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The first pitch set the tone.Slam!Out-of-the-park home

run over the left field wall.AJ Warakomski rounded the

bases, grinning ear to ear.The round tripper on Wednes-

day night in Fred DeSanto LittleLeague Stadium in Pittston Town-ship started the opening game ofVictory Sports baseball season.

Victory is a sports organizationfor adults 21 and over with phys-ical and mental disabilities, butthe players and their families we-ren’t worried about any of that.They were there, clearly, to havefun.

Gerard Wazeter never playedbaseball before.

His mother, Sandy, of Trucks-ville, said her son plays othersports: basketball, bowling, is in-volved in swimming, even bocce,but he never swung a bat before

ter, Shannon Bailey, who is in awheelchair, enjoyed the game foran inning.

Robbins said Bailey loved to

Wednesday.“He’s so excited,” she said. “We

promised him he’ll have fun.”“It’s fun,” he said timidly, but

his exhilaration was apparent.Bonnie Robbins and her daugh-

❏ AJ Warakomski of Mountain Top❏ Bobby Jones of Wilkes-Barre❏ Chris Berry of Pringle❏ Christie Warakomski of MountainTop❏ Elizabeth Berry of Pringle❏ Eric Davis of Swoyersville❏ James Bonchonsky of Exeter❏ Joey Hoffman of Nanticoke❏ Kasey Riley of Plains Township❏ Marc Roan of Larksville❏ Matthew Echalk of Duryea❏ Michael Sabol of Plains Township❏ Raymond Spallone of Wilkes-Barre❏ Robert Flaherty of HanoverTownship❏ Robert Lynch of Pittston❏ TJ Jump of Plains Township

PH I L L I ES

❏ Brandon Harvey of Larksville❏ Christine Wesley of Dupont❏ Daniel Kumor of Duryea❏ Darryl J. Herman Jr. of Dupont❏ Edward Orlosky of Avoca❏ Gerard Wazeter of Trucksville❏ Gino Grataldo of Avoca❏ Charles Hillard of Edwardsville❏ Jared Bellas of Avoca❏ Joey Bubblo of West Wyoming❏ Joseph Chopyak Jr. of Pittston❏ Shannon Bailey of Wilkes-Barre❏ Stephen D. Jones of Shaver-town❏ Thomas Casey of Kingston❏ Tiffany Moska of JenkinsTownship❏ Tony Russo of Yatesville

YANKEES

A league of th

BVictory Baseball organizer Fred DeSanto, left, watches his throw during pre-game warm-ups.

Those with physical and mental disabilitiesfind home, camaraderie in Victory BaseballBy JOE HEALEYjhealey@psdispatch.com

See VICTORY, Page 31

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heir ownPhillies' Bobby Jones, right, jokes around with Yankees' CharlieHillard before the inaugural game of the Victory Baseball League.

Game umpires Jim Jones, left, Jody Gurnari, and Dave Katyl jokearound with Phillies' T.J. Jump before the national anthem.

A.J. Warakomski hits a home run on the first pitch during the open-ing day of the Victory Baseball league in Pittston Township onWednesday night.

PHOTOSBY BILL TARUTIS

Above, from left, Eric Da-vis, left, Matthew Echalkand Marc Roan goofaround in the outfieldduring warm-ups at theirgame against the Yankees.At left, members of theYankees stand along thethird base line for thenational anthem. At right,Phillies' Michael Sabolprepares to swing at apitch during the inauguralgame.

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watch her brother and three sis-ters play ball.

“She’s delighted that she cannow,” Robbins said.

The game is set up like a typ-ical baseball game. The Yankeesand the Phillies. Red and blueuniforms. But that’s where thesimilarities end.

There are no strikes and noouts. No foul balls. The teamsplay three innings and playersbats until they get on base. Theball is softer than a normal base-ball. The entire opposing teamtakes various spots around theinfield. No score is kept and ev-ery player is considered a win-ner.

“It’s all about the players,” saidorganizer Fred DeSanto. “We’rehere for them. As long at theyhave fun, we did our job.”

Before the big game, players,parents, coaches and friendswere treated to a feast of grilledhot dogs and hamburgers, potatosalad, pasta salad, chips and so-da. Even big packs of BigLeague Chew gum. Then, all theplayers were introduced by clubvice president Bill O’Boyle.

As Phillie Eric Davis ofSwoyersville entered the field,he tossed his glove in the air andcaught it. As Yankee BrandonHarvey was called, members ofboth teams chanted, “Harvey,Harvey, Harvey!”

“He can dance, but can he hit?It’s CharlieHillard,”O’Boyle an-nounced.

The Victory league is only inits second season.

It is a continuation ChallengerBaseball, which is open to play-

ers under 21.The league began in August

2011 and came about because ofa 20th reunion of the originalPittston Township ChallengerLittle League Players. The origi-nal Challenger Little League be-gan in 1991. At the reunion lastyear, many of the players wantedto keep playing.

“They were chanting, ‘Wewant to play,” DeSanto said. “So

we said to ourselves, let’s start aleague.”

That was the birth of Victory.The teams first played in the

afternoon from August to Octo-ber, but many of the playerswanted to play under the lights.So now they play at 6:30 p.m. ev-ery Wednesday “until they don’twant to play any more,” DeSantosaid.

“We’re here as long as they

want to be here.”The Victory Basketball

League began in November andmet every Wednesday at theWest Side Career and TechnicalCenter Pringle. They had 20players on roster.

Next up: Victory Soccer.“We have a soccer coach and a

field,”DeSanto said. “All have todo is work out the details.”

Victory relies on donations.Lawyer Bill Finnegan and ac-

countant JodyGuarnieri donatedtime and resources to get theleague incorporated. Llewellyn’sPharmacy and Sapphire Salonsponsored the teams.

“We are so grateful to the peo-ple and organizations,” DeSantosaid. “Again, it’s all about theplayers.”

VictoryContinued from Page 28