know.
This group of Valley high schoolers however are on the path to greatness with a big opportunity on the national stage.
Wearing personalized Arizona Diamondbacks' Serpientes jerseys the young baseball players are the future of America’s pastime in Arizona.
Angel Valenzuela plays first base for the Diamondbacks Nike RBI team, a group of 16-18-year-olds all from Valley high schools in lower-income communities.
”I actually grew up about two minutes from here, I can see chase field from my house,” said Valenzuela.
Last Sunday, the squad traveled to Vero Beach, Florida to play in their version of the World Series.
But beforehand, the squad got a chance to train at Banner Health Sports Medicine, where Valenzuela discovered something he already knew... having the bat speed to hit 99 miles per hour at just 18 years old.
“I was like wow. I always felt like I had it in me, I just needed that to Tell me I could do it,” he said.
Before last Friday’s MLB game against the Mariners, Arizona D-backs players offered advice to the young players before they took the big stage at Jackie Robinson Field in Florida. Amongst the MLB players was Alek Thomas, a former Nike RBI product himself from the Chicago area.
It's a program that allows underserved communities to have baseball resources.
When asked if Thomas would be where he is today if it wasn’t for the RBI program, he said “It’s useful helpful, it put us on the map and showed us what Chicago is all about.”
For more info on all teams playing in Florida, click here.
Information on how to watch Nike RBI: https://www.mlb.com/rbi