Baseball buddies game a big hit
NORWICH – Jen Brooks swings at a pitch, she misses on her first attempt, but the smile never leaves her face. Anthony Dimento tries to backhand a groundball that scoots by him. He hustles after the ball and throws it back to the pitcher. Amanda Powell is just a chatterbox with a one-liner for everyone as she multi-tasks as hitter and comedian.
Those were just three of the nearly dozen-and-a-half developmentally delayed Norwich students who participated in the first “Baseball Buddies” exhibition baseball game at the Norwich Little League field in Veterans Park Wednesday afternoon.
The idea of putting together the game came from soon-to-be Norwich senior Danny Carson, who invited current and former Norwich students to act as buddies for the developmentally delayed boys and girls.
“We had a friend from Florida come up and was talking about how they did something like this,” Carson said “We thought it was a real good thing, and we wanted to have kids who didn’t play Little League have the opportunity to play.”
To Carson and most of his fellow volunteer buddies, playing Little League baseball and softball was an opportunity availed to them that created a huge impact on their respective childhoods. For the young ladies and men teaming up with Carson and friends, it was their day to shine. Each player warmed up before the game for an half hour getting one-on-one attention with throwing, catching, and hitting. The teams were split up evenly, and although the score was kept on the large scoreboard, no one was paying any attention to who was winning or losing.
Each child had several attempts to hit, and each time before their at-bat, the public address person announced their name as if they were a big-league star.
“Little League was such a huge part of my childhood, and this is an opportunity for the kids they otherwise wouldn’t have,” Carson said.
Parents and Norwich teachers cheered on the kids at every swing of the bat, and NHS life skills teacher, Wanda Wallace, who has taught many of the kids that played in Wednesday’s game, was pleased and proud of her students as well as all of the volunteers. “This is a great event, and I hope they are able to do this every year,” Wallace said.
Judging by the smiles on all of the kids’ faces, there should be no shortage of participants in the future.
Those were just three of the nearly dozen-and-a-half developmentally delayed Norwich students who participated in the first “Baseball Buddies” exhibition baseball game at the Norwich Little League field in Veterans Park Wednesday afternoon.
The idea of putting together the game came from soon-to-be Norwich senior Danny Carson, who invited current and former Norwich students to act as buddies for the developmentally delayed boys and girls.
“We had a friend from Florida come up and was talking about how they did something like this,” Carson said “We thought it was a real good thing, and we wanted to have kids who didn’t play Little League have the opportunity to play.”
To Carson and most of his fellow volunteer buddies, playing Little League baseball and softball was an opportunity availed to them that created a huge impact on their respective childhoods. For the young ladies and men teaming up with Carson and friends, it was their day to shine. Each player warmed up before the game for an half hour getting one-on-one attention with throwing, catching, and hitting. The teams were split up evenly, and although the score was kept on the large scoreboard, no one was paying any attention to who was winning or losing.
Each child had several attempts to hit, and each time before their at-bat, the public address person announced their name as if they were a big-league star.
“Little League was such a huge part of my childhood, and this is an opportunity for the kids they otherwise wouldn’t have,” Carson said.
Parents and Norwich teachers cheered on the kids at every swing of the bat, and NHS life skills teacher, Wanda Wallace, who has taught many of the kids that played in Wednesday’s game, was pleased and proud of her students as well as all of the volunteers. “This is a great event, and I hope they are able to do this every year,” Wallace said.
Judging by the smiles on all of the kids’ faces, there should be no shortage of participants in the future.
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