Prairie View A&M athletes reflect on being invited to the HBCU Swingman Classic
Only four freshmen were chosen to participate in the 2024 HBCU Swingman Classic and one, Michael Smith Jr., is no stranger to Texas playing his collegiate baseball at Prairie View A&M University.
Smith Jr. acknowledged it was an honor to play in the classic and was excited to share the experience with some of his teammates.
“I was just like, ‘Wow, this is a great opportunity, especially getting to go in my freshman year.’ You know what I’m saying? Not everybody gets to do that, let alone their freshman year, but at all. There’s a lot of boys that would love to be here in the big league stadium with their boys and so I’m just grateful,” said Smith.
One of those boys is Michael Burroughs a sophomore and Texas native who played starred at Judson High School in Converse. Burroughs felt the full gamut of emotions when he got the news of his classic invite.
“When I first heard about it, I was very very excited. My coach called me and he told me I was selected, found out about that, at first, it was a lot of emotions running through my body, I was nervous but also proud of myself because of all the hard work I put in,” said Burroughs.
Burroughs talked about how special it was to share this experience with his teammate.
“It feels amazing, you know, me and my brother that’s not only on the field but off the field, we get to both come out here and show our talents and show who we are as a team. it’s been a journey for both of us,” said Burroughs.
Players in the HBCU Swingman Classic had the opportunity to be coached by a multitude of former MLB players and managers including Ken Griffey Sr., Jerry Manuel and Mark Mclemore and both Smith and Burroughs shared what they’ve taken away from those luminaries.
“The best advice I’ve gotten so far is from Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr., they told me that the best way to get to the next level is to be consistent, day in day out with your work ethic, the cage, building and routine, whatever it is just be consistent with it and it will pay off,” said Smith. Both players had friends and family who made the trip to Globe Life Field for the game.
Burroughs shared how the coaches have impacted his mental approach.
“It’s more of just knowing people and getting to know people and learning and listening to everything they say and applying it to what you do in your everyday life. It’s not all when they talk to you, it’s not always about what’s going on on the field. It’s a lot of mental and a lot of stuff that goes on off the field,” said Burroughs.
Both players had friends and family who made the trip to Globe Life Field to watch them play.
In the HBCU Swingman Classic, Smith went 0-for-2 and Burrough went 0-for-2 for the American League in their 5-4 win over the National League.
The game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Grambling State University senior Tiger Borom hit a two-run single that gave the AL a 3-1 lead they would not relinquish.
