Jake and Tyler Vance are almost four years apart in age, but baseball has always been what brings them together.

A ground ball is hit to shortstop Tyler Vance. The runner is dashing to the plate. He unleashes a missile to the plate, right into the glove of catcher Jake Vance, tagging the runner out. The Vance brothers’ bond was on display for Pocatello to see.

The Vance brothers shared the same uniform for the first time, donning the Gate City Grays’ red and blue, No. 6 and No. 32. They may be almost four years apart, but they have always been close.

“He’s my best friend,” Jake said. “I could talk to him about anything. He could talk to me about anything. We’re just best friends.”

Whether it’s fishing, camping or riding dirt bikes, that closeness never wavers.

Through everything they do, it always comes back to baseball.

From a young age, Tyler was on a diamond, and Jake was right there with him, not as a player, but as a spectator, watching and falling in love with the game alongside his older brother.

That closeness was apparent from a young age to parents Jace and Cat Vance.

Through the brothers’ careers, the parents would have to split time between Jake’s and Tyler’s games. They would sit in the bleachers at Blackfoot High School watching Jake, then hop in the car for a 15-hour drive to watch Tyler play college baseball.

“They’ve always been really close,” Jace said. “They fight, nitpick each other, just like brothers. But they seem to be each other’s go-to when they need it.”

“They’ve got each other’s back,” Cat added.

The relationship was always centered on baseball. However, due to their age gap, they never got to play on the same team.

Tyler, being almost four years older, just graduated college this past May, while Jake just graduated high school.

This summer, the Vance brothers finally took the field together for the first time with the Gate City Grays. After years of practicing at home together, they came out of the same dugout, wore the same uniform, and their parents watched from the bleachers.

“Playing on the same team has been awesome because I get to see my little brother compete with guys my age and even older, and he’s done a good job,” Tyler said.

For Cat and Jace, seeing them play together is a moment they have been waiting for their whole lives.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to watch them on the same team,” Jace said. “To have them here on the same team, yeah, it’s a dream come true to be able to watch them work together, not just practice, but in actual games.”

Now, for one summer, they get to watch them suit up in the same uniform, playing for a familiar face.

Head coach Rhys Pope has known Jake and Tyler since their days at Blackfoot High School. That history has made this a match made in heaven for the Vance brothers.

“I’ll stand on a mountain top and say it, they are two absolutely great human beings,” Pope said. “They’re people that you want to be around. They always seem like they’re at the epicenter of a conversation, a laughing moment, or whatever it may be.”

Off the field, the Vance brothers couldn’t be more different, with Tyler being quiet and reserved and Jake more outgoing. Those differences make them a special duo on the field, bringing the best out of each other.

In their first season playing together, Jake and Tyler are competitors, both with each other and with the opponent, but they also look to cherish every game, practice and moment they step onto the dirt together.

“We just want to have fun,” Tyler said. “We get to play one season together, and we just want to make the most of it. It’s been a fun time.”

From the kids just playing catch in the backyard to now walking onto the field together, No. 6 and No. 32 may share a last name, but they also share a love for the game of baseball, and each other.

When the lights turn off, the stadium empties, and Jake and Tyler head off the field, they leave behind a legacy, not of wins and losses, but of the people they are on and off the field.

“We’re proud of them and everything that they do, because everything that they try to do, they always work hard on it,” Jace said. “Baseball is just one of those things that everybody gets to see. We’re proud we get to watch them on the ball field, but we get to be proud of them every single day when they come home.”

A throw to home might be a routine throw, but for two brothers who waited years to share a dugout, it’s a connection that goes beyond the diamond.