Miracle League season underway in Mauldin
Published: May 6, 2008
Skies were stormy overhead but smiles were bright on the field as the Mauldin Miracle League’s fourth season kicked off March 29.
Players were welcomed back with wide-open arms.
“We missed you,” Yankees coach Michelle Fowler told returning player Kim Chapman, a 19-year-old sophomore at North Greenville and a “wheelie,” in Miracle League terminology.
Although the gates at Sunset Park had been closed for months, it was as if no time had elapsed.
Families in the stands still cheered, players still watched their hits bounce away in amazement before hustling to first base and buddies still ran their wheelies into home base, to cheers from the announcer.
“This is the way it should be,” Mayor Don Godbey said.
For many observers, the initial goose bumps from watching a Miracle League game never wear off. And if they do, the chills are replaced with a feeling of pride, he said.
In the opening ceremonies, Godbey stood on the safety field made of recycled tires and told the crowd that the city making the league possible is “the thing I’ve been most proud of. This shows the heart and soul of Mauldin.”
Godbey threw out the first pitch to Alex McKee, an Orioles player wearing No. 11, and the season had begun.
Founder Dennis Raines suspended play Saturday after the first two games due to lightning. The coaches’ pitch games were to be made up Tuesday.
According to Raines, players — ages 3 to 19 with conditions ranging from autism to brain tumors — forget their disabilities on the field.
In the four years since the first “pavers” were put on the field, the league has continued to grow. Last season ended with almost 100 players registered, and this season began with about 65, Raines said.
Another 20 had signed up for the Coaches’ League, a new expansion to the league this year for players with more independent ability.
Through the years, the league also has added participation in the Reedy River Duck Derby and attendance at the Greenville Drive games downtown.
This year, they may even get to play on the West End field and get “clay and dirt on their tires,” according to Drive general manager Mike deMaine.
March 29 marked deMaine’s first Mauldin Miracle League game, although he has seen others in the state.
The Drive’s support of the league is natural, he said, since “we’re really all about the kids and giving all kids an opportunity to play.”
The Miracle League “is just fun,” deMaine said. “It’s the reason everybody plays to begin with — to celebrate life. It’s sports at its purest.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: