Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - A group of very excited children had a chance to play baseball on the diamond at Alliance Bank Stadium Monday. The Challenger Little League offers a chance for special needs players to sit in the dugout, see their names in lights and to step up to the plate.
Children involved in the league are between the ages of 5 and 21. A total of 170 players are spread between eight teams. But organizer Dan Cambareri says the point isn't to win a championship, it is to experience the game. "It shows that our children have no different experiences, no different desires, no different wants about the great game of baseball than other, typical children," he said. "We provide the format by which they can live out those dreams."
Children involved in the league have physical or mental disabilities. Some ran the bases in their wheelchairs, others with their family members or coaches by their sides. The crowd and the other players in the stadium cheered equally if the hit was a foul or a line drive. Just stepping up to the plate is a home run in this league.
Monday night's game was the year-end celebration for the Challenger Little League.
