Barons celebrate HBCU night at Regions Field

The biggest moment of the young season for Alsander Womack came during a ballpark celebration that was quite personal to him.

During the nightcap of Double-A Birmingham’s doubleheader against Mississippi on Sunday, Womack delivered a game-tying hit in the seventh inning. That knock set the stage for Edgar Quero’s three-run, walk-off homer and the Barons’ 4-1 victory. The hit was Womack’s second of the game, and the RBI was his second of the season.

The 25-year-old Womack signed with the White Sox in 2021 as an undrafted free agent after a well-decorated career at Norfolk State, which is among the more than 100 recognized historically Black colleges or universities in the United States. And he happened to have his best performance of the season during the Barons’ HBCU night celebration, which was presented by Nationwide.

For the event, the club hosted the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which serves as the governing body for the “Divine Nine” (D-9) fraternities and sororities. Other members of the D-9 organizations, the National Society of Black Engineers and the Birmingham chapter of the Stillman College alumni association were also in attendance.

The groups were set up with information tables across the Regions Field concourse and had seats together for the game.

“Each D-9 [organization] got announced on the video board, and when they did, they went crazy every time,” said Barons game day entertainment coordinator Parker Landreth. “It was definitely a sight to see. It was awesome to see the support.”

Throughout the game, the Regions Field entertainment staff celebrated Black history during between-innings and pre-game PA announcements and video board messages. The features included lessons on historical figures like Mae Jemison, an Alabama native and the first Black woman to travel in space, among many others.

Landreth mentioned that the club has plans to expand the event next season to include some HBCU step teams or marching bands.