my brothers’ keeper

Baseball squad sees multiple brothers participate in program

A great team is more than just a team. It’s a family. It’s a program where players don’t think of themselves as teammates, but as brothers instead. But for some players, that’s not something they have to imagine.

Three current baseball players — juniors Brad Boedecker, Nathan Hodge and Brandon Jennings — all have older brothers who played baseball for and graduated from A&M Consolidated in the past few years, and all have had those relationships play a role in their baseball careers.

Head baseball coach Ryan Lennerton says having sets of brothers in the baseball program helps foster a familial bond that benefits the entire team.

“Everyday when we break out we say ‘family,’”

Lennerton said.

“We’ve always had a set of brothers in the program. It’s a continual cycle of different families, but we keep having a real family within our program.”

All three have been able to use their older brothers’ experience as a source of advice throughout their athletic career.

Tyler Jennings

Second baseman

“I’ve had somebody to ask questions to,” Brandon Jennings said. “Given that we’ve had the same coach, it’s definitely helped.”

Wesley Boedecker, Brad’s older brother who graduated last year, says he enjoyed the opportunity to mentor Brad and his friends.

“We got to be in the baseball class together my senior year,” Wesley Boedecker said. “[He and] his friends all [had] a close relationship. We could kind of mentor them to step back and go, ‘It’s not the same. For better or worse, they’re not the same person.’ And so I really treat them just like I treat the other players.”

Jennings says the competitiveness of baseball often spills over into the relationship between brothers.

“It gets really competitive,” Brandon Jennings said. “It’s difficult to do the same thing your brother does. You’re always competing and trying to be better than the other. It can put a strain on the relationship.”

The elder Boedecker hopes his brother and his friends can become leaders in the same way he mentored them.

“I just hope they can take what they learned and pass it down – especially their senior year – to the incoming freshmen.” Wesley Boedecker said.

Ryan Lennerton and give them someone to lean on if they needed anything. And it felt good to be there with them.”

For coaches, the constant comparisons between older and younger siblings often presents a challenge.

“The expectations for their older brothers were all different,” Lennerton said. “The expectations for [the current players] are all different. [But] it’s tough to not compare their work ethic and their skill and things like that to their brother. You have

Lennerton says that all three younger siblings are model members of the program.

“They work hard every day,” Lennerton said. “The three of them are very diligent about their work. They’re very intentional about their work. And they’re really good kids.”

Brandon Jennings

Outfielder