College of Charleston Softball: November 2010

Saturday November 13 was a special day for the team. The girls volunteered with the Miracle League of Charleston.

The Miracle League is a non-profit organization that gives children and adults with special needs (i.e. mental and/or physical challenges) the opportunity to play baseball, for free, in formally organized league at a state-of-the-art complex built specifically for them. In addition, the CML teaches volunteers of all ages, who typically serve as buddies for our players, the value of giving back to others and their community. The team certainly left feeling the value of giving back!

Junior Amanda Lonergan comments:
The greatest part about the Miracle League was seeing how excited my new buddy got when he got to stop the ball on defense or when he scored. It was also amazing to see how excited they got when the medals were handed out; it made me not want to leave!

Senior Kristi Woodall comments:

I loved how proud all the athletes were of themselves and each other. Everytime they got a hit or scored a run, they were ready to high five the other athlete or tell everyone else what they just did. It just made me so proud of every single one of them. Everytime I asked my buddy Eleanor if she was going to get a homerun she responded, "Oh you know that's right." She kept telling me she was the fastest runner, and she wanted to start cheers. They were so proud to show off their medals to everyone else. I just loved the positivity at this place, and it was all about playing whiffleball and having fun. It really reminded me of why I love the game.

Freshman Maria Zavala comments:
My favorite part of the Miracle League event was when we got to choose our “buddies.” I had seen Brad from far away working on his swing and I thought to myself “I want him!” He seemed sooooo ready to play and I was super excited. He was on the Yankees team and was in full Yankees gear. He had a hat, a jacket, and even a single batting glove, that matched the rest of his outfit. Brad was one of the older players and when I first walked up to meet him, he shook my hand and then kissed it. I giggled while my friend Jared and I looked at each other. He didn’t really pay much attention to Jared until he told him that he was on the baseball team. Brad was playing by first base and one of the earlier occurrences with him was when a guy on the other team was standing on first base and when he was going to run to second, he hit Brad’s hat down and Brad couldn’t see or adjust his hat for a bit. After the other team finished hitting, we got to play some offense. Brad was the final, cleanup batter. While in the hole and even sometimes before that, Brad worked on his swing. He got up to hit and hit a shot over the second basemen’s head. He ran around the bases but didn’t really hit any of the bases! After he scored and ran into the dugout, he stood in the front of the dugout and waved his hat around and posed for everyone to see him. At that point his mom and his dad arrived and he asked his parents if they had seen his hit. They were not there but he told them he was going to hit again. His mom and dad said “Thank you” to me and smiled. When we went back into the field, he told us that he had one homerun and that he was going to go for two. He told Jared and I that he was going to get “first place.” Before Brad’s second time to bat, he told Jared and I that he was going to hit the first pitch that time. He went up to bat and hit another shot! He ran around the bases, missing every single one again! At the end of the game, when they were handing out the medals, he got his and stood in front of everyone waving his hat as if he were Babe Ruth or someone. It gets better! Before we all left, Jared and I wanted to get a picture with him so we asked Coach Kat. When she went to take the picture, Brad got upset and told her that he wanted the other camera man to take the picture. The other camera man got Coach Kat’s camera but Brad didn’t want the picture taken with that camera AT ALL! Brad got very upset with Coach Kat but she got the picture, sadly it was at a bad angle. But hey, I’ll take it! That was an awesome experience and I am so glad I got to meet someone as cool as Brad, and get a picture with him, even though he probably isn’t smiling in it!

After the Miracle League games the girls also played a whiffle ball game against some members of the baseball team. It was entertaining but HIGHLY competitive!!!