NATCHEZ — Deselle Davis used to be a truck driver before being laid off a few years ago.

After that happened, someone approached Davis and proposed he start coaching a T.M. Jennings youth baseball team.

“I wasn’t working (at the time), and I didn’t want to sit around doing nothing, so I volunteered,” Davis said.

Just a short three years later, Davis was promoted to overseeing the entire T.M. Jennings league after former league director Eric Fry stepped down last fall.

As long as he still gets to work with children, though, Davis said he’s happy.

“It’s hard to put into words what makes this so rewarding,” Davis said. “Getting to see the looks on the kids’ faces, it actually motivates me. When they try hard, it pushes me to try hard.

“Just seeing their smiles, seeing that they’re having fun, what person doesn’t want to do that? I love it.”

Davis also said he understands the importance of being a good role model for young people.

“Kids don’t know any better. If they see you giving up, they will, too,” Davis said.

Davis said when he took over the league, he wanted to help change the feel of things.

“I wanted to give families a different experience,” Davis said. “We wanted to be family-oriented, where we wouldn’t have to worry about bad things going on.”

In particular, Davis said he heard the criticisms that the league wasn’t organized, and that games got too rowdy at times. He and his staff worked to fix both issues — even if it meant making an example of someone.

“We have really good coaches here,” Davis said. “Some are police officers, and one’s a game warden. There was a fight between a couple of women a few weeks ago, and as soon as it happened, they jumped the fence, and it was over before it started.”

Davis said approximately seven to eight women were involved, and all of them were either carted off to jail on the spot, or charges are still being pressed on the ones that got away.

“We can’t have a family event when people don’t know how to act,” Davis said. “It’s been peaceful since then, and that’s the feel I want you to have when you come over here — a peaceful feeling.”

Taking over as league director is something that sort of evolved over time, Davis said.

“Sometimes if a problem would arise, they would go to me instead of Mr. Fry,” Davis said. “I didn’t understand that, because he did a good job. I guess when he wasn’t around, they felt like I was in charge.”

And Davis said he’s gotten a lot of support from the other coaches and parents.

“That makes it easy,” Davis said.

Having local youth leagues is very important, Davis said, because it gives children something good to spend their time doing.

“The way I look at it, if the kids are involved in something constructive, they’re not in trouble,” Davis said.

Davis said he’s even opened up opportunities for children that have gotten too old to play league ball.

“Even the kids that can’t compete age-wise, they can come over to help,” Davis said. “I invite them to do that.”