The last day of June was a great one for baseball as Frontier Community Services brought 83 some ball players to the Soldotna Little League Park for the annual FCS World Series of Baseball. The idea to share America’s favorite pastime with those with developmental disabilities was that of Alaska’s only professional umpire Joe Malatesta. And since its inception 13 years ago the event has grown every year and now draws participants from fall over the Kenai Peninsula and as far away as Homer and Seward. “It’s one of my favorite activities of the year and everyone looks forward to it,” said Carrie Row, development specialist at Frontier Community Services.
The Peninsula Oilers were on hand as coaches and even the voice of the Oilers Dan Gensel was the emcee and announcer for the day. The honor of throwing out the first pitch went to Kenai Vice Mayor Brian Gabriel and then it was “Play Ball!” as 8 teams played four games simultaneously. The crack of the bat the rounding of the bases and cheers and smiles of coming home kept the rain away until the games were over. The FCS World Series of Baseball may be the only sporting event where there are no losers only winners, “It’s all about inclusion,” said FCS human resources director Chriss Erwin, “Our mission at FCS is to be sure that the people we serve feel like they are part of the community. That they get to live in their own home, do the things like playing baseball that you and I get to do and it’s our blessing to make that happen and is why there are no losers only winners,” explained Erwin. “This year was super exciting, because we had folks come up from Homer and Seward which gave us a wide variety of people to play baseball with and share a day of fun with. It was awesome!” To learn more about Frontier Community Services visit www.fcsonline.
