Intense rainstorms didn’t keep Tucker Lynn from playing baseball on Saturday for Montoursville Little League’s inaugural Sandlot Fun Day.
That determination is nothing new.
Tucker, 13, was born with a rare neurodevelopmental disorder called GATAD2B, said his mother, Charissa Lynn.
“He has severe apraxia of speech, so he knows what he wants to say, but he can't get it out. He also has gross and fine motor skills delays,” Lynn said.
“He had problems when he was younger with walking, running, throwing, catching, all of these things,” she added. “But baseball in the Challenger League has certainly helped him out with that. It's a wonderful thing.”
Children and adults with physical and intellectual challenges compete in the league.
Tucker was one of about 30 Challenger League players who took to the field for Saturday’s event, with a large crowd of relatives and locals there to cheer them on.
“Being around other kids with disabilities and doing things that a normal kid would do — playing baseball, learning the rules, learning how to hit. It helps them grow,” Lynn said.
Five local teams of all ages combined into two where they played for an inning. They were the Williamsport's Originals, East Lycoming, Jersey Shore, Montoursville and Mifflinburg.
The Challenger League typically plays in the spring. Saturday’s event gave players the opportunity to compete in a fall game.
“This is more put together to get the kids out, so this is a great time to get the kids together in the fall to play a game,” said the league’s assistant coach Jessica Kozer.
Every player had a chance to hit the ball and run the bases. Once all players bat then the teams switched to catching.
Contributions made during the event went to assist Little League International’s constituent communications director and umpire Chris Downs. He underwent brain surgery this year and has been battling metastatic melanoma skin cancer since 2018.
Though in recovery, Downs was still able to make the coin toss and throw the first pitch Saturday.
Montoursville Little League head coach Jamie Foster leads their Challenger team. He helped Montoursville join the league’s division in 2020 after volunteering as a Little League World Series uncle, he said. That is a form of host.
Foster was in charge of overseeing and coordinating World Series teams as an uncle. He has coached the Challenger team for two years now.
“Coach Jamie is literally the best coach ever,” Lynn said. “He has so much enthusiasm, and sometimes he acts like a little kid, but I don't know how he does it, but he pulls things out of these kids that we never thought they'd be able to do.”
Throughout the event, Foster commentated and worked with each player up to bat.
Natasha Lehman has two sons who play in the Challenger League: Charlie, 7, and Gus, 10.
“Gus was born with Down syndrome, and Charlie just has developmental delays. We've never had a specific diagnosis, so it just takes a little bit more time to do things,” she said.
Gus played in the league last year with Charlie starting this year.
“It's great for the kids to have the opportunity to play, but I think that the even greater thing is that the community comes and helps,” Lehman said. “Many of our oldest son's friends are part of this. They're here today and I think that's the bigger message.”
Another son, Emerson Lehman, 14, helps out as a “buddy” alongside other Montoursville High School baseball players like Liam Lucas, 14. They help each player compete each inning.
“You just show them the ropes and help them make sure that they're all doing it. Everybody's getting time to play and everything. It's a good community,” Lucas said.
The Challenger League started in Lycoming County in 1989. Lester Loner, a Special Olympics volunteer of 44 years, joined the Little League International board which helped start the league.
“We started the program. We went out, recruited some athletes, individual athletes, to be on the teams,” he said.
Only two teams existed when they began. It grew from there, Loner said.
The Challenger League joined the Little League World Series in 2001, playing at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport.
“It started to move to different areas. We got to play the first Challenger game, actually over at the Little League World Series field,” Loner said.
The Williamsport’s Originals team played on the White House’s South Lawn a few years later against Texas, Loner said.
“President (George W.) Bush was the president at the time, so he cheered for both. He was really cheering for Texas since he was from Texas,” he said.
It took time before the Challenger Division gained notice. Loner said only 50 people attended the world series exhibition game at first.
Numbers have grown since then.
“Now it draws in a couple thousand when they have the game over the little World Series field. It's pretty awesome,” Loner said.
As more teams join the division, Emerson Lehman hopes involvement grows.
“Hopefully they do it frequently because it's nice. It's good to get them all together and play,” he said.
Kelley McAlleer agrees and hopes the league gets more people involved. Her 12-year-old daughter, Ari, competed Saturday. Ari, who is deaf, completed her second season with Montoursville this year.
“It's just amazing that they can do it for the kiddos,” McAlleer said. “I think it's not really known as much and I hope that now that we're doing this, more people come out and they know about it, so we get more players.”
