White Sox’s Double Duty Classic has inner-city pipeline flowing

CHICAGO — The way 17-year-old Angelo Smith confidently walked from the bullpen to the mound at U.S. Cellular Field, you would have sworn he had been there before. You would have been right, too.

The lefty from Richards High School was playing in the White Sox’s Double Duty Classic for the second year in a row. He has been a participant in the team’s Amateur City Elite (ACE) program since he was 12, refining his baseball and social skills to such a high level he was recently offered a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Michigan.

“This program has guided me in every way,” Smith said. “It’s why I have my scholarship to the University of Michigan. It’s taught me everything I know.”

That was a common refrain in the clubhouse before Tuesday’s Double Duty Classic. This was the ninth time the White Sox have held this showcase event for the ACE program, which has the goal of “changing lives on and off the field.”

It was the brainchild of Chicago-based scout Nathan Durst, who felt that African American players from the city’s rough neighborhoods weren’t being seen as college material. Scouts from professional organizations would recommend some standouts, but too often those players were overwhelmed by the challenges they faced in the Minor Leagues.

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf loved Durst’s idea to help teenagers receive the coaching and support needed with academics and life skills, and the program has grown from there. Corey Ray, who was selected fifth overall by the Brewers in the 2016 Draft, heads the list of 122 ACE players who have received college scholarships.

Like the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Curtis Granderson, whose path Ray is trying to follow, Ray’s legacy is already big in his hometown. By helping the University of Louisville reach the College World Series in 2015 and by …

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