Hundreds of volunteers have helped at the games, area businesses have helped to back the league financially and organizations like the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class AA Eastern League affiliate Altoona Curve have pitched in their time on a regular basis every season.

All the camaraderie was quite evident on a sun-splashed Saturday morning as the league held one of its final weekends of games.

The Curve brought three players along to pitch to the players involved in the games. Curve pitchers Antwone Kelly and Wilkin Ramos, along with outfielder P.J. Hilson, were on hand to help on Saturday.

“I really like it,” Kelly said. “It’s a different environment. I have fun pitching to the kids. It’s awesome.”

Connor Smith (right) blasts a hit to the fence as Altoona Curve’s Javier Rivas does the catching. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Representatives of the Curve show up regularly throughout the Miracle League season, according to Curve general manager Nate Bowen, who was on hand Saturday.

“We’ll have people from our organization come over here once a month,” Bowen said. “It is usually players, but if the team is on the road, we’ll have another representative — even our mascot Loco — show up here.

“This league is special to the Curve and the Pirates as well, because it gives kids access to play the game of baseball,” Bowen added.

Miracle League President Joe Reed appreciates the fact that the community has rallied so well around the league, which he founded and started more than two decades ago.

“The Curve have really helped a lot with the Miracle League over the years,” Reed said. “They send their players out here each season to pitch to the players in our league and to help them with batting. The Curve also host our ball launch at (Peoples Natural Gas Field) during their weekend games that has helped us raise more than $7,000 for our league.”

Jona Gartmann runs to third base with her father Jon Gartmann as she advances on a hit. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The Curve are a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization that, through its Pirates Charities branch and led by Pirates owner and chairman Bob Nutting, has been very supportive of Miracle League baseball organizations throughout the Pittsburgh area since 2008.

The local community has also been very helpful to the Miracle League of Blair County, Reed said.

“We have about 100 players in our league this year, but about 200 to 350 volunteers who come out to the games and help,” Reed said. “We don’t nag business people in the area for money, but when we have needed help, they’ve never turned us down.”

“It cost our league $160,000 to replace the surface on our field 11 years ago, and the businesses in our area stepped up and donated $100,000 of that money,” added Reed, who was a recipient of the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame’s Community Service Award.

The Miracle League serves as an advocate for the strengths and abilities of its players with various types of disabilities.

Terry King of Altoona has served as a baseball mentor for several years for Miracle League of Blair County player Josh Coffman, a 16-year-old who lives in Cresson. Coffman was playing for the Athletics team in a game on Saturday.

“This is a place where everybody can come and be equal, and nobody is judged,” King said. “The players are looked at more for their abilities than for their disabilities.”

Reed got the idea to start the Miracle League after visiting a friend in Alabama back in 2003. The southern United States was a trailblazer in developing Miracle League baseball programs, with Pennsylvania starting later, Reed said.

“They had built a new Miracle League ballfield in Alabama when I was visiting my friend there, and when I got back home here, I opened my Kiwanis magazine and there was an article in it about the Miracle League,” Reed said. “I took that as a sign that this was something that we needed to start here.”