Youth baseball: Instructional League lives up to name

Benham Field at Jim Parker Park started to come to life around 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning as Mundo Tavares opened the gates to the dugouts before going to the storage shed to get the bases and equipment to mark the field.

It was tournament time for the Instructional League in this year's Odessa Youth Baseball Association City Championships, but plenty still was left to do before the first pitch could be thrown.

As the players on the Bulls, Tavares' Instructional League team, began trickling into the dugout and then on to the field to begin warming up for a game, Tavares continued his pregame chores -marking the batters box, chalking the base lines and putting the dividing lines on the field to break up the positions around the infield.

Then, with the help of a parent, Tavares went back to the equipment shed for the pitching machine, the final piece of the puzzle in this transition from T-ball and Little League's Minors Division.

"It's a great situation for everyone," said Tavares, who coaches his son Jovan. "This is the first time that a lot of player have had pitches thrown to them, and it really is a learning experience. From the beginning of the year, when players are coming in from T-ball, to right now, there is a tremendous amount of improvement. It's a lot of fun watching the players grow during the year."

The Instructional League teaches the game of baseball to players ages 7-8. Fundamentals such as running, throwing to the right base on the infield and from the outfield, and facing a pitched ball for the first time are taught.

The pitches come in at 40 mph and at a height that is set before the game by both coaches and the umpire, who calls balls and strikes from behind the machine.

"That's part of the learning process, too," said Mark Figert of OYBA. "The players have to learn about how to interact with each other, the coaches and the umpires."

It is not just the players who are learning, though.

Many coaches at the level are first- or second-year volunteers who still are learning the game. Tavares has been coaching for three years because his son played "up" for one year and will be moving to the Minors next year.

"This is the game of baseball we are teaching," Tavares said. "This is the base for every game they play after this year."

It is teaching that is going on all around Odessa, and teams from Little Leagues at Sherwood, North Ector and Floyd Gwin began the first round of the tournament on Saturday morning. The tournament continues through Tuesday, when a champion will be decided.