After Devastating Earthquakes, Youth Baseball League in Venezuela Reels from Tragedy

[Title] After Devastating Earthquakes, Youth Baseball League in Venezuela Reels from Tragedy

Coaches were flooded with reports of missing children immediately after the earthquakes. Dozens of kids from Venezuela’s top youth league were hospitalized, some now orphaned. Samuel Brito, a 12-year-old baseball prodigy, was rescued from rubble in a dramatic video. He survived only because his parents shielded him from collapsing walls that killed his mother and father.

Many remain unaccounted for, likely buried under collapsed structures. Several from the league perished with their families, though exact numbers remain unclear. Franco Gutiérrez, 4, was found hugging his mother in the ruins of his home, his father nearby. Hiram Villarroel, 6, a budding pitcher, remains missing with his parents in his collapsed apartment.

“I feel helpless,” said Hiram’s godfather, Russell Vásquez, who has searched the wreckage daily. Others mourned lost teammates and coaches, with league president Jhorny Sojo recounting hospital visits where families shared photos of missing children. “People reported: ‘This child is missing. That child isn’t here.’ That’s when hope faded,” he said.

La Guaira, hardest-hit coastal city home to 600 Los Criollitos players (ages 4-17), faces profound loss. Once packed with samba rhythms and baseball energy, the city now echoes with silence. Sojo, who barely escaped his own collapsing home, describes the despair of tallying casualties while honoring family privacy.

Coaches and umpires also died. Nationwide deaths exceed 4,490, though Venezuela’s toll may rise as bodies are found. National president Delida Yepez de Quevedo called: “Everything is paralyzed.” Baseball fields now shelter homeless families, with children swinging improvised bats between tents.

Tragedy struck deeply: Morales, Sojo’s club coach, reported six deceased children and ten parents—most survived attending a pre-quake festival. Nationally, Los Criollitos — Latin America’s largest grassroots league — faces existential disruption. Stadiums hold relief supplies; tournaments become memorials.

For over six decades, 40,000 Criollitos players pursued dreams from Andean villages to the Amazon. Stars like José Altuve emerged from their ranks. “It’s a trampoline for kids escaping poverty,” said Barinas leader Jean Amaro. Despite sacrifices, Raymer Flores (10) wonders: “If a teammate strikes out, do we boo?”

At halted practice fields where Yeferson Seijas (12) guards his trinity of caps, the trauma lingers. “We want to play again,” say displaced children, yet recovery seems distant. “They didn’t break us,” Sojo insists. “They swallowed us whole.”

Reporting by Fabiola Ferrero and Tibisay Romero.

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