Sports

B—4 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD Sunday, May 6, 2007
SPORTS
···
PHOTOS BY
CLAUDIO PAPAPIETRO
OF
THE NEW JERSEY
HERALD
···
The Yankee’s Anthony Tumminello, 8, center, sits in the dugout with Matthew
Jacobs, 7, left, and Joey Dyl, 10, before the Challenger Little League game between
the Yankees and the Mets at Ridgefield Park in Jefferson on April 28. The two-team
league is in its inaugural season with 37 children, but founder Scott Luker hopes
to expand the league to three or four teams by next season.
The Mets’ Erik Flood, 12, is congratulated by his mother, Karen, and father, John,
after scoring a run. In its first year of existence, the Challenger League gives children
with disablilites the opportunity to play organized baseball.
The Mets’ Kayla DeVries, 5, is lifted up in celebration by her mother, Jennifer, after scoring a run during the Mets and Yankees Challenger Little League game at
Ridgefield Park in Jefferson.
Challenger
Continued from Page B1
Within a couple of hours, the
league received full sponsorship.
And when word circulated about
town, 36 players quickly enrolled.
“Everybody must have been
talking about this,” Luker said.
Jefferson isn’t the only local
team. Hopatcong, Vernon and
the Sussex-Wantage area all host
Challenger baseball, along with
over 1,000 other sites throughout
the country.
They each have their own stories
of courage and kindness,
honoring the Challenger
League’s fundamental philosophy
of giving everyone a chance
to play, regardless of limitations.
Hopatcong coach Tony
Petrock recalls his first
Challenger game as an inspirational
experience, a “day that
turned into a big moment in my
life,” he said.
“If you can keep a dry eye
you’re a strong person,” Petrock
said. “It’s an amazing thing to
watch.”
Petrock was so moved that he
sponsored a team. Three years
ago, he resurrected the
The Yankees’ Courtney Sanchelli, 10, pushed by her brother Brett,
12, is called safe by Scott Luker, right. Luker is the founder and
director of the league which pairs Challenger League players like
Courtney with “buddies” from Jefferson Little League teams.
Hopatcong league after it fell
apart. One of his more powerful
memories involved a Vernon
player, a kid so small he had to
be carried around the bases by
his mother in a blanket.
Initially, Petrock thought the
kid couldn’t be enjoying himself,
not with his mother doing all the
work. But when Petrock stood
behind the plate and caught a
glimpse of the boy, he saw the
ear-to-ear smile.
“It was the best thing you
could see,” he said. “I said to
myself, ‘OK, I get it.’”
Vernon coach Al Mankiw
became involved with Challenger
baseball because his own son,
Colin, is developmentally disabled
and confined to a wheelchair.
Mankiw fell in love with
the atmosphere, the kids, and is
now coaching in his sixth season.
He believes it was baseball
that inspired one of his players
toward recovery. The young boy,
now in his fourth season, couldn’t
stand his first year. The following
year he was on crutches, now he
was walking on his own.
“Baseball is the incentive,”
Mankiw said.
The benefits of Challenger
baseball are evident for Scott
McKenna, a former player on
Hopatcong and now an assistant
coach. McKenna, who is mentally
disabled, is proud of his
accomplishments on the diamond,
boastful about his power
at the plate.
Without Challenger, McKenna
would never have had an opportunity
to play. Now the 29-yearold
views himself as Babe Ruth.
“They used to call me slugger,”
he said. “I never got out.
Never once.”
And that’s part of the beauty of
Challenger baseball. Everybody
can brag about their 1.000 batting
average and, for two innings,
everybody is Ruth.
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