June 18, 2026

Hack the Diamond 2026: Democratizing Baseball for All

Meet the Oxide x Ballers hackathon teams building baseball tech for everyone

Baseball belongs to everyone.

Not just the clubs with the biggest budgets. Not just the kids whose families can afford premium training apps, private coaching, or expensive gear. Baseball belongs to every kid who wants to play and every family looking for a way into the game.

That belief is what brought software developers, hardware engineers, students, and baseball minds together in Emeryville on June 13 for Hack the Diamond, a youth baseball-centered hackathon hosted by the Oakland Ballers and Oxide Computer Company.

The challenge was simple: use technology to make baseball more accessible and affordable for everyone.

Baseball and Technology Builders, Unite

Hack the Diamond was not just a hackathon. We wanted it to make a statement.

Teams worked with sensors, cameras, Raspberry Pis, and a lot of strong ideas. By the end of the day, those ideas had turned into working prototypes aimed at solving real problems in the youth baseball ecosystem.

The projects covered everything from player development and coaching to scouting and resource gaps. Each one looked at a different part of the game, but they all came back to the same question: how can technology help make baseball more accessible instead of creating more barriers?

Now on to the winners:

Full Stack Prize

Stat-Track

Built by Abdul-Rahman Mohammed of San Jose City College, Krishnakumar Vijayasankar of Northeastern University, and Alb Sefa of San José State University, Stat-Track was one of the clearest examples of what this hackathon was built to inspire.

Stat-Track is an all-in-one baseball tool designed to function as both a digital umpire and a coaching assistant. Using a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and the YOLO-nano computer vision model, the system can identify pitches, create a virtual strike zone, collect real-time data, and help players and coaches better understand what is happening on the field.

The idea behind it is powerful because the technology Stat-Track is trying to replicate already exists, but it is usually expensive. The best pitch-tracking, strike-zone, and player-analysis tools can cost thousands of dollars, putting them out of reach for many youth programs and families without access to private training resources.

Stat-Track takes that same type of thinking and brings it closer to the players who need it most. This project is practical and rooted in access. That is why the team earned the Full Stack Prize for Technical Excellence.

Community MVP Prize

Field Finder

Built by Rohan Kapur of UC San Diego and Dhruv Kapur of Indiana University, Field Finder approached the challenge from a different but equally important angle.

Instead of focusing only on individual player development, Field Finder looked at the infrastructure around youth baseball. The project uses publicly available data to identify neighborhoods where young players and youth programs may be facing the greatest financial, equipment, and access gaps.

That matters because inequity in baseball is not always visible from the outside. Some communities have well-maintained fields, strong booster support, newer equipment, and access to private coaching. Others are working with limited resources and families doing everything they can just to keep their kids in the game.

Field Finder was built to help make those gaps easier to see. By mapping need, the tool can help the local youth baseball ecosystem and its partners better understand where support should go.

The project earned the Community MVP Prize because it did what great community-centered technology should do: it made the problem clearer and more actionable.

View Fieldfinder.city

Grand Prize: Stat-Track & Field Finder

We decided to award the Grand Prize to both Stat-Track and Field Finder.

They were very different projects, but together they captured the spirit of Hack the Diamond. Stat-Track showed how affordable hardware and computer vision can bring high-level player development tools to more young athletes. Field Finder showed how data can help identify the communities and programs that need support the most.

One project focused on the player. The other focused on the ecosystem around the player. Both pushed toward the same goal: making baseball more accessible, more affordable, and more connected to the communities that keep the game alive.

Honorable Mentions

Several other projects stood out and deserve recognition:

HomeTeam Scouting

Built by Team Suczewski

HomeTeam Scouting focused on making local player scouting more accessible. The project gives coaches and programs at all levels a way to evaluate and share information about players without relying on expensive recruiting platforms or showcase systems that many youth athletes cannot afford.

Pitch IQ

Built by Team Mesko

Pitch IQ focused on young pitchers. The tool captures and analyzes pitching form, helping players and coaches better understand mechanics, movement, and areas for improvement. For young pitchers, especially those still learning how to throw safely and consistently, that kind of feedback can make a real difference.

Hitters on Deck

Built by Team Zeish

Hitters on Deck centered on coaching access. The project provides hitting instruction for youth players who may not have access to a private coach. It is the kind of tool that could help a young hitter get better between practices, even without a batting cage.

What Comes Next

The winners will be honored at tonight’s Little League Day game at Raimondi Park.

Come out and meet the builders behind the projects we hope to see continue. These teams did more than build weekend hackathon projects. They showed what is possible when people start from the belief that the future of baseball should be more open to all.