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Baseball Via · Barahona, Dominican Republic
Más que un juego.
Es un camino.
Baseball Via is a free youth baseball program in the Dominican Republic that uses the game young people love to create a pathway into education, mentorship, accountability, and opportunity. Through Los Piratas del Sur, more than 60 players participate across three teams—Little League, junior high, and high school—at no required cost to their families while remaining enrolled in school.
Baseball Via is the first active pathway of Vias RD.
Why Baseball Via Exists
The dream is real. It cannot be the only plan.
In the Dominican Republic, baseball can look like the clearest way for a family to escape poverty. Young players train for the chance to sign a professional contract, and families make enormous sacrifices to support that dream.
But most players will not build careers in professional baseball. When school, family, and long-term development are pushed aside, a young person can leave the game without a diploma, practical skills, or another direction for adulthood.
Baseball Via does not ask young people to give up the game. It makes education and accountability part of pursuing it.
For broader context about children and education in the country, visit UNICEF República Dominicana and the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic.
How Baseball Via Works
Baseball is free. Responsibility is required.
Every player and family signs a commitment letter. Vias RD provides access to coaching, equipment, uniforms, games, mentorship, and team support. Players and families agree that education, accountability, character, and communication come first.
Stay in School
Players must remain enrolled and attend classes. Vias RD reviews their grades and attendance each semester, and players are expected to ask for help when they are struggling.
Honor the Team
Players agree to attend practices, follow team rules, respect coaches and teammates, communicate honestly, and represent their families well.
Develop as an Athlete
Players receive regular coaching, equipment, practices, league games, and additional competition opportunities while developing discipline and teamwork.
Accept Support
When grades, attendance, finances, or life circumstances create problems, coaches and staff communicate with players and families, offer encouragement, and provide practical help where they can.
“Most programs ask, ‘Can this player sign?’ We ask, ‘Who can this young person become?’”
The No Buscón Promise
A child's future does not belong to Vias RD.
Vias RD does not take a percentage of a player's signing bonus, control player rights, or demand repayment when a young person receives an opportunity. Coaches are here to develop and mentor players—not own a financial interest in their future.
If a player signs, the achievement belongs to the player and his family. If he does not sign, he still deserves an education, support, and a future with choices.
Los Piratas del Sur
Built in Barahona for the whole young person.
Los Piratas del Sur is the active Baseball Via program. It is not organized only around the few players who may attract professional attention. More than 60 players participate across three teams, with one team in each age division: Little League, junior high, and high school. The program connects athletic development with school, mentorship, family, and responsibility.
School
Attend and remain accountable
Every player is expected to remain enrolled and attend classes. Vias RD reviews attendance and grades each semester.
Practice
Train after school
Players practice nearly every day during the year, developing baseball skills, confidence, discipline, and teamwork.
Competition
Play on Saturdays
Los Piratas del Sur competes against teams from Barahona and surrounding communities.
Opportunity
Grow beyond the routine
Players may participate in RBI Dominican Republic, regional All-Star events, and other development opportunities.
A Baseball Via Story
Julio did not have to choose between baseball and school.
Julio Zenón's story shows what Baseball Via is meant to protect: a young person's ability to pursue the game he loves without sacrificing his education or reducing his entire future to one possible outcome.
Julio's Story
Julio speaks about the motivation behind his work on the field and in school.
Like many Dominican players, Julio Zenón entered the buscón system at a young age hoping to pursue a professional opportunity. His mother made a different choice. She removed him from that system and returned him to school because she believed education needed to remain part of his future.
Julio continued playing baseball with Los Piratas del Sur, became an All-Star, and graduated from high school in 2026. His story is not about abandoning a dream. It is about refusing to let one possible outcome determine an entire life.
Pursue the dream. Stay in school. Build a future.
Julio in Action
The dream is still alive.
Graduation did not end Julio's baseball story. These videos show the ability and work that made him an All-Star player while he remained committed to school.
Julio competing as an All-Star player.
Julio batting during RBI competition.
Baseball remains part of Julio's future.
High School Graduate · 2026
Then the pathway reached a milestone.
In 2026, Julio graduated from high school with his mother beside him. Years earlier, she had made the difficult decision to remove him from the buscón system and return him to school. Graduation did not mean giving up baseball. It meant Julio reached adulthood with both his dream and his diploma still in his hands.
This is why Baseball Via exists: not to choose a young person's future for him, but to make sure he has more than one future available.
What Vias RD Provides
Free for families does not mean free to operate.
Donations cover the people, equipment, and everyday costs required to keep Baseball Via available without required participation fees.
Keep Baseball Via free for every family.
Help cover the real costs of coaching, equipment, uniforms, games, transportation, meals, mentorship, and school accountability for players in Barahona.
Support Baseball Via
Help a player pursue baseball without sacrificing his future.
Your gift supports coaching, uniforms, equipment, league participation, transportation, meals, mentorship, and school accountability for players in Barahona.
Support Baseball Via See Baseball Via results within our impact report