VELMA On Thursday, Velma-Alma baseball kicks off its annual Jake Leffler Wooden Bat Tournament, named after the late Comet baseball player who passed away in his senior year in 2000.

Two years later, baseball coach Jimmy Miller helped develop the tournament to honor the former Velma-Alma baseball, basketball and football star. This year, Colt Allison, who played against Leffler in high school, leads the Comets (3-11) into their first game of the tournament, 1:30 p.m. Thursday versus Bray-Doyle. Allison said its special to the team as he feels Lefflers legacy is still fresh in the players memories.

For me as a coach, I would love to come out and represent Jake and his family well in this tournament, Allison said. It is something thats on our mind and would be very exciting for us to go accomplish that.

Velma-Alma had its last two games, against Ringling on Monday and Comanche on Tuesday, rained out. The Comets took the opportunity to travel to No. 4 Sterling on Tuesday instead, losing 8-0. Allison said it gave the team some confidence because it was 3-0 after four innings.

Athletically, physically, we can compete with them, Allison said. I truly believe that. We just dont have enough baseball experience underneath our belt yet.

The Tigers are one of the favorites to win the tournament, with No. 11 Central High close behind. Velma-Alma have lost twice to Central High this season, 6-2 on March 14 and 15-2 on April 3. Still, senior Ty Richardson says he wants to see his team holding the trophy on Saturday. He thinks the Comets have to limit their mistakes in order to do that.

We cant have any errors in the field, Richardson said. We just got to put a full seven innings together.

Freshman Tyler Martin said the Comets sometimes let things get out of hand. They tend to let one mistake turn into multiple mistakes, which leads to a big inning for the opposition. Martin said his coach makes a point to talk about keeping things under control.

Martin has been one of the key pitchers for Velma-Alma. He does it by challenging the hitters to put the ball in play.

He doesnt throw a lot of junk, but he throws strikes every pitch, Richardson said. Its really important to hit your spots, hit the corners. Hes good at that.

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Leffler inspires Comets in home tournament