Special Olympics athlete Grayson Green, left, and Monarch baseball player Casey Gould prepare to field the ball in this file photo. The Marysville Schools Special Olympics team and the MHS baseball squad will play a unified softball game Monday evening at the Marysville High School varsity baseball diamond.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The Marysville Schools Special Olympics program and the Marysville High School baseball team will join together for a softball game on Monday.
The third annual Special Olympics-Monarch softball game will be held on the MHS varsity baseball diamond, beginning at 6 p.m.
There will be no cost for anyone wanting to watch the game.
“We will split the athletes into two unified teams,” said Robin Wright, who is the director of the school district’s Special Olympics program.
By unified, Wright said each team will include Special Olympics players, plus Monarch baseball athletes.
“We feel that having unified teams best suits the game,” said Wright.
She said that Special Olympics and Marysville baseball players can bond as teammates during the evening.
There are 16 Special Olympics athletes registered to play in the game. There are at least 10 high school baseball players scheduled to play.
There is also a safety factor involved by having Special Olympics and high school athletes together on the two teams.
“Mainly, it’s for safety reasons,” said Wright. “A lot of our Special Olympics athletes can hit the ball pretty hard. The job of the high school baseball players is to protect our Special Olympics kids from getting hurt.
“The baseball players will field the ball and let the Special Olympics players throw it toward the base.
“Also, the unified teams will also help balance the score,” she said. “This is going to be considered a real game and we will have a winner and loser.”
There will also be a special hitting feature for the Special Olympics athletes.
“Each one will get at least three swings to hit the ball,” said Wright. “If they can’t after three swings, then they will hit off a tee.”
The game will go at least six innings, or about 90 minutes.
Each player will get at least one turn at bat.
“Hopefully, we will be able to get kids more at-bats than that,” said Wright.
“This is a good way to bring our Special Olympics athletes together with the high school baseball team,” she said. “Mark (Marysville High School head baseball coach Brunswick) has been very supportive of this game since we played our first one two years ago.
“We are also counting this as the ‘grand finale’ of our short summer softball season,” said Wright.