Ballplayers members of a 4-star family
By Randy Capps
The Sandspur
Four boys, four brothers and four all-stars. It's been a busy summer in the Jayne household.
Scott and Katrina Jayne's sons all were selected for all-star teams recently.
Bryan, 18, and Garrett, 15, played on the Dixie Majors and Pre Majors squads, respectively, while the twins, Andrew and Christian, 10, are on the "O"Zone team that won the state championship and is playing this weekend in the Dixie World Series in Lexington, S.C.
Having four sons playing baseball presents its own set of challenges for parents in terms of time management - adding the responsibilities of travel ball and all-star teams just adds to the juggling act.
"Well, Bryan's able to drive, so that helps some," said their father, Scott Jayne. "Sometimes it gets a little crazy. But it's worth it."
If it takes a village to raise a child, then in Hope Mills, it takes one to bring up baseball players.
"We're constantly getting with other parents that we know we can trust," Jayne said. "Sometimes, they'll take the boys to games or practice. Sometimes, I'd go to games on Saturday and (their mother) could go on Sunday.
"We all do it together."
Bryan and Garrett played together in the regular season before playing on different all-star teams.
"I've been real pleased with everything I've been able to do," Bryan said. "I'm happy with as far as I've gone. Now, I look forward to seeing them go as far as they can.
"Growing up here in Hope Mills, and the Gray's Creek community, it's just been nice. It's a tight community. We've been real tight with the people here. I wouldn't have wanted to play anywhere else. Couldn't have imagined it."
It's the sort of perspective you might expect from a young man a month away from leaving to study biomedical engineering at the University of North Carolina.
Garrett, a rising sophomore at Gray's Creek, enjoyed the experience of playing with his older brother.
Though one suspects it motivated him as well.
"I've never played with a brother before, so that was pretty neat this year," he said. "It kind of motivated me to be better - to kind of out-do him."
The twins are the only ones still playing, thanks to the state championship they helped win back on July 17.
The World Series begins Saturday, and the Jayne family will be there in full force.
"Christian made the last out in the fifth inning of the state championship game, and Andrew made the last two outs in the sixth," Scott Jayne said. "That meant a lot to us."
For some, baseball is just a game. To others, it's a way of life.
"We took a family vacation a few years ago to Cooperstown," Scott Jayne said of his family trip to the site of the Baseball Hall of Fame. "So I guess you can say we're hooked on baseball as a family."
And Andre Dawson's recent Hall of Fame speech, in which he emphasized playing the game the right way, wasn't wasted on Scott Jayne.
"Character does matter," he said. "We try to raise our boys that way. To excel in the classroom - we're making sure they excel in life, not just in sports."
But they are brothers, first and foremost.
"I think a lot about what George Brett said when he went into the Hall of Fame," Scott said. "All I ever wanted to be was as good as my older brothers."
Randy Capps can be reached at cappsr@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext. 354.