SEATTLE -- With so many activities spread around, there really is something for every baseball fan to enjoy during All-Star Week. One of the more heartwarming traditions took place on the diamond at PLAY BALL Park on Sunday morning, when a group of kids from the local Little League Challenger Division took the field.
Challenger is Little League's adaptive baseball program for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges, and coaches Brenda and Justin Incarnato -- who started coaching with Challenger in 2019 and also coach cheer, football and basketball squads -- got involved because they wanted to give their son, Brendan, an opportunity to play sports year-round.
Brendan was first up to bat for the National League, with his father pitching to him. After a mad dash to first, Brendan stood proudly on the bag and waved to his mom across the field.
It was the beginning of a fun hour of ball in the sunshine for everyone.
Each child in attendance was gifted a hat and a personalized All-Star jersey much like the duds the MLB All-Stars will wear on Tuesday night. Everyone on both teams got a hit in the game, a chance to run around the bases and even a little help from a real Major Leaguer, as four-time All-Star pitcher Dellin Betances bounced around the field, offering encouragement and cheers.
“The jerseys are the number one thing the kids and families loved, and everything else has just been icing on the cake,” Brenda Incarnato said. “This whole experience is so incredible, and we’re so grateful to have this opportunity.
“And we’re excited to see these kids play and just show what they’ve been working on. It’s a progression of skills for them, so we’re really excited.”
The 6-foot-8 Betances commanded a presence on the field, but who could blame the kids for also being drawn to the handful of team mascots on hand? Mr. and Mrs. Met, the Oriole Bird and Blooper, the Braves’ mascot, scattered among the players in the field throughout the game, eliciting shrieks of laughter as they shadowed outfielders, jogged the bases next to runners, doled out high-fives and posed for plenty of pictures.
For Beverly Newsome, the event was a dream come true, not just for the children, she said, but for the families as well.
“[This league] is so important to me because of the challenge of these kids,” said Newsome, who started the Washington District 8 Challenger Division in 1991 with her late husband, Gary. “When you have somebody come up to you and say, ‘You know what? When we joined this five years ago, [our son] couldn’t hold a baseball, and now, not only can he hold it, he can throw it,’ it’s so rewarding.”
The Newsomes’ passion project to give children with intellectual and physical disabilities a chance to play baseball has grown to include more than 100 youth in the Seattle area, and on Sunday, the kids, coaches and families got the red carpet treatment courtesy of MLB and the Seattle Mariners.
Passersby couldn’t help but gravitate to the excitement as the children rounded the bases, some with the help of their able-bodied “buddies,” while friends and family rooted from the sidelines. The game soon drew a sizeable crowd of spectators, who joined in rooting for the children, whose day included an emcee to announce their name as they went up to bat and wrapped up with a luncheon at Lumen Field.
“That’s the thing that impressed me the most. Improving their motor skills along with everything else. Not just giving them the opportunity to be able to play but the opportunity of improving themselves,” Newsome said. “So many parents tell me [their children] go to bed with a glove or a ball.”