It’s the return of the “ping!”—you know, that ringing sound an aluminum bat makes when a ball catches the sweet spot? Yeah, well it’s February and that means it’s time to get used to that rather unique sound at a baseball field near you.

This weekend was a treat for baseball fans everywhere as games took place at colleges coast to coast, from Long Beach to Boca Raton, Florida. And while I was able to catch the Dirtbags’ home opening loss to USC at Blair, I spent more of my weekend at arguably the most significant college games in the area, in Compton at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy for the second annual Urban Invitational. The Urban Invitational is a four-team tourney with the rich intention of promoting Historic Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCUs) baseball programs and the game to youths in the African-American community. I was able to attend last season’s inaugural tournament and could not pass up the chance to attend this year’s tourney.

HBCU schools Southern University (Baton Rouge, LA) and Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, FL) were back again joined by bitter rivals traveling up from San Diego, the San Diego State University Aztecs and the University of San Diego Toreros.

SDSU coach Tony Gwynn and Bethune-Cookman coach Mervyl Melendez with the game’s umpiring crew

According to the DeVos Sports Business Management Program’s 2008 Race and Gender Report Card for Major League Baseball, the number or African-American players in the Major Leagues reached a new low in 2007 with only 8.2 percent of players being African-American. And that number is expected to be even lower for college baseball level. As that number has declined over the past few seasons, the timing of the Urban Invitation is very significant. The tourney combines the spectacle of baseball with entertainment to enlightened fans in the inner city.

Highlighting this weekend was the number of former players attending (Long Beach native, Padres legend and SDSU’s head coach Tony Gwynn threw out the first pitch Friday night, pitching greats Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Dave Stewart threw out the first pitches yesterday) and both HBCU schools’ marching bands performed between games Saturday night for a festive crowd at the facility. The weekend also included a college fair and performances by the high school marching bands from Jordan, Compton and Crenshaw. And oh yeah, there was some great baseball being played on the field.

Bethune-Cookman is the defending MEAC conference champions while Southern was on top the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division. USD is ranked 11^th in the Baseball America and SDSU is a dangerous squad out of the Mountain West. And as it’s expected so early in the season pitching was dominant in the tourney, not to mention both San Diego squads are on the Dirtbags’ schedule this season (USD at Blair on March 10, at USD March 24 and hosting SDSU April 7, at SDSU April 24).

SDSU and Bethune-Cookman got things underway with one of the premier pitching duels in the country. Projected no.1 pick and lone collegian on last year’s USA’s Olympic squad, Stephen Strasburg took the hill for SDSU and matched up against Bethune-Cookman’s ace Hiram Burgos. Strasburg 1.57 era was ranked third in the country last season, Burgos was right behind him with a 1.58 ERA, and so you knew it was going to be good. Neither disappointed as Strasburg consistently hit 97 mph on the radar gun and topped off at 100 mph. Burgos is a five-pitch pitcher who pounded the strike zone consistently. SDSU won 6-3 fueled by a homerun from T.J. Thomas—four other Aztecs had RBIs.

SDSU’s NCAA Top-Rated Starting Pitcher Stephen Strasburg firing a pitch to home plate.

In Friday’s nightcap USD showed off why they are so highly ranked with southpaw Sammy Solis striking out 11, scattering four hits and one run in six-plus innings of work. USD got on the board in the first on a RBI single by first baseman Jose Valerio and held the lead the entire way to a 6-4 win.

Saturday’s games were broadcasted live on the MLB Network helping expose the tournament and the participating teams to a national audience. USD beat Bethune-Cookman 9-6 and Southern won their first game of the season beating SDSU 4-2 in the second game of the double header. Southern ace Jarrett Maloy, who was selected preseason SWAC Pitcher of the Year, went seven innings allowing five hits, one earned run and striking out five.

The tourney concluded Sunday afternoon with Bethune-Cookman raking 11 hits beating Southern 10-4 behind the arm of freshman lefty Ali Simpson. Simpson got out of a no-outs bases loaded jam in the top of the first before settling down and working six-plus innings striking out nine giving up three runs in six hits.

USD and SDSU returned to San Diego to play their match-up at Cunningham Stadium at USD where the Aztecs beat their rival 3-0.

The caliber of baseball displayed this weekend in Compton was nothing short of first class, something that is not new to the Urban Youth Baseball Academy since it opened in 2006. Aside from successfully hosting this tournament for two consecutive years, it is a year-round training facility that offers free baseball and softball clinics and hosts a number of amateur tournaments. In last year’s MLB draft, nine players with ties to the Academy were drafted and a number of them returned to catch some of the action for this year’s tourney. The Compton facility is Major League Baseball’s first Urban Youth Academy and they recently announced new academies will open both in Houston and Miami.

So on the same weekend where HBO premieres its new series “Eastbound and Down” about a washed-up major leaguer forced to coach middle-school gym, and mocking major league character issues (a hot topic on ESPN lately as you’ve probably noticed), MLB promotes a program hoping to spark interest in the game to a inner-city audience. The Urban Invitational was a proper way to kick in the 2009 college baseball season with its well-played baseball and conscious effort to promote the game. Mix in some Dirtbags baseball and it is safe to say it will be another great year for baseball fans everywhere.