“Pirates Host Challenger Day”
By George Crocker
Sunday, April 27, 2008
East Carolina won three more baseball games this past weekend.
Their biggest win, however, came on Sunday. Pirate Coach Billy Godwin and his Pirates hosted the Greenville Challenger League for a special game at Clark-LeClair Stadium
I’ve had the chance to work in the Challenger League now for three seasons. It’s baseball for special needs children. The smiles don’t get any bigger then the day that the players get a chance to perform on the big stage at ECU.
Words just can’t describe what goes on in the game. The Pirate players all serve as buddies for the Challenger players. It was really hard to tell who was having the better time, the Pirates or the Challenger players.
Pirate senior Corey Kemp has been a part of both of the Pirate Challenger exhibitions. He shared a story with us from last year’s game, when he was helping a young man in a wheelchair. The boy couldn’t hear and could barely talk. When he hit the ball, he made a loud noise. Corey wheeled him around the bases. The boys Mom was crying. Corey said he was choked up. That day meant that much to a family.
The Pirate players deserve a lot of credit for hosting the game. This is the grueling part of the schedule. They rarely get a day off. Still, each player was out to the field to spend the afternoon with players with special needs.
It was a great day!
The Challenger League plays their regular season games at the Sarah Vaughn Field of Dreams at the Elm Street Little League Park. Please come by one Saturday morning. We have a blast!
BB
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