Peterborough Challenger Baseball Hits a Home Run In Their Season Finale Return
/There was no shortage of smiles and fly balls as Peterborough Challenger Baseball concluded their comeback season with the final game of the year at Kinsmen Park on Thursday.
The Senior division kicked off the final game of the season for the non-profit organization. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The Peterborough Challengers squeaked a 16-13 win over the PTBO Rockstars in the championship game of the senior division.
The organization supports anyone with cognitive or developmental challenges or chronic health issues that prevents them from playing an organized sport.
Peterborough Challenger Baseball has 24 volunteer coaches that are all mentored and instructed by the Jays Care Foundation, the charity arm of the Toronto Blue Jays. There were 76 active players this year with several regulars who sat out for safety reasons.
The Challengers were made up of members who benefit from the non-profit organization while the Rockstars are pick-up players that vary week-to-week as their opponents. The games are casual but the competitive spirit resides in every player that walks onto the field according to Bernie Daynes, Peterborough Challenger Baseball president.
“It's all about learning for them as well as some of them can hit a ball. Tonight (Thursday) was quite competitive but it's all about having fun as well,” he said. “They’re still learning some fielding fundamentals and that's what we do here.”
Peterborough Challenger Baseball has several divisions of all ages including Little League Juniors, Martinez Intermediates and Barfield Seniors. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The organization last year was able to have a season from the COVID-19 pandemic but got the thumbs-up for this summer. Weekly play typically begins in May but was delayed until mid-June through September.
Playing baseball was an activity both the players and staff were aiming for after coming off a forced hiatus of 16 months.
“We started planning for a return to play in January of this year. As soon as we got the go-ahead from the province and the local health board, we had our plan in action and we put the players back on the field very quickly,” said Daynes.
The PTBO Rockstars during their final game of the season. The team welcomes all skill levels to participate against the Challengers. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
