MILWAUKEE- More often than not when a high school sports fan in Wisconsin hears “City Conference” they think basketball. However, baseball in the City Conference is quickly catching on thanks to the play of two Milwaukee Riverside standouts.

Meet Malcolm Frazier and Vincent Knox. Both have played varsity baseball since their freshman year.

Frazier has played all over the infield in his three plus years while Knox has been a rock behind the plate.

Knox has been the Tigers starting catcher the past two seasons but has shown he can play anywhere on the field. The senior has played the outfield and pitched during his time at Riverside.

“I remember my freshman year our catcher hurt his shoulder really bad and I took over towards the end of the year,” said Knox.

Knox is having a stellar season at the plate this season as the Tigers leadoff hitter. He went a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate against rival Milwaukee King April 24 and hit a towering homerun Tuesday against Milwaukee Bradley Tech.

Knox and his Tigers won the City Conference Gold Division title in 2006 and were one game away from advancing to the Division 1 WIAA State Tournament. The Tigers fell a game short of the tournament again in 2007.

“We had a pair of brothers on our team named Jason and Justin Calvert,” said Knox. “Both of them were really good and could have played at the next level.”

The reality is, most Division 1 programs have not targeted players in the City Conference, but word is spreading fast.

Last year, more City Conference baseball players went on to play for Division 1 schools than basketball players.

Outfielder Kasey Lewandoski (King) received a full scholarship to play at Chicago State University while power-hitting first basemen Sam Keller (Riverside) received a full scholarship to play at Grambling State University.

Both Knox and Frazier were selected to the Midwest All-Star team in the “Double Duty” classic in Chicago at White Sox Stadium. The Double Duty Classic is an event celebrating the history and tradition of Negro League baseball in Chicago and promoting the next generation of inner-city baseball players.

Frazier has started since he was a freshman and has received a 50 percent scholarship to play at Grambling State University where he plans on majoring in Criminal Justice. The 6-foot-1 infielder also plays for the Racine Hitters, an AAU club team that plays some of the best competition around the Midwest.

“We would have Division 1 coaches coming to our practices,” said Frazier. “It was because of the Racine Hitters that Vincent and I got to play in the Double Duty Classic.”

 Baseball as a whole is catching on faster than ever in Milwaukee.

“I remember my freshman and sophomore year we could make four or five errors in a game and we still could win a game easy,” said Frazier. “Now the talent pool is more evenly spread out in the city so now anyone can beat anyone.”

Although the talent may be more spread out, Frazier and his Tigers still feel they have what it takes to take the conference crown.

“I think our one through four hitters are some of the best in the conference,” said Frazier. “As long as we play our game and limit our errors we should be tough to beat.”

Added Knox: “We started a little shaky early on but I think we are getting better and better as the year goes on. We really are a young team with just four seniors.”

Knox and Frazier have both benefited from the RBI League which is played in the summer. RBI, which stands for Restoring Baseball in the Inner-City, is a program that works directly with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

The RBI League, started in 2006 as just a developmental league but has since expanded to a varsity select league and developmental league.

The league has expanded outside the City Conference. This past summer and both Wisconsin Lutheran and Milwaukee Lutheran now participate and hope to add even more teams this summer.

“It really is good because with more competition the better the players are going to be,” said Knox. “The more you play baseball the better you are going to be.”