NY1's latest Queens People of the Week are making sure each child gets a chance to step up to the plate to experience America's favorite pastime. Matt McClure introduces us.
W.O.R.K.S Little League based in Woodhaven, organizes a game every Saturday for children living with mental and physical disabilities.
Volunteers, called buddies, come out each week to help move things along, pitching to batters and offering both defensive and offensive tips.
"I don't feel like we help them, I feel that we play with them because they don't need the help. They're good enough" believes, Marc Sabran a volunteer with the league.
There’s no scorekeeping, and sometimes players need more than three strikes to hit the ball.
Otherwise, the special needs league is just like any other.
And the parents, like Gwen Sacks, wouldn't have it any other way.
"Our goal is to have them in society where there is not a distinction or not much of a distinction and if you were passing in a car and you saw them play you would not know it is a special needs league as a pose to a regular league. "
Since it began 9 years ago, the president of W.O.R.K.S, Walter Chaluisant, says the league has become something he and other volunteers look forward too.
"This here is the best part of our week, the kids come in they play baseball, there is fun, everybody has fun. There is no winning, no loosing. As long as the kids play and you see smiles on their faces."
And through the fun of it all they have become more than a team adds Sacks.
"It is like a big family reunion because even though there are two teams they are all our children."
As for the volunteers, like Laura Latham, the reason they keep coming back year after year is simple.
"The kids, I love them, I love seeing them grow, they were this big when we started, now they are this big, and they couldn't even hit the ball off a tee and now you can pitch to them and they hit the ball. It is just a beautiful thing to see."