Ballplayers with Special Needs Take to Field of Their Dreams - featured May 4, 2010
< Back to Previous Page[Source: Boston Globe] LEXINGTON — With a look of determination, Mike DiCiero deftly positioned his wheelchair nearly perpendicular to the pitcher, gripped the aluminum bat with his right arm, and swung hard.
Three times the ball went sailing into foul territory, over the third base line. The fourth time he connected, the ball landed just out of reach of the pitcher, and DiCiero powered his chair toward first base. For the 18-year-old Peabody resident, it was the first base hit, in the first at-bat, in the first baseball game he had ever played.
It was a circle-the-calendar day for many families yesterday as Little Leagues around the area marked Opening Day, but the Cotting School’s baseball opener stood out, and not just because of the new artificial turf and new uniforms. Aided by walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, and physical therapists, 54 Cotting students, many of whom had never competed in a ballgame, gleefully took to the field yesterday morning for the school’s inaugural season.
Read the Rest of this Article in the Boston Globe
Three times the ball went sailing into foul territory, over the third base line. The fourth time he connected, the ball landed just out of reach of the pitcher, and DiCiero powered his chair toward first base. For the 18-year-old Peabody resident, it was the first base hit, in the first at-bat, in the first baseball game he had ever played.
It was a circle-the-calendar day for many families yesterday as Little Leagues around the area marked Opening Day, but the Cotting School’s baseball opener stood out, and not just because of the new artificial turf and new uniforms. Aided by walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, and physical therapists, 54 Cotting students, many of whom had never competed in a ballgame, gleefully took to the field yesterday morning for the school’s inaugural season.
Read the Rest of this Article in the Boston Globe
