POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Jon Schwind, who played for the Marist baseball team from 2009-11, will be taking part in tonight's Home Run Derby in conjunction with Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
 
Schwind will be pitching to Josh Bell of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who is the #3 seed in the eight-man field. The derby will be televised live at 8 p.m. on ESPN from Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Schwind, who was selected in the 41st round by the Pirates in 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft, played six different positions in his Marist career. Schwind played in all 166 games in his three years at Marist, and started 164 of them. He was a .295 career hitter with 47 doubles, 13 home runs, 19 stolen bases, 111 runs batted in, and 127 runs scored. He went on to play seven seasons in the Pirates' organization, and is in his first season as assistant hitting coach for the club's Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.

One of Schwind's former teammates, Ricky Pacione, is currently in his sixth season as a bullpen catcher for the Cleveland Indians. The Cleveland staff took part in the 2017 All-Star Game by virtue of winning the American League pennant in 2016. Pacione appeared in the 2017 MLB All-Star Game as a catcher during Home Run Derby.

Bell is tied for fourth in the National League with 27 home runs, and leads all of Major League Baseball with 84 runs batted in. He will face sixth-seeded Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves in the first round in a bracketed competition.