PHILADELPHIA — Santino Harwood has played baseball across the region, from Roman Catholic High School to Delaware State University. On Friday night, however, the game will bring him somewhere different.
Home.
Harwood, a Mayfair native and Delaware State shortstop, was selected to participate in the 2026 HBCU Swingman Classic at Citizens Bank Park, giving him an opportunity to represent his university and his city on one of baseball’s largest stages.
“I get to play in front of my home city, so I’m excited,” Harwood said.
The Swingman Classic opens Philadelphia’s All-Star Week and features 50 players from Division I historically Black colleges and universities. Created through an initiative involving Ken Griffey Jr., Major League Baseball and the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, the event is designed to provide HBCU players with greater exposure to professional scouts and a national audience.
For Harwood, the experience carries significance beyond the chance to play at a major-league stadium.
He enters the event after completing his sophomore season at Delaware State. The left-handed-hitting infielder batted .297 with 46 hits, 30 runs and 23 RBIs during the 2026 season. As a freshman, he hit .296 and ranked second on the team in batting average.
Those numbers earned him a place in the event, but Harwood understands that the week also offers something statistics cannot measure. It gives him access to former major leaguers, coaches and players from across the HBCU baseball landscape.
“I’m definitely going to keep asking my questions and be a sponge today,” Harwood said. “I want to learn a little bit from everybody.”
Harwood’s path to Citizens Bank Park began long before Delaware State. He grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and attended Roman Catholic, where he earned All-Catholic recognition. His continued development has now placed him among the country’s top HBCU players and made him one of the local faces of an event designed to showcase overlooked talent.
Yet when Harwood talks about reaching this stage, he does not begin with batting averages, recruiting or recognition. He begins with his parents.
“My mom and my dad are my two biggest blessings,” Harwood said. “My dad taught me everything I needed to know about baseball, and my mom has helped me keep God in my life. She is always telling me that everything is going to be all right. I wouldn’t be here without those two.”
On Friday, the result will matter. So will the opportunity to perform before scouts and a national audience.
But for Harwood, playing at Citizens Bank Park also represents something more personal: a Philadelphia baseball player returning home with his family, his school and his city behind him.
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