Many students at Vandegrift have been actively volunteering for Miracle League at Town and Country.

“Miracle League is well, a miracle. It is a baseball league designed specifically for kids with disabilities. These kids would have a really difficult time playing normal baseball, so Miracle League was created to give them a chance to have fun and feel like a normal kid,” sophomore Delaney Saragusa said.

Miracle League, which began in 1998 in Rockdale, Texas, has expanded throughout the continent and serves over 200,000 children and young adults with special needs. The program has synthetic fields which allow children with wheel chairs or walkers to get around. Each child is assigned a “buddy,” or teenage volunteer, to help them play baseball. The game is divided into 4 innings where each player gets to bat. All players are safe on the bases and will get at least one run in each inning. Score is not kept during the game so everyone can be a winner.

Miracle League has two seasons, fall and spring, in which volunteers are required to meet once a week.  Games are on either Saturday or Sunday.

“Miracle League entails committing yourself to going to every game, engaging and supporting your player, and being flexible to pairing up with different kids,” sophomore Nikita Batra said.

Volunteers are required to be at least 12 years old to be a buddy and 7 years old to be an umpire.

“For a lot of the kids, going to their baseball game is the highlight of their week and so as a buddy you have to be as excited as they are to be there.” Saragusa added.

“The boy I have is really sweet and extremely smart,” freshman Makenna Martin said. “Being in Miracle League has not only given me an appreciation for my health, but it has helped me realize that these kids are just like me. Each one is so special and has different little things about them that make them who they are,” Saragusa said.

Vipers who volunteer with Miracle League:

Jeffrey Gillespey

Robert Barstow

Chandler Thomas

Drew Vestri

Jonathan Gonzales

Megan Rondini

Delaney Saragusa

Adrian Barraza

Ariel Barraza

Nikita Batra

Madeleine LeBeouf

Kaanti Gowru

Clarissa Branca

Lindsey Atencio

Taylor Goodman

Caitlin Weaver

Mollie Bailey

Maria Krychniak

Natasha Desai

Kirstin Allison

Marguerite Zamora

Zachary Amundson

Allyssa Holland

Jacob Riedel

Jason Clemmer

Michael Floyd

Peter Sarkis

Rebecca Wagner

Makenna Martin

Cayden Martin

Madison Yoder

Jordan Freeze

Martin Ledesma

Gabriella Fatke

Audrey Ziari

Kennedy Grimes