New Youth Baseball and Softball Program Underway
By John Earp
Jal’s 2026 Youth Softball, Baseball, and T-Ball season has been underway for the past couple of weeks. The newly formed organization is led by Zach Brandt, along with Yesenia Locklar, Kelly Deck, Corey Fulfer, KC Taylor, and Mauricio Valeriano. The six-week season began in the third week of May. Brandt said he and the other leaders stepped up this year in hopes of building a strong foundation of baseball and softball skills for Jal’s young athletes. A total of 162 children signed up for the Little League program this season.
Brandt says, “We’re trying to get more kids involved. Football and basketball have always drawn strong participation here, but baseball and softball have lagged behind—even compared with nearby towns. My son plays baseball, and I’ve coached kids his age and a little older on travel teams for years. We’ve played in Odessa, Midland, Kermit, and Wink. At some point, it became clear that we needed to bring these kids together here so they could start developing and be better prepared for high school. Over the past two or three years, I watched the local baseball, T-ball, and softball programs fall short. We weren’t doing enough, and too many kids were falling behind. I’d been talking for three years about creating something better, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone because of my work and other responsibilities in town. Eventually, others started noticing the same issues and said they were ready to help. Once four or five people were willing to sit down and form a board with me, I knew we could move forward.”
Games are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with some also scheduled on Fridays. There are four T-ball teams this season, each with two coaches. Children ages 7, 8, and 9 play coach-pitch games.
Brandt said he hopes participation will continue to grow next season as the youth baseball program builds momentum. He said, “Right now, our biggest challenge is field space. I’ve been talking with both the school and the city because we need more baseball fields. The high school field is simply too large for many of these players. With four T-ball teams, three coach-pitch teams, five softball teams, and two older baseball teams trying to share just two fields, scheduling practices and games is extremely difficult. Not every team practices every Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, but the fields are still in use every day of the week—from Monday through Sunday. We even have people using them on Saturday mornings at 9 a.m.”
Brandt said one of the program’s main goals is to help elementary-age children develop the skills they need so they are not starting from scratch when they reach high school. He said, “When I’ve gone to watch high school baseball this year—and even in the past two years—it’s been hard to watch because we’re so far behind. At the end of the day, some of that falls on parents, but it also falls on me and on anyone else who could have stepped up sooner. Too many kids are reaching high school without ever having played baseball, and that’s frustrating.”
Brandt said he has spoken with Jal Schools Superintendent Brian Snider about helping the build a solid foundation through the new youth sports program for the district, with its excellent softball and baseball facilities. While the JHS Softball Team has consistently performed well for years, he notes the JHS Baseball Team has struggled since the program was reinstated nearly 10 years ago. He hopes the new youth program will help strengthen Jal’s high school baseball program especially in the years ahead.
The Youth Baseball, Softball, and T-Ball teams will continue playing through June.