Eighty-one years after a black Springfield baseball player was kept out of a tournament in Gastonia, North Carolina, the two cities are coming together on the field.

Bunny Taliaferro was denied the right to play back in 1934, inspiring his teammates to sit out in his defense.

Tony King was captain of that team and he’ll throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Sunday’s game. At 97, he’s the only surviving member of the team.

“Things have changed for the better since then,” King says.

The trip was prompted when Gastonia’s mayor received a children’s book detailing the incident. He then formally apologized to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, who invited the North Carolina team to Massachusetts.

Joseph Kauila is an outfielder and second baseman for the Springfield American Legion team that will compete against Gastonia.

“It just shows how far they’ve come, and how far we’ve come, too,” Kauila says. “And how far the world’s come to basically accept African American and Hispanic culture inside of the baseball community.”

Sunday’s game at Western New England University will wrap up the three-game series.