BYU baseball is more than just a team — it’s a family.
Many of the players rely on each other like brothers. But for Cooper Jones and Tyler Ball, they actually get to rely on their older brothers Easton Jones and Bryant Ball for help. This is a special bond that not many brothers get to enjoy.
During high school when Cooper and Tyler were considering where to play college ball, their older brothers played a huge part in their decision to come to BYU.
Easton made sure Cooper knew that BYU is a great environment for school and sports.
“He told me how much he enjoyed it and how much he liked the coaches, and just everything here.” Cooper Jones said. “So it was, kind of, an easy decision for me.”
Easton didn’t know if they were going to get to play together, but he still encouraged Cooper to come to BYU.
“I don’t think I was really surprised by it, but more just excited,” Easton Jones said.
This year isn’t the first time they’ve been on the same team, but it is the first time the Jones brothers have played together.
In high school, Easton was a senior and Cooper was a freshman at American Fork High School, but Easton played on varsity and Cooper played on the freshman team.
Despite never playing a “real” game together, Easton and Cooper grew up in a baseball-loving family. Their dad was drafted by the Yankees in 2000 and made his Major League debut for the Dodgers in 2009, and instilled his love of the game into Easton and Cooper.
Although there was the normal brotherly fighting and competition, they have fond memories of each other playing baseball when they were kids. Easton said that when he was 12 years old, Cooper got to play as an extra pick up player on his team.
“I remember thinking that was always pretty funny. He had a game tying hit,” Easton said.
Cooper appreciates the memories he is able to make with his brother now. They both agreed that it was extremely memorable sharing the field together for the first time, and it was a cool experience hitting back-to-back in the lineup earlier in the season.
“Playing together is kind of a dream come true,” Cooper said. “It’s very cool. Not a lot of people get to play on the same college baseball team as their brother.”
Being on the same team also has its challenges. There are times when one brother might have a great game, and the other brother didn’t play so well. But the Jones brothers said that their dad always taught them to never let their emotions get too intense and to always support their brother regardless of how their game goes.
Tyler had a different journey in his decision to come to BYU. He originally committed to Stanford, but after seeing Bryant serve a mission, he decided he wanted to serve a mission too. He withdrew his commitment from Stanford and started exploring other options. Other schools had their perks, but his brother playing at BYU and the standards at the school pulled him to Provo.
“I love what BYU has to offer, and the family-like connection and unity it has,” Tyler Ball said. “And then obviously my brother was [at BYU], so it was a pretty easy decision.”
Even before Tyler committed to BYU, Bryant always wanted Tyler to play as a BYU Cougar.
“It’s been quite the process for him to end up here. It was really exciting,” Bryant Ball said. “I’ve been pushing for it for a while, and so it was really cool [when he committed to BYU].”
This is also the first time the Ball brothers get to play on the same team. They were supposed to play together at Skyridge High School, with Bryant as a senior and Tyler as a freshman, but the Covid-19 pandemic canceled the season.
Growing up and now being at BYU, there is a lot of competition between Bryant and Tyler, but that competition fuels them to be better.
“If maybe I didn’t do so good and he did great, I'm still happy,” Bryant Ball said. “There is that level of competition for sure, but I feel similarly emotionally invested in my performance as I do in his.”
They each are dedicated to helping the other perform well, even if that happens to be on a bad day.
Tyler and Bryant Ball chose to share rooms this year when they travel, which has been fun for them. They shared that they approach the field and a game pretty similarly, and they get stressed for each other no matter who is on the mound.
They often played wiffleball as kids, and the fun, competition and playing together is what started their love for baseball. Tyler shared that one time while playing, Bryant hit a line drive with the wiffle ball right into his chest.
“I honestly feel like that’s where our love for baseball came from, is competing that way as kids,” Bryant Ball said.
Bryant and Tyler are very close and have loved being on the same team, and with whatever challenges arise, they are grateful they get to play at least one year of Division I baseball together.
The bonds made playing together are not something many people get to experience, but Cooper and Easton, and Bryant and Tyler have been lucky enough to join that elite club.
This may be the only time in their lives they get to play on the same team, so they will continue to soak up the memories through the rest of the season.