Reviving the Diamond: A New Era for Brunswick Community Baseball
By Kaydin Wright, BEAT reporter
BRUNSWICK, OH- A new era of baseball and softball has come to the city of Brunswick - one built on opportunity and community pride. The newly formed Brunswick Youth Baseball and Softball Association (BYBSA) founded by Dominic DePompei isn’t just about baseball and softball. It's about bringing players back to the City of Brunswick to unite with the community and local businesses in the love of the game across every age and skill level.
DePompei (President of BYBSA) didn’t initially have plans to form BYBSA, but he had been approached on numerous occasions about bringing better baseball and softball opportunities back to the City of Brunswick. “When it came to baseball one thing we noticed were the facilities falling into disrepair and a recurring theme of poor communication and lack of development opportunities in the sports of baseball and softball,” said DePompei. Because of this, DePompei and his partners poured their time, experience, and love for the game into forming a new era of baseball and softball in the City of Brunswick and formed BYBSA.
DePompei started from scratch. In its early stages, BYBSA had no property, no equipment, and DePompei didn’t even have access to any of Brunswick’s ball fields or facilities until March of 2025. Many of the ball fields were missing home plates and pitching rubbers. The facilities at the fields, such as bathrooms and concessions were in a state of disrepair. It was quickly discovered by BYBSA staff that all the previous equipment was either sold, taken, or thrown away. In light of all this, DePompei said, “We were able to swiftly overcome the majority of these challenges and have developed a fantastic working relationship with the City of Brunswick who helped at a great length in our efforts to restore these parks to their glory and bring better baseball and softball to this town.”
Despite these odds, DePompei and BYBSA surpassed expectations. In the spring of 2025 80 teams spread across ages 3-18 registered for and played baseball or softball in the City of Brunswick. Also, in 2025, BYBSA even began offering free camps for softball that have never been offered before. Furthermore, in 2025 BYBSA started fall ball and it was a huge success. DePompei credits the success of BYBSA to the people willing to dedicate their time and effort in support of this program and to the City of Brunswick - specifically, Marissa Brigger, site manager, and Lucas Brown, head of field crew. Brigger worked tirelessly to ensure teams had everything they needed for games on a nightly basis. Brown managed the field crew and made sure fields were ready to go on a daily basis.
In the near future, DePompei has significant projects planned to continue to bring Brunswick’s ballparks back to their former glory and Brunswick’s ball players back to the City. DePompei also wants to focus on community engagement by bringing more sponsors and volunteers to the program. “Finally, it has been and always will be our goal to make sure every kid who wants to play baseball or softball gets an opportunity to do so,” he said.
You can learn more about BYBSA and the many great opportunities they offer our community at brunswickbybsa.com or by following them on their Facebook page
Kaydin Wright, Brunswick Middle School, is one of over fifty student “backpack journalists” (grades 6-12) in the award-winning BEAT Video Program. The program, celebrating its 25th year, is sponsored by Donut Land, Plum Creek Assisted Living Community, MODA Gifting, Scripps Howard Foundation and the Brunswick Rotary Club. Go to https://www.bcsoh.org/community/new-beat-site to learn more about the Program, or visit https://thebeat.viebit.com/?folder=ALL to view videos produced by the students.
PHOTOS: DePompei (with beard, black cap and shirt) with other adults and people that help with the rec league; DePompei with a new softball team.