CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — New York Yankee catcher Jose Trevino grew up playing baseball in the Coastal Bend and now, he's coming back home to help kids who love the game just as much as he does.
Trevino has been hosting a tournament for three years now but said this one will be very special since it will be here in South Texas --- the place he calls home.
Teams from Dallas and San Antonio will also be participating in the tournament that will begin on Dec. 9 - 10 at the Portland Municipal Park.
One of the lucky teams who got chosen was the STX Diamondbacks from the city's Westside.
"I take a lot of pride in where I'm from I just try to inspire as many kids because of where we are from not many kids get out and are able to play major league baseball," Trevino said.
He added that half of it is to give back to the community but the other half is that he wants kids to be inspired to chase their dreams and be whatever they want to be.
"Yeah we were jumping up and down and I actually think we broke one of our tables," 11-year-old Mason Lopez said.
The STX Diamondbacks are a part of the Pony League that operates out of the city's Westside. Head coach Lee Colton told KRIS 6 News reporter Naidy Escobar that they didn't see this opportunity coming but it's definitely a moment his team will always remember.
"It means the world, not only to me but to these kids," Colton said. "Some of us miss these opportunities as kids growing up or whatever, and to just live that moment through them it's just amazing just to see it from the sidelines and see how happy they were you know just to see the tears of joy just from being picked, just to compete with some of these teams and being on the list with some of these teams it's just amazing."
Getting to see Trevino on Facebook was an experience in itself for these kids.
"I was happy that a famous baseball player was picking us," Lopez said.
"It's crazy that we got picked in the raffle I was just happy for my whole team," Adrain Colton said.
Trevino added the tournament was already at capacity with at least 12 teams on the waiting list for every age division. But he and his partner from Play 24 Sports put up a post to pick one team from each age group.
The STX Diamondbacks had their 10u division and their 12u and sure enough, they were not only picked once but twice.
"It was one of my better moments I think because you know they were not only following the rules they were like all in on them and you could tell how bad they wanted to be in the tournament and I think it going to be great to see them," Trevino said.
Trevino said there will be a lot of surprises and the fun will begin at the Whataburger field on Friday, Dec. 8.
