By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Fifteen Del Rio ballplayers and their coaches gathered Wednesday at Wings and Rings before heading to Eagle Pass Thursday, where they will play in the Babe Ruth Baseball 14U World Series.
The team is comprised of LeRoy Briones Jr., Liam Riemann, Ryan Herrera, Andres Delgado, Kase Gee, Isaiah A. Salinas, Donny Guajardo, Santiago Diaz, Cooper West, Ashton Casillas, Alejandro Salas, Adriel Flores, Yadier Ozuna, Adan Randez and Eddie Amezcua III.
They are coached by Derome West, head coach, and assistant coaches Daniel Randez, Juan Leija and Martin Garcia. LeRoy Briones is the president of Del Rio Babe Ruth Baseball for the current year.
West spoke to The 830 Times before the get-together.
West said, “Me along with the rest of the coaching staff, we’re extremely excited about this opportunity for our 14U Babe Ruth All-Stars. What a great opportunity; one, that the World Series is being hosted in Eagle Pass and two, to be invited to it.
“This is an opportunity for these boys that very few kids ever get the privilege of doing. They get to play against the best teams in the world, almost as the home team; other than Eagle Pass, we’re as close as it gets. These boys will have the opportunity to, when we play teams from the United States, they will wear their ‘Team Del Rio’ uniforms, but when we play international teams, they’ll get to wear the ‘Team USA’ uniforms, which is another great opportunity for them, to represent the United States of America,” he added.
West said the Team Del Rio 14U All-Stars will first face a team from Latin America on Saturday afternoon, and in their second game on Sunday, they will face a team from the Caribbean.
West added the entire “Team USA” package for each of the players was sponsored by The Khoury Group.
The team’s head coach also thanked the other Del Rio area sponsors who will make the youngsters’ once-in-a-lifetime trip to the World Series more enjoyable, providing a variety of customized team gear, like cleats and batting helmets, and brand-new backpacks with the “Team Del Rio” logo patch.
West said, “I’ve been privileged and humbled to be able to coach them from the beginning of the Babe Ruth season, with our team, which was the Rangers, up until now with the 14U All-Stars.
“All these kids have come together, they’ve sacrificed the majority of their summer, with practices three times a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“Also, the community response and support has been overwhelming. UCO, Ram Country, the Rio Vista Ranch, Signs Now, Deeds Tees and More, Wings and Rings and Cardinal Points Coffee, a lot of people have come together to donate significant amounts to support these boys. And with that, we were able to pay for all their uniforms and some of the equipment you see here, the helmets, the bags, the caps, the polo shirts, the cleats.
“I want to give a shout-out and special thank you to LeRoy Briones, the president of the league, and to Rita Herrera, who has done so much, literally on her own, as a volunteer and team mom. She’s done things like getting the embroidery done on the shirts and ordering the stickers,” West said.
He said the team will meet at Toyota of Del Rio at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, and at 2:30 p.m., the team will get an escort through town as they head to Eagle Pass for team sign-ups.
West said, “It’s really been a huge community event. It makes you really proud to be a part of Del Rio. The response has been overwhelming.”
West said there are also a number of donors who have helped the team, but who have asked to remain anonymous.
West said, “I want to thank all the parents, who have entrusted the boys to me. They have always been a part of it. These kids are 14 years old; they can’t drive. They brought their kids to practice. They rely on their parents, and all the parents have come together in a huge way to make this possible.”
Finally, West thanked his coaching staff, saying, “I couldn’t do it without them.”
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
