PORTLAND, Texas — Trevi's Homecoming continued on Saturday with baseball and softball tournaments in Portland.
New York Yankees catcher and Coastal Bend native Jose Trevino hosted the opening ceremony on Friday at Whataburger Field.
One of the youth teams competing in the baseball tournament was Jokers Baseball Club from Abilene, Texas. Pitcher and outfielder Josiah Smith explained what makes competing in the tournament unique.
"It's really cool because you get to see, like, all these cool people. You get all the autographs," Josiah Smith said.
Smith has been playing baseball almost his whole life. He and his teammate, outfielder Grant Brazell, are competing on a team of kids ages 12 and younger. Brazell, who has also played for years, described his experience in his first Trevi's Homecoming tournament.
"It's just like you're going to the, to see an MLB player, then the next day you go to play baseball," Brazell said.
Jokers Baseball Club is one of eight teams in their division. First Base Coach Juddson Smith said this is the second year the team competed in Trevi's Homecoming. He said they got to work with Jose Trevino up-close last year.
"Last year was a really interesting experience. Trevino threw batting practice to our boys at one point," Juddson Smith said.
The club had two games to play on Saturday. The results determined their seed for bracket play on Sunday. Smith explained that kids get to see pro baseball players when they compete in the tournament, and they have more in common with them than they may realize.
"They get to see that these guys started just like they did and just because they made it to the majors, doesn't mean that they're any different. It's just, they have a different job now," Juddson Smith said.
The tournament continues and ends on Sunday in Portland.