Challenger team plays at Angel Stadium

From The Orange County Register:

ANAHEIM, Calif. – It may have been the slowest-developing single in Angel Stadium history.

Spencer Benson swung the metal bat, made contact with the baseball and churned his little feet until he reached first base, about 40 feet away. That he was held upright by a custom-made wheelchair and was being pushed along by a buddy didn't make it any less joyful.

The 6-year-old redhead, wearing Oakley sunglasses, beamed as he made his way from base to base and touched home plate. Nobody bothered to add up the score.

"He just loves it," said his adoptive mother, Laura.

Spencer Benson was born with cerebral palsy after his mother abused drugs when he was in the uterus. His mental development hasn't advanced beyond that of a typical infant. He can't speak or walk.

But Nov. 7 at Angel Stadium was a day for a kid like Benson to celebrate what they can do, not what they can't.

For a day, a field normally patrolled by brawny, wealthy professional athletes was taken over by nearly 600 kids with mental and physical disabilities. For the fourth straight year, kids from the Challenger Division of Little League got to play where the Angels play.

"Last night, he couldn't sleep after I told him to get his baseball stuff," said Jolie Ramos, whose 8-year-old son, Rodrigo, has Down syndrome. "When I told him we were going to Angel Stadium, he was so happy, jumping up and down. He imitates the pro guys all the time."

Rodrigo Ramos and Austin Underhill, 8, looked like typical Little Leaguers playing catch on Angel Stadium's outfield grass. They dove for errant throws. They imitated big leaguers' strikeout celebrations. The facial features of Down syndrome were the only clue they have disabilities.

Other children had to be pushed in wheelchairs and couldn't swing the bat without help from a buddy.

"Her first year, she couldn't even walk to first base," said Kelly Curran, mother of 7-year-old Jenelle, who has severe brain damage after undergoing an endless series of epileptic seizures. "Now, she circles all around the bases and can't wait to reach for that bat. It gives us a lot of pride."

One of Jenelle Curran's Tustin teammates is 13-year-old Cade Hudler, the son of Angels broadcaster Rex. Cade has Down syndrome.

During the events today, the players and their families observed a moment of silence of Michael Cabral, a longtime Challenger with cerebral palsy who died last week from complications following flu-like symptoms. The children wore his number, 1, on their sleeve to honor the 18-year-old Irvine boy who had played Challenger baseball for 10 years.

The Angels are the only major-league team to donate a field for the use of the Challenger Division, according to Sam Ranck, director of the Challenger Division.

Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick (pictured), ex-players Bobby Grich and Matt Luke, and bench coach Ron Roenicke were all on hand Saturday. Hudler would have been there whether the Angels were involved.

Cade Hudler is his oldest boy. He won't follow in his dad's major-league footsteps, but he might have felt like it today.

"It's just baseball, but it gives these kids self esteem," Rex Hudler said. "When people cheer for them, they soak it all in, more than I ever did. Kids with disabilities kind of get pushed aside in society."

Hudler and Curran are working together to build a synthetic field in Tustin. That way, physically impaired kids can more easily negotiate the terrain.

More than 30,000 kids participate in the Challenger Division, which has been around since 1989. It was established in Orange County in 1991.

Buddies are supplied by other Little League teams. According to psychologist Darrell Burnett, who runs the Orange County Challengers, it's as good for the non-disabled kids as it is for the disabled ones.

"If a kid gets beat 10-2 in his game, then all of a sudden he's coaching a kid with one leg, it doesn't seem so big a deal," Burnett said.