From New Mexico to New York, a Las Cruces youth baseball team, the NM/TX Majors, is traveling to Cooperstown, NY, to take part in the 2025 Cooperstown All-Star Village.
From July 24 to July 30, the NM/TX Majors will be representing Las Cruces and Texas.
They will play in the tournament against more than 80 other teams from across the country.
The Cooperstown All-Star Tournaments are a unique opportunity for youth baseball players ages 10 to 12 years old to play in a major league style tournament with players from other skilled teams.
While every team is guaranteed to play seven games, the players will have to give it their all to qualify for the main tournament, where the teams will play back-to-back games until there is one winner.
This will be a completely new experience for many of the players. For team member Eduardo Escapita, 12, it will be his first time playing outside of Las Cruces and the surrounding area.
“I’ve never done anything like this,” Escapita said.
The team consists mainly of kids from Las Cruces. However, when making the team, Coach Sal Gomez said he needed to look outside the city. He brought on four kids from El Paso and one from Houston. Due to the players’ mix of hometowns, Gomez named the team the NM/TX Majors.
“There hasn’t been a lot of teams from [here], especially in the Las Cruces area, to go all the way over there and showcase. Hey, Las Cruces has baseball talent as well,” Gomez said. “It’s not just the West Coast or the East Coast.”
NM/TX Majors has been preparing for this event for months, in and out of practice.
To fund the travel, the team has been hosting fundraisers. Not only have they been working for their entry, but they are also working to raise funds for packages that include souvenirs and professional action shots from the game for parents.
For the past six months, the players hosted multiple fundraising events. Whether it be football squares or enchilada and bake sales, they have taken every opportunity to support the week of Cooperstown baseball.
“One thing I wanted to do for the kids is, I wanted to make sure that this is an experience of a lifetime,” Gomez said. "I just didn’t want to do the bare minimum, right? That’s why we say ‘Hey, we’re going to be getting a lot of pins to trade for pin trading. We’re going to include the bedding package so that way my parents don’t have to get there and go out and buy sheets, a pillow, blanket stuff like that. We’re also going to include the photo package, so they’re getting action shots every single day while they’re out on the baseball field.’”
The team is not only in it for fun and baseball games, but they also have the goal of winning the top spot.
According to Gomez, they have a fierce determination and are ready to bring their A-game. These past months the team has been practicing, with the kids honing their skills to prepare them for a rigorous set of back-to-back games.
Another NM/TX Majors player, Romeo Lugo, 11, said this is a brand new experience for him.
“I’ve gone to a few big tournaments, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone to one like this,” Lugo said. “I’m really excited to go to New York. I’ve never been there, and I get to go play baseball, which is my favorite thing to do.”
To support the NM/TX Majors, they can be found on Venmo at venmo.com/u/LCRedSox-CASV
NM/TX Majors, 2025 Cooperstown All-Star Village