DeVonte Ford had an epiphany while spending vacation time with his wife in Hawaii in December 2024.
He missed playing baseball back home in Thurston County.
Ford, a 2015 Timberline High School graduate and four-year baseball player, had competed with the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League for two years in 2021 and 2022. While the opportunity to compete on the diamond somewhat scratched the baseball itch he was looking for, the commute up north was not ideal, especially while raising a young child. Ford often wouldn’t return home from games until after midnight.
“There were a bunch of great guys up there. The drive up there with our kid now was just too much,” Ford said.
While still in Hawaii, Ford put a feeler on social media to see who would be interested in joining an adult baseball league in Thurston County. The idea had been kicking around in his brain for several months, as back in the early spring of 2024, he received an Instagram follow from an account named “Olympia Adult Baseball League.”
Ford reached out to the account, run by Esteban Fernandez Jr., and expressed interest in building an adult baseball league in Thurston County. The two talked over text for a short time, but nothing initially came of the conversation.
About nine months later, Ford kicked off the process of starting the Thurston County Adult Baseball League with social media marketing, design of team uniforms, tryouts for athletes, a draft to build rosters, and the addition of coaches. Fernandez applied to be a coach for the league.
When Ford first announced tryouts for the league, an overwhelming number of players registered. An additional tryout date was added to meet the high demand.
“It was nothing short of amazing. There’s a lot of great ballplayers. I feel like we’re putting a great product together,” Ford, the former Oakville High School baseball head coach and current Timberline assistant coach, said. “I’m super proud of the coaches that we have. It’s great to continue to get the talent that we are getting.”
The inaugural 2025 summer season saw four teams with “barely” 12 players apiece, capped off by a postseason run conquered by the champion Outlaws, the team Ford suits up for. In year two, the Thurston County Adult Baseball League has grown to six teams with 15 players apiece, and the league also has a full taxi pool of players available. Ford said he still receives emails “constantly” weeks into the season from people who are interested even after the rosters were more than full.
The league’s six teams — the Outlaws, the Pocket Gophers, the Salamanders, the Jalapeños, and the two expansion teams the Gunners and the Monarchs — compete once or twice per week at either the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey, Timberline High School’s baseball field and Ed Wheeler Field in Centralia. Not every player comes from Thurston County, but many played baseball for area high schools. Some players are fresh out of high school, while others are college students and some are in their 40s. One athlete last season even suited up while in their mid-60s.
“The older guys that we’ve had in this league have been pretty good and can handle their own,” Ford said. “The coaches have been pretty good about making sure those guys are getting reps and seeing a bunch of improvement.”
Ford said this opportunity has brought back a competitive spark and a sense of camaraderie for a handful of players. During Tuesday night’s contest between the Salamanders and the Outlaws at Wheeler Field, players jokingly chirped at one another throughout the game. The sounds of the game were much like that of a local high school game, with teammates cheering each other on. Of course, the Outlaws were a bit more joyous in an 11-1 rout behind Andrew Stanrock’s complete-game gem on the mound. Stanrock, a right-handed sidearm pitcher, graduated from North Thurston High School in 2019.
“There’s definitely some smack talking. It’s grown men, and it can get a little chippy sometimes,” Ford said. “It’s always good competitiveness. No one ever really means anything malicious by it. It’s just a fun thing. No one takes anything too seriously.”
In the near future, Ford hopes that the league can add at least two new teams each year and eventually break into age brackets. The Thurston County Adult Baseball League will host its second annual all-star game scheduled for July 5 at Timberline High School. Players from the league also make up a travel team called the Banana Sluggers with the hopes of one day competing in the Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series in Arizona.
“We want to compete. That’s our biggest thing,” Ford said. “We want to put the best product out there, whether it’s our teams in this league or with our travel team that goes to tournaments. I love the atmosphere of being out here. It’s competitive. I’m super grateful for everyone that’s been a part of it. Without all of the players, I wouldn’t be able to do this. I don’t do this to make money or anything. I try to charge the bare minimum just to get guys to play and to bring baseball back to the area.”
To learn more about the Thurston County Adult Baseball League, visit tcabl.org and the league’s Instagram @tcabl2026.
