Forty of the nation's top high school baseball players took the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday for the Under Armour Next All-America Home Run Derby and All-America Game, and only one of them called Maryland home. Andy Lambert, an outfielder from Laurel who plays for McDonogh School, suited up for Team Roses in a showcase that doubled as a scouting stage and a public celebration of baseball in Under Armour's hometown.
The Home Run Derby got underway at 11:30 a.m., with the All-America Game following at 1 p.m., pitting Team Roses against Team Pearls in front of fans who packed the ballpark, according to WBFF. Both events were open to the public, and Under Armour and Baseball Factory hosted the weekend for the second straight year at the downtown Baltimore ballpark. Lambert posted a .480 batting average during the spring 2025 season for McDonogh, a private school program that competes in Maryland's competitive MIAA conference, according to MaxPreps.
A Weekend Built Around More Than Just the Game
Beyond the diamond, the event turned into a full baseball festival. Fans lined up at the Fanatics Topps Truck, tested their swings at a Bat Around gamified batting cage, and made custom signs supporting players at a Zebra Pen creation station, per the station's report. Visiting student-athletes also got an exclusive look at Under Armour's latest gear innovations and toured the company's headquarters on the Baltimore Peninsula.
That campus, a 50-acre hub in South Baltimore, opened its 24,000-square-foot flagship Brand House store in December 2024 alongside an NCAA-regulation track and field facility, according to SouthBMore.com. The Baltimore Peninsula site replaced Under Armour's former Locust Point campus as part of a larger redevelopment push in the area.
Proceeds Head to a Baltimore Youth Baseball Group
Ticket proceeds from the weekend went toward the Baltimore Urban Baseball Association, a nonprofit that uses baseball as what it describes as a catalyst for positive programming, community connection and empowerment, serving youth across the city. Founded in 2021 by local baseball professional Andrew Wetlinger, BUBA was established as a 501(c)(3) to give public school youth access to the kind of high-level athletic facilities and mentorship typically reserved for private school programs, according to the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund. The group was formed in part to address a historic drought of local high school players being drafted out of Baltimore public schools.
BUBA's Scholar Program grants selected young athletes a $1,500 annual scholarship along with free membership to The Diamond Collective development facility and mentorship from regional college student-athletes, according to the Baltimore Urban Baseball Association. The organization also partners with regional university baseball and softball programs to provide more than 1,000 mentorship hours each year. BUBA's role as beneficiary marks a shift from 2025, when the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation served as the primary ticket-proceeds charity for the All-America Game at Camden Yards, according to the Maryland Daily Record.
Camden Yards as a Fixture for the Showcase
Sunday's event marked the second straight year the showcase has anchored itself at Camden Yards after the September 2025 UA Next All-America Game became the event's first appearance at the ballpark in its 20-year history, per GameChanger. Before that, the high school showcase had rotated through various venues nationally before settling into Under Armour's home city.
The move fits into a broader alliance between Under Armour and the Orioles. The two entered a multi-year partnership in March that includes stadium branding, player marketing featuring Gunnar Henderson, and youth military ticket initiatives, as previously reported by Hoodline, which noted the deal gave Under Armour naming rights to the left-field kids' home run porch. Attendees this weekend also experienced a physically upgraded ballpark, after renovations replaced the center-field videoboard with a screen 2.5 times larger and installed 1,100 feet of 4K ribbon boards.
A Launchpad Watched by Every MLB Team
The showcase carries weight well beyond a single Sunday afternoon in Baltimore. Over its 20-year history, the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game has featured more than 150 future first-round MLB draft picks, including current stars Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr., according to FOX Baltimore. GameChanger became the event's official live-streaming and scorekeeping partner last September, offering digital coverage that all 30 MLB scouting departments reportedly use to evaluate top high school prospects.
For Lambert, the trip to Camden Yards put him alongside that pipeline of talent as Maryland's only representative in the 2026 class. Whatever comes next for the Laurel outfielder, Sunday's derby and showcase left him with a shared stage alongside the country's top uncommitted high school talent, and left Baltimore's youth baseball scene with fresh support from a weekend built around the sport's next generation.
