For many, baseball represents community, culture, and celebrating timeless tradition. For the Wake Forest Wombats, sandlot baseball represents a way of life, a chance to connect with friends and strangers, and a space where the love for the game runs deep.
We sat down with Wombats Captain Jason Puryear, the Wake Forest Wombats team captain, to explore what it means to lead a team built on fun, inclusion, and respect for the game. From the team’s dynamic to the legacy of sandlot baseball, Jason shares how he’s keeping the spirit of baseball alive on and off the field.
Q: What inspired you to step into the role of captain for the Wake Forest Wombats? What does being captain mean to you?
Jason Puryear: I’d say it was less of stepping into the role and the role being brought to me. When the first few of us began coming out to play ball and create what we know today as the Wombats, the few of us who decided to take on a leadership role all had different loves and skills around the game. Even today, this is the same for us. From our leadership team, we have great organizers, artists, vibe-curators, and overall planners. For me, the role of captain is the role of caring for the people who are playing ball. This means my job is ensuring every player gets the chance to make the most out of their time and find as much joy and success in every game. I see that I have done my job as captain well when the whole team is encouraging one another, teaching one another, and working well with the other team and the umpires.
Q: How do you balance leadership with having fun on the field?
JP: With how we play ball, my goal is to lead by example. If I can find fun in playing the game, it's way easier to help everyone else do the same. Having fun on the field is a great metric for how I lead through the game. If I find it hard to have fun, that is probably exactly where I need to lead. If the rules are confusing, if the players on the field aren’t working well together, and if people don’t know what to expect each inning, it is highly doubtful I’m having fun during the game, too.
Q: P.F. Flyers have been part of baseball culture, specifically sandlot baseball, for a long time. What’s it like to carry on that legacy?
JP: Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved the style and the legacy of P.F. Flyers from the sandlot to when Ben Zobrist got fined by the MLB for wearing the classic 1993 all-black Flyers in a day game at Wrigley. Along with the love of P.F. Flyers, as soon as my “road to the show” ended in high school, a desire to make something like the old movie was there for us today. Now that I’m a part of both worlds, it's incredible to show people that dreams can still come true around the baseball diamond, even if the only one who sees it is you and your eight other friends on a Saturday morning. I feel like it's such a great opportunity to show people who thought baseball had left them behind that they can be just as much a part of it now as they ever have been before.
“This series feels exactly how P.F. Flyers have always felt–a classic from the day it was released. Even though they are a brand new design, the moment I put them on, I felt like I was wearing an American classic.”
—Jason Puryear, Wake Forest Wombats Team Captain
Q: What stood out to you the most about P.F.’s newest drop, The Captain Collection?
JP: [The Captain Collection] feels like the old school game. This series feels exactly how P.F. Flyers have always felt–a classic from the day it was released. Even though they are a brand new design, the moment I put them on, I felt like I was wearing an American classic.
Q: What was it like doing a photoshoot for this newest shoe drop?
JP: First, it felt impossible. With such a clean and classic shoe from such an iconic brand, having a couple of “nobody” sandlot players to model seemed like a dream. [Then I felt] that this is exactly what should be for this new shoe. These shoes felt like the kind of shoe that an everyday sandlot player would lace up after a game. We were exactly the ones who would buy these shoes and the only ones who could show how these shoes fit both gameday and post-game.
Q: P.F. Flyers is built on themes of exploration and adventure: Being Grounded, Flying Free, and Underneath. Which of these three ideas speaks to you the most and why?
JP: Underneath speaks most to me. An unprepared life can be one of the most unfulfilled lives. I am to live a life that is prepared for everything. Whether it’s preparing to do something planned or having a plan for the future. I don’t find that all of this preparation is something only I can do, but it's based on where I put my trust, my faith, and who I surround myself with. This isn’t a life separated from the present but one prepared for all the present has to throw at you. When it comes to baseball, that’s so much of what we do; we practice and prepare for all the ups and downs in a game. If you ask anyone who plays the game, there have never been two identical games, so prepare not for what's happened but for what could happen next.
“I’d say the Wombats are a combination of Yah Yah and Ham. We are always up to get after it again, swinging at everything we can get the bat on, and excited to play the game like Yah Yah.”
—JP
Q: If you had to describe the Wombats’ team personality as a mix of The Sandlot characters, what’s the breakdown?
JP: I’d say the Wombats are a combination of Yah Yah and Ham. We are always up to get after it again, swinging at everything we can get the bat on, and excited to play the game like Yah Yah. And maybe this is just me, but I feel like we have the fun, jovial, and conversational nature of Ham. We are always chattering, talking to the other teams, and constantly jesting with one another. Like all the sandlot characters, I’d say we always have each other’s backs out there and believe we can win every single game.
Q: What’s one thing you wish more people understood about sandlot baseball?
JP: I just wish more people understood that they can do it. So many people I talk to believe that their time has passed. In our league, I’ve played with guys who have made it and played in the minors, and I have taught someone how to swing a bat while catching for the other team. We have players who have never played the game or are good enough to get paid for it, and no matter where you are in between, Sandlot has a spot for you to make the most of the game.
Q: What’s your favorite piece of Wombats merch, and what’s its story?
JP: My favorite merch is probably our grey WF and Dig t-shirts. Tim, who does our graphics, logos, merch, and game posters, made a replica design of an old 1920-30s era logo from the Wake Forest College that used to call our home their home. That logo takes up the back and the front has our Iconic Wombat with our tag line “Dig!” on the front. This was special to me as I was able to buy it as part of a fundraising event we put on last year to raise money for our local Dream League. The Dream League is a youth baseball league that makes it possible for kids with disabilities to play baseball. This event was our first community outreach fundraiser, and we were blessed to raise enough for all the kids to play for free that year and for years to come. Knowing how this shirt was part of that story makes it so special to me.
Q: How did you first get involved with the Wake Forest Wombats?
JP: I was one of the founding members of the Carolina Kudzu. As our league was growing, we saw the need to expand. At the time, I was serving my church in Wake Forest and attending School there. So I talked with two other guys who lived in Wake Forest and said, let's try to get some ball going on Friday nights in Wake Forest and just see who shows up! After only a few months, we had about 12 players. One of our Co-Founders, Mike, had the genius idea of calling us the Wombats since we would always play at dusk. We then put a call out to everyone in the Sandlot community to come play against us on a Friday night. That night, I was asked to make our lineup, and the rest is history.
Q: What does being a captain of the Wombats mean to you?
JP: Being the Captain of the Wombats means making the most of every player there. My role as captain often puts me in the place of making the lineup, discussing rules and disputes with the other teams, and making calls on who is pitching when. In all of those functional aspects, my goal is that everyone that comes out to play gets to make the most of their time. From building a line up that lets people get as many at bats as possible and surround each hitter with hitters that will help them get the most out of their at bats to making sure everyone is clear on the rules and that there are no arguments between teams that doesn't go through me first, I want to make sure that every player has fun, gets a chance to be the guy, and has an opportunity to grow their skills every game. This goes both for our players and for making sure the other teams know how much it means for us to get to play ball with them and make sure they feel heard and welcome when they come to our field.
Q: The Wombats play in Wake Forest—how does the local community support and influence the team?
JP: Wake Forest is a historic small town that is growing rapidly. We love the chance to invite fellow sandlot teams to come experience the town we love. Just as much as we love bringing people to our town, we love working with the people of our town. We have been super blessed to work with Blackbird Brewing, which is located right across the street from the field we play on. They have shown out time and time again for us and the game we try to play. They have hosted our fundraising for our town’s local disability-friendly baseball league. We have loved working with our town's parks system to be able to play ball. We have even begun to work with a local college summer league baseball team. One of our other team leaders has taken the time to host several of the players, and we have loved to show up and see their games as they play in town all Summer. We love being a hometown team and cannot wait to see the new ways to make our brand known as a Wake Forest staple in the community.
Q: What’s your favorite part about playing catcher and pitcher? Do you have a preference?
JP: Pitching is my fun chance to see if a guy with no speed and all spin can still get a few guys out. My real love is catching. People have said it takes someone a little crazy to play behind the plate, but it's where I can think best about baseball. It's a position that is a part of every single play. There is joy in learning how to communicate with every pitcher, calling the right pitches that make them more confident on the mound, and finding the right combination to make a tough at bat for each batter. I’m a musician, and catching and calling pitches often feels similar to playing music with others. I get to mix the pitches and locations with the specific pitcher to make a different piece of art with each at-bat. Just as I want to play music that best shows off the skills of the musicians I play with, here I do the same to ensure the pitches and the combinations show the best of each pitcher each time.
Q: The Wombats are a unique squad—what makes your team stand out from other sandlot teams?
JP: The Wombats have a cool mix of ballplayers who always want to win and play hard while being fun and caring more about everyone having an awesome time playing the game. Our guys have gone all in on getting better at every practice, working hard in every game to pick up one another, and putting our best effort into playing hard every game. But we never put that over trying to make an awesome experience. Whether it's through awesome posters, walk-up songs, food, and merch at the games, we try to make sure everyone on each team and all the fans are having a good time. Though we might be the ones playing, we see the game is for everyone who showed up that day, so we want to make sure everyone gets a chance to be a part.
I think there are a lot of teams in the sandlot that have parts of all these things, and many that do each part better than us, but I think the unique combination that we have always makes people feel welcome and a part of our game in a way different from every sandlot squad. I know we all hope that at the end of every game, people walk away saying they “Dig!” what we have going on in Wake Forest.
I think this also comes out in our practices. We take the chance to do a few more drills and take time to coach one another during practice. We love the chance to pick up games as often as possible, but for our team, we have found so much fun in learning the fundamentals of our game and finding a way to have a fun time working through the little details together rather than just getting a game in every week. This isn’t everyone’s fun time of sandlot, but I’ve found that for us, it just works. It never feels tight, rigid, or judgmental, but always like a time that we want everyone to grow in their skills and find ways to have more fun out of the game next time we take the field.
Q: Do you have any pregame rituals or personal superstitions before taking the field?
JP: I always take some time to pray before every game and thank God for the chance to play ball today. I check in with everyone on our team and the other team before we get going and try to stretch out as much as I can. Most of my rituals are during the game. When I hit, I always hit my bat on the front and back of both of my shoes. I don’t know why I do it, but I’ve done it since I was a kid. It just settles me into a hit. Recently, I have a new ritual when I pitch. Whenever I come set, I kind of rock my shoulders, or as my wife calls it, I do “The Wiggle.” Still not sure what it does, but my curveball seems to curve a bit more than it used to, so I think The Wiggle is here to stay. I’m not superstitious about anything, but I'm definitely a little ‘stitious’, so for that, I think there is a point to being habitual in the way you play. It makes me feel comfortable when I play, and nothing can beat being comfortable when you play baseball.
Q: What has been your proudest moment as a captain of the Wombats so far?
JP: My proudest moment isn’t one moment at all. Every single time someone does a first while playing for us, that makes me proud to know I could be a part of it. That is everything from a player's first hit since high school or first hit ever. It has been Abigail making a game-saving catch in right at last year’s revival, it was Micah throwing his first complete game, and it was seeing Eric figure out what that little change on his slider can do to make it break more. All of those are my proudest moments.
Q: If you could add any legendary baseball player—past or present—to the Wombats for one game, who would it be?
JP: I know it's biased, but I’m a huge Cubs fan, and I think having Anthony Rizzo would be awesome. I think the fun that he has playing the game would fit right in with us! Would love to hear his in game conversation with everyone and the smack talk he would give everyone from the mound.
Q: The Wombats bring together players from all walks of life. How does that diversity shape your team dynamic?
JP: I think the diversity has made such a cool dynamic in the game. There is a lot of inability for people to know and talk to one another. On the baseball field, the common ground of baseball has allowed people who often would avoid one another in other places to have a conversation. We have players on our team that have drastically different faiths and values from one another, but we have found on the baseball field that those differences can call us to talk and get to know one another, not drive us to silence or violence. We have been pretty conscious as a team to make sure that everyone knows that they can play ball no matter what they have going on. The ball field has also been a neat place for people to get to know each other with no preconceived notions. I know as a Christian, I’ve met many sandlotters who have no friends who are Christians, and I’ve loved the chance to be able to show them that our differences in beliefs do not have to hinder our knowing, talking, and sharing in the game of baseball.
Q: What’s the best way for someone new to sandlot baseball to get involved with the Wombats?
JP: The best way to join us is to just come out and play. We try to post on our instagram where we will be, but if you really want to know, just DM us and we would love to tell you where we will be and when so you can join us on the field, No Experience or equipment needed, though I know everyone, after getting that first taste, runs to any local sporting good store to get their own glove, bat, and cleats to get at it with us every single week.
At P.F. Flyers, we’re proud to celebrate team captains and everyday individuals like Jason, who embody the heart of baseball through passion, inclusivity, and tradition. Baseball isn’t just a game; it’s about the connections we make and the lasting impact we leave on and off the field. To keep up with the Wake Forest Wombats, follow them on Instagram.
