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Story: Sibling Rivalry

9 images Created 22 Apr 2011

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  • Luke Burgess, right, returns a shot during a pickle ball match against his older brother Levi as their older brother Nate watches from the sidelines at their north Pasco home. The game is a family pasttime second only to baseball. "We have some mean pickle ball tournaments," said Levi. The rivalry extends to when their father Wayne plays. Dad teases them when he wins; they claim they're just taking it easy on the old man..
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  • Levi, left, and Luke -- both boasting their school colors -- accompany their sister Bethany, 13, to a "Night of Fire" church youth group activity. While baseball keeps them busy and out of trouble, "They can't be playing baseball all the time," said their father, Wayne.
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  • Levi, left, and Luke play Xbox as Silvia Estrada, Levi's fiancee, uses a laptop. The couple both graduated from Pasco High School this year and will attend the University of Idaho.
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  • Wayne Burgess cheers on his son Levi during Pasco's final game of the season. When both Luke and Levi were playing in town at the same time, their parents had different strategies, utilizing cell phones to get updates. When both are playing double headers, they know the boys won't play every game. "We have to figure out which game they're going to play. But, unfortunately, it never fails. The big hit or the great double play...we weren't there to see it it," says Wayne. "Some of the best plays, we just heard about it from other people."
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  • Levi pitches a tennis ball to Luke as the Burgess brothers celebrate Levi's 18th birthday with a game on a regulation-sized Little League field their father built on their land in 1999. "Now they're too big," said their father, Wayne. "If they hit a good hard drive, it's over into the pasture. Just to watch the kids out there playing is a dream come true." This year's matchup held extra significance because Levi was looking for revenge after Luke struck him out when Pasco visited Chiawana for the high school season opener. While Levi didn't manage to strike out Luke in this ball game, he did manage to bean him with a pitch. "I needed some payback," said Levi. "It made me feel good. He cried." Luke's comeback: "No, I didn't. I took it like a man."
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  • Levi, right, and Luke work to move irrigation lines in a pasture at their home. The two also team up for cleaning work at their mother Becky's salon, Shear Inspiration in Richland. "Just keep them hot, sweaty and tired. That way they don't have energy to get in trouble," says Becky. Wayne grew up on a farm doing many of the chores he now has the boys do. "I realized that kind of work was good because you learn how to work. Get them out on the farm, regardless of how they're going to take it. They're going to complain like my brothers and I did, but they're going to learn how to work," he says about why he opted to install hand lines instead of a less labor-intensive irrigation system. "They learn when they're old enough hto pick up a pipe," he says. "Shoot, when I was little, I'd be bawling," says Levi. "He'd wake me up extra early before school to go turn on the lines. I can't remember what happened, but the water was spraying everywhere and I would just be soaking wet and it was early in the morning and I'd just be bawling my eyes out."
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  • The Burgesses prepare for a barbecue in the kitchen as uniforms for the Pasco Sun Devils American Legion baseball team fill the living room. Wayne, right, is the president of the board, and his wife Becky is the treasurerer. As the summer season approached, they had to take inventory and figure out which home and away jerseys needed replacing. Though Luke and Levi played for different teams during the high school season, Legion ball will give them one last time to play together. "He'll probably be pitching, and I'll play outfield, backing him up when they hit bombs," says Levi. "Thanks, Levi," says Luke. "It'll be fun," says Levi. "We go back to being brothers." Luke, being a freshman on the senior team, will see limited playing time. "I knew I wasn't going to play at all in Wenatchee," he says. "When Levi told me I might not be able to play, I just asked him if I could be in the dugout, at least. It was fun to sit in the dugout with all the guys, and I was actually nervous."
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  • Becky opens ice cream as Levi and Bethany wait for cake at his birthday party. Levi will attend the University of Idaho in the fall. With older brother Nate leaving for the Air Force in the fall, the Burgesses are bracing for a quieter home with just two kids at home. "With six kids roughhousing and making noise, Becky and I have grown accustomed to a certain amount of noise and chaos," said Wayne. "and whenever it gets real quiet we kinda look at each other and say, 'OK, what's happening?'
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Kai-Huei Yau Visual Journalist

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