Diamondback pitcher Brody Heinemann, 10, center, reacts after his team knocked out Yankee Collin Martinez, left, during their Little League game at Ragle Park in Santa Fe on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/ Albuquerque Journal)
Yankees’ Armandre Gabaldon, left, watches Dominic Jameson, right, score a run against Diamondbacks pitcher Brody Heinemann, No. 5, after a pitch got by the catcher. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Jameson gets a high five from Coach Benjamin Sanchez after scoring a point against the Diamondbacks in a game on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Coach David Webb, right, talks to his team, the Rampage, during a game at Ragle Park on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Bats ready for use by the Yankees Little League team during a game at Ragle Park in Santa Fe on Monday, April 18. 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Isaac Glass, with the Rampage, delivers a pitch during their game against the Pecos Pirates at Ragle Park in Santa Fe on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Johnathan Vigil, playing for the Pecos Pirates, makes contact during a Little League game at Ragle Park in Santa Fe on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Jolene Roybal, left, with her daughter Sefie Ortiz, 15, watches her son play for the Pecos Pirates during a Little League game at Ragle Park in Santa Fe on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal )
Basic balls, strikes and hi-jinks are back in full supply in Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Little League season kicked off this month with 62 baseball and softball teams split into different groups of age, including players as young as 3.5 years old.
In all, the league has 840 kids chasing after fly balls, cheering on their teammates and learning the strike zone.
This level of participation is by far the highest since the league’s 2020 season was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And who knows? There could well be a future big league in the mix.
To date, 30 New Mexico-born players have reached Major League Baseball, including four active players – Alex Bregman, Ken Giles, Trevor Rogers and Mitch Garver.
Albuquerque Journal and its reporters are committed to telling the stories of our community.
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