BALTIMORE, MD –Two Baltimore high schools will compete on Saturday for the title of best in baseball as the champion of the inaugural President’s Cup tournament is determined at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Saturday’s festivities will kick off at 9 a.m., when the Gilman School faces Friends School of Baltimore. The pair will play at Mount Saint Joseph High School. A second game between the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland and Mount Saint Joseph High School will also be played at 9 a.m. at Swann Park. The winners of both games will compete for the title of President’s Cup Champion at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at 1 p.m. The games are free and open to the public.

Mr. Frank Robinson, a Hall of Fame baseball player and two-time World Series champion with the Baltimore Orioles, will join Mrs. Geraldine Day, widow of former Negro League star and Hall of Famer Leon Day, to simultaneously throw out the first pitch to a pair of high school players from the two schools playing in the championship game.

Mr. Robinson, who currently serves as senior advisor to Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig, said he was excited to return to Baltimore to help promote positive youth activities through Council President Young’s President’s Cup tournament.

“I am very pleased to attend the championship game of the President’s Cup. Baltimore has always been very special to me because of all my time there, when I was privileged to be a part of two World Championship clubs as a player and then to serve as the manager and an executive with the Orioles. The people of Baltimore have always made their city a wonderful setting for baseball,” Mr. Robinson said. “I admire the President’s Cup’s mission to bring many different students throughout the city together to play the great American game, and I applaud Council President Young for helping launch what promises to be a great event.”

Council President Young said he could hardly contain his excitement when he learned that Mr. Robinson would be attending the championship game.

“Mr. Robinson is a national icon, not just because of his accomplishments in sports, but also because of his integrity and perseverance,” Council President Young said. “Meeting Mr. Robinson will be something these players will never forget, and I think they’ll each pull something tangible from the experience that will serve them well into adulthood.”

The President’s Cup aims to unite Baltimore’s youth by using baseball to bring together groups of high school students from different backgrounds that normally would not compete with one another. Tournament play kicked off Saturday, April 9, 2011, with three Baltimore public high schools competing against players from private city schools. The President’s Cup also represents an exciting new addition to the Council President’s ongoing P.L.A.Y. (Productive Lives, Active Youth) campaign. P.L.A.Y. provides Baltimore’s youth with a wide range of opportunities to strengthen their self-confidence, develop leadership skills, learn from positive role models, and be rewarded athletically for their academic achievements. P.L.A.Y. encourages them to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• Members of the media covering the championship game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards should enter the stadium through the Home Plate Plaza entrance. Free parking will be available in Lot A. Members of the media will be able to cover the game from the stadium’s Lower Press Box area on level 2. Media will be allowed on field for pre-game and post-game activities only.

• Semifinals
• Saturday, April 16, 2011 – 9 a.m. Gilman vs. Friends at Mount Saint Joseph High School – 4403 Frederick Avenue
• Saturday, April 16, 2011 – 9 a.m. Boys’ Latin vs. Mount Saint Joseph at Swann Park – 201 W. McComas Street
• Championship
• Saturday, April 16, 2011 – 1 p.m. (Oriole Park at Camden Yards)