“Zack,” a 8 year old from Myrtle Beach, upon hitting his first ever baseball slowly walked to first base with his crippled legs, Upon arriving at first base he hugged me and yelled, “I did it, I did it, I’m really going to play baseball.”
Little Sarah was asked by NBC while airing their game, “What were you thinking then you came around third base and was heading toward home plate? She said, “I remember looking at my mommy and thinking how proud she was of me.”
“Lauren was quoted saying to her grandmother, long distance over the phone after a Miracle League game, “I am the luckiest girl in the world.”
And Missy asking, “Why can’t we play in the rain?”
Or watching a beautiful 14-year-old blind girl, play Miracle League baseball in an amazing way. When she was up to bat, her coach yelled, “Swing” as the ball was thrown to her. She then hit the ball into center field and ran towards her assistant coach who was calling her name from first base. Once she reached first base, her head coach called to her from second base, and her assistant again called to her from third base. The coaches repeated this scenario at each base. As Ashley crossed home plate, she was smiling with such incredible pride. She had accomplished what so many children take for granted – freely running the bases of a baseball diamond.
LaGrange and Troup County has a Zack, Sarah, Lauren, Missy and an Ashley that deserves the same opportunity to play baseball. When you see the smiling faces and the gleam in their eyes you ask yourself two questions:
“How quickly can we build this Miracle Field in LaGrange? and “What have we done lately to make a difference, in a child’s life?”