For months, Owensboro natives JW O’Bryan, Jon Roberts, and Mike Velotta discussed Little League and how girls didn’t have the same opportunities in the area. Months later, the three created their own local league – Daviess County Little League Fastpitch Softball. The inaugural season, which ended at the end of May, consisted of four teams aged 10-12, playing 12 games.
“It was something for the last couple of years we had discussed doing and had looked into doing, but we had never just really gotten it going,” Roberts said. “JW and Mike got hold of the right people and everything started to fall into together. We were uncertain if this was going to happen, but obviously it did. Us three leading together was really fun.”
Both O’Bryan and Velotta separately researched options, and after realizing they had the same goals, they joined forces.
“I run a fast-pitch organization that is based in Owensboro,” Velotta said. “The girls that we have in our organization are fortunate to have a lot of talent. With the talent that we have, we travel the county and compete in high-level softball tournaments. Something we realized along the way is that Little League gains plenty of attention in the local areas, regional areas, and the national area as well. In the travel ball circuit, you don’t really have those opportunities. I was researching it from the perspective of how do we bring Little League to Daviess County to give these girls an opportunity to show what they can do.”
Despite a late start at creating and spreading the word, 44 players registered. To find interested players, the three used their connections as coaches in travel softball – reaching out to the kids who were age elgible to spread the word.
“We were kind of late to the game because when you start leagues, you start those in the winter,” Velotta said. “We were a little bit behind, but we were able to get the word out and have enough kids for a four-team league.”
Alongside Danny Adams, Roberts, O’Bryan, and Velotta each coached one of the four teams.
After the season ended, the All-Star season began. All three of their 10U, 11U, and 12U All-Star teams won their district, but only the 12U All-Star team, coached by Ward Tanner, Jarrod Schroader, Velotta, Roberts, and O’Bryan, will be traveling to State. Both the 10U and 11U teams have scheduling conflicts. Bobby Huff coaches the eight-year-old All-Star team, which also won their district and will be attending the State Tournament for their age group.
The 12U State Tournament is scheduled to start on July 5th, and the 8U State Tournament the following weekend. During the 12U District Tournament, Daviess County outscored its opponents 40-0, leading to high expectations for the team.
“We feel like we have a team full of very talented athletes,” Velotta said. “We fully expect that we will be in contention to win the State Tournament with the roster that we have.”
If Daviess County wins the State Tournament, the next step is the Regional Tournament in Indianapolis and then the World Series in Greenville, North Carolina.
During the creation of their league, the three reached out to John DeJarnette, who is the president of the boys’ East Daviess County Little League and they acknowledged his impact.
“With the help of John DeJarnette, we have built the foundation for it to be a league that continues on for the years to come,” Velotta said. “We feel like with the success we had this year, it will continue to grow year after year.”
