It would be an oversimplification to say the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy will just be a place to play baseball.
Darwin Pennye, the academy’s director, is thinking much bigger than that. On Thursday, Pennye gave a tour of the facility, which is set for a grand opening on March 30, 2018, the day after the Royals’ season opener.
There are four outdoor fields of various sizes, an indoor regulation major-league size infield with bases that can move between 60 and 90 feet away, as well as batting cages and pitching mounds at the site in the 18th & Vine Jazz District.