Baseball team heads to the Dominican Republic

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The BYU baseball team will spend its Thanksgiving break in the Dominican Republic participating in service projects and playing games against Major League Baseball developmental teams.

BYU coach Vance Law is looking forward to taking his team to another country where baseball is popular with the citizens.

[media-credit name=”Luke Hansen” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]
BYU Baseball players Bret Lopez (left) and Wes Guenther (right) sit in boxes full of baseball gear that are being sent to the Domincan Republic.
“I am excited for the opportunity to take our team down to the Dominican because we know it is a huge baseball area,” Law said. “Baseball is their national pastime and it’s going to be a great chance for us to go down and play some baseball.”

While in the Dominican Republic, the team will also spend time serving the people.

“We are going to visit an orphanage and deliver hygiene kits for the Church,” Law said. “We will also spend all of Wednesday conducting a baseball clinic and delivering baseball equipment. This is a great chance for the players to learn about service and to represent the Church.”

The team will also take several crates of donated baseball equipment, which was collected through an Eagle Scout project in Orem.

“We have so much equipment to take with us,” Law said. “It’s going to be great to give it to these people who love baseball so much. I think they will be very excited for the equipment.”

Senior Stephen Wells went to the MTC in the Dominican Republic and is excited for the opportunity to return.

“The people there are so loving and caring,” Wells said. “I am so excited to go back and help put a smile on their faces.”

The team will play against the developmental teams for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. Law said this is a great opportunity because of the talent these four teams possess.

“These teams are made of young guys the baseball teams find in the Dominican,” Law said. “They are extremely talented. They may not be as polished but they have lots of skill.”

Wells believes it will be a neat experience to see how the BYU team stacks up against the other teams.

“I am excited to see how our team matches up to the developmental teams,” Wells said. “We have a really good team this year so I think we will match up pretty well.”

Law thinks this trip will be full of many different but good opportunities for the players and coaches.

“We’ll play games in the morning, do service in the afternoons, have some fun and represent the Church,” Law said. “It will be a well-rounded trip.”

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