Minium: Gomez and Levari Brothers Brought an Interesting Mix to ODU Baseball

By Harry Minium

It was Mother’s Day nearly two weeks ago at Bud Metheny Ballpark, and the last game the Monarchs would play at the 41-year-old facility before it undergoes a $20 million renovation.

Sticking with a Mother's Day tradition, ODU head coach Chris Finwood allowed every mother of a player who attended to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to their sons. It was quite a spectacle as more than a dozen moms trooped onto the field.

But it caused something of a dilemma for Davina Levari and Kimberly Gomez. Both have two players on the ODU roster.

Which son to throw to?

Kimberly threw to her oldest son, Jacob, a senior, while her youngest son, Alex, stood behind him, as the "umpire."

Senior Kenny Levari, however, chose not to catch the ceremonial pitch. Like most baseball players, he’s superstitious and after catching the first pitch at ODU’s home opener, he began the season with a horrendous hitting slump.

His brother, Marco, also a freshman, did the honors.

“That was really a cool moment,” ODU head coach Chris Finwood said. “I thought of asking them if they wanted to throw two balls, one to each son.

“It was awesome for the players, but especially for the mothers.”

Having two sets of brothers has also been very cool for the ODU baseball team, which is in midst of playing in the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Championship in Montgomery, Alabama.

ODU meets James Madison Friday night at 7:30 ET. The winner advances to Saturday’s semifinals. The season is almost certainly over for the loser.

“I’ve coached brothers before,” Finwood said. “But two sets of brothers? It’s the first time for me.

“I’ve heard of it happening at other schools, but not very often.

“Watching the brothers interact and mature this season, it’s really been special.”

Kenny Levari and Jacob Gomez have in fact been very special players for the Monarchs.

Both started and played key roles as freshman for the 2021 team, the only ODU team ever to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“Probably the best team ODU ever had,” Finwood said.

Levari played in every game at third base and was among ODU’s most consistent hitters. He hit.298 with 36 RBIs and eight home runs.

Levari is ODU’s version of Lou Gehrig, the “Iron Horse” for the New York Yankees, as he has played in 229 games, the most by any Monarch in 94 years of baseball. He’s played in every game the last four years.

Gomez pitched in 17 games in 2021 and was ODU’s star out of the bullpen. He had a 6-1 record, and his best performance came in one of ODU’s biggest wins that season, a 4-3 first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Jacksonville.

After ODU’s starting pitcher got injured, Gomez pitched a season-high 4.1 innings. He allowed just one hit and no runs.

“He saved us,” Finwood said.

Levari and Gomez have much in common. They’re both from New Jersey, a state where ODU has consistently recruited well. Both committed to ODU early – Gomez as a sophomore and Levari as a freshman.

Both received a number of scholarship offers from other schools. Levari heard from Villanova, St. John’s and half a dozen other schools.

“Once I made up my mind that I was coming here, I stuck with my decision,” Levari said.

“In my family loyalty is really a big deal. I know the transfer portal is a big deal these days. But I never thought of entering the portal. Why would I? I’m very happy here.”

Both are from blue-collar families. Gomez’s parents, Irving and Kimberly, are in the medical field. Kenneth Levari is a truck driver and Davina runs a restaurant.

They have something else in common as well – when they were seniors in high school and their brothers were freshmen, they did not get to play with their brothers. That was 2020, the year the pandemic shut down much of America.

“Playing with my brother, it’s been awesome,” Kenny Levari said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

“My father has always told me that my best friend is my brother,” Jacob Gomez added. “I’ve enjoyed being on the same team with him so much.”

FINWOOD AND HIS COACHING STAFF decided early on that the brothers would not room together.

“We didn’t want them to live in their brothers’ shadows,” pitching coach Mike Marron said.

“We lived together at home for 18 years,” Kenny Levari said. “We get to see each other every day but we’re not around each other 24 hours a day.

“I think that’s been good.”

Jacob Gomez agreed saying, “Thank God we’re not living together. I praised the coaches for that decision. I wanted Alex to be able to make a name for himself and not live in my shadow.”

But being separated from his brother was actually kind of difficult for Jacob Gomez. He’s always taken care of his brother, especially since Alex suffered a painful accident in the sixth grade.

He was a typical sixth grader, and was goofing around, holding onto a sliding fence between two rooms at school. But then friends began to push the fence and he didn’t immediately let go. As it moved into rollers, the tips of several of his fingers on his right hand were shorn off.

Jacob keeps photos of the fingers right after the injury on his phone to remind him of what his brother has been through.

“He’s had four surgeries since,” Jacob said. “My life changed that day because I became so focused on him. I wanted to make sure that he was mentally okay.”

Alex is a catcher and it’s remarkable, given the tips of his fingers are gone, that he can play at all.

“The doctors were concerned that he would not be able to feel his fingers again,” Jacob said. “But a miracle happened and he’s able to throw and feel everything in his hands.”

Their parents guided Alex to the best occupational therapist they could find.

“It was my job to tell him that this is not going to define who you are,” Jacob said. “And this is going to make you a better person.”

ODU was the only school to offer Alex a chance to play – he walked-on to the team without a scholarship – and was told he would have to compete to make the 40-man roster. He learned the day that Finwood made the last cuts that he’d made the roster.

He hasn’t played, and likely will redshirt, but he’s contributed as a teammate.

“We hadn’t really had a bullpen catcher berfore Alex,” Jacob said. “He really wants to work because he wants to get better.

“It’s really helped us as a pitching staff to get better. He works with the pitchers four or five hours a day. He is the kind of guy who begs to work.”

“He’ll get his chance next season,” Jacob added.

“He’s worked his butt off. I’m so proud of him. He knew going in here that he wasn’t going to get a lot of playing time. So, at the end of the day, he’s taken what he’s been given and has run with it as much as he could.”

Finwood said “when you watch him throw, you’d never know he’s been injured because he throws the ball really well. He’s worked hard. He was so thin when he came here. He’s gotten bigger and stronger and is starting to look like a catcher should."

Marco Levari was more highly recruited and has pitched in nine games this season, with no wins, or losses, and has a 6.00 earned run average.

If ODU wins Friday night, he surely will be among the pitchers who throw on Saturday, when the Monarchs would have to win two games to make it to the championship round.

“He’s a typical freshman,” Finwood said. “Marco has a really good arm. He’s shown some flashes this year. He’s going to be a really good pitcher for us. He's gotten better as the season progressed

“Both Marco and Alex, they’re really good kids and they come from great families.”

Kenny Levari said he’s cherished playing and being in school with his brother this season.

“I love seeing him on the field every day,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed that.”

He paused for a second and got a little emotional as he continued to talk about Marco.

“He’ll do anything for you, anything that anyone asks him to do,” he said. “He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

“If you ask him to do something for you, you don’t have to ask him twice. He’s just got such a huge heart. He tries to make everyone happy.

“I can’t imagine having a better brother.”

JACOB GOMEZ IS ONE OF THE QUIETEST and most polite athletes I’ve ever interviewed. But when he hits the field, his persona changes.

“He’s like the Tasmanian Devil when he gets on the mound,” Finwood said. “He plays with so much emotion.”

At times, that emotion has gotten away from him, and he’s been admonished by umpires and his coaches to cool it a bit. He’s largely kept his emotions bottled up this season, until the end of a game.

After he entered the game in relief, and picked up the victory for ODU in Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over South Alabama in the Sun Belt play-in game, he leapt in the air and slammed his glove on the ground. He and Levari exchanged high fives and emphatic words.

“He’s controlled his emotion more this year,” Levari said. “But he’s still fired up. That’s what makes him so good.”

Amy Lynch, director of student athlete services and community engagement for ODU, is an academic advisor to the baseball team says she’s been fascinated watching the two sets of brothers.

“They are all so different,” she said. “But they complement each other nicely. They support each other.

“They’ve had a lot of chances to do family things here. They’ll plan dinners together. It’s been like having a little bit of home here.”

Kenny Levari also wears his emotions on his sleeves, although not as dramatically as Jacob Gomez.

“He’s fiery, but not as fiery as Jacob,” Lynch said. “He has a lot of passion and grit. But Marco, he’s sweet. He’s more a mild mannered person but still passionate.

“Jacob has a passion and enthusiasm for baseball. Alex does too, but is more reserved.”

If their college careers end tonight, Jacob Gomez and Kenny Levari will almost certainly continue playing somewhere professionally.

And they will leave ODU knowing that they played a huge role on a team that changed the course of ODU baseball.

ODU was unable to host an NCAA Regional in 2021 because The Bud did not meet minimum NCAA standards. When the Monarchs were forced to play at South Carolina, that provided the incentive necessary for ODU alumni and friends to being a fundraising effort to rebuild the stadium.

Nearly $19 million has been raised of the $20 million the stadium renovation is projected to cost.

“Without that team, our stadium would almost certainly not be headed for a renovation,” Finwood said. “And Jacob and Kenny, they played a big role on that team. They were key players as freshmen, and that’s remarkable.

“Kenny was one of our most consistent hitters. And Jacob came out of the bullpen many times and saved our butts.”

They both lament that they won’t be able to play in the new stadium, which opens in the late winter or early spring of 2026.

“It’s bittersweet,” Levari said “We won’t be able to play in the new stadium, but everyone knows we played a big role in getting the renovation done.

“That was the most fun I’.ve ever had on the baseball field. There were so many good ballplayers and that team had such good leadership.”

After beating Jacksonville and then upending South Carolina, 2-1, the Monarchs dropped two games in a row to Virginia, including a 4-3 defeat in the final that the Cavs won in the tenth inning on a walk-off home run

“I’m still angry that we weren’t able to win,” Kenny Levari said. “We just couldn’t pull it out against UVA. But having the opportunity to play on that level, that was awesome. It’s something I will never forget.”

“I would love to play in a new, $20 million stadium,” Jacob Gomez added. “But you know, sometimes things happen for a reason.

“I think this is one of those times. ODU needed a new stadium. We played a role in helping to get that project off the ground.

“My brother and Kenny’s brother, they will play there. And that’s good enough for me.”

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him  on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.