The Wheelchair Softball World Series was played Aug. 3-5 outside Ozinga Field in Crestwood. Photo by Xavier Sanchez
Play Ball! | Wheelchair athletes come to Crestwood for Softball World Series
By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent
A little bit of heat and a summer downpour could not stop a collection of wheelchair softball players from competing for a world championship in the game they love.
Teams traveled from 18 states and Japan to Crestwood, which along with the Frontier League’s Windy City ThunderBolts played host to the Wheelchair Softball World Series for the second consecutive year. The 20-team tournament was held Aug. 3-5 in the parking lot at Ozinga Field, home field of the ThunderBolts.
Trophies were presented to the champions and runners-up in each of three brackets.
Team Japan accepts its Wheelchair Softball World Series Division 1 championship trophy on Aug. 5 outside Ozinga Field in Crestwood. Photo by Xavier Sanchez
One of those trophy-winners was Ivory Harris. This season was Harris’ eighth season competing in wheelchair softball, but it came with several firsts including his first home run and being crowned a champion.
Harris’ Chicago Softball Cubs won the tournament’s Division 2 title.
“It’s exhilarating, there’s nothing like it,” Harris said.
Team Japan defeated the Nebraska Barons, 11-6, the Wheelchair Softball World Series Division 1 championship game. Photo by Xavier Sanchez
Jeffrey Garten of Minnesota plays catcher for his team and contributed to his team’s Division 3 championship.
Garten has always loved baseball, but playing it was not always going to be possible because of his medical condition. Wheelchair Softball and the Wheelchair Softball World Series has made a huge impact on his life, as it has for the past 10 years enabled him to compete in the game he loves.
Photo by Xavier Sanchez
“This is the closest we have to be like our MLB counterparts,” Garten said. “I have loved baseball, so this is the way that I can compete. Me, trying to compete against an able-bodied person … yes, I can walk and do that, but I’m not able to compete. This allows me to compete at a high level.”
Team Japan took the Division 1 title, its second in a row in the top bracket. Japan defeated the Nebraska Barons, 11-6, in the championship game for the second consecutive season — this time in an intense matchup in the pouring rain.
Prior to Japan’s back-to-back championships, the Barons had won 15-straight Wheelchair Softball World Series titles.
The Chicago Softball Cubs won the Wheelchair Softball World Series Division 2 title. Photo by Xavier Sanchez
The weekend was filled with great athletic achievements that could not have happened without the help of sponsors, who lent their time and money to create such an event. Among those was Paralyzed Veterans of America, which donated $10,000. In attendance was the organization’s sport director, Keith Cooper, who throw out the first pitch before the championship game.
Commissioner of Wheelchair Softball and Lincolnway Special Recreation Association executive director Keith Wallace stressed the organization is always looking for more people to get involved.
To learn more about Wheelchair Softball, visit the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association at lwsra.org.
Photo by Xavier Sanchez
2 Comments
Local News
Pro Soccer Report | Red Stars seeking max points in quest for playoffs
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer With three games to go and in last place, the Chicago Red Stars are in a position to be spoilers. But in this unpredictable NWSL season in which teams are bunched up in the standings, the Red Stars are in a position where they can play more than…
Cross Country | Stagg’s Barham having an adventure in September
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Stagg senior runner Luke Barham has experienced a unique September. Barham finished third in the Richard Dust meet at North Creek Meadow in Chicago Heights on Sept. 2 with a time of 15:52.81. A week later, he placed 26th place but set a personal-best time of 15:19.30 in…
Area Sports Roundup | Hoops powers invited to December showcases
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The invitations are in. As basketball coaches and athletic directors put the finishing touches on the 2023-24 schedules, some of the teams in the Southwest Regional Publishing coverage area have picked up invitations to a pair of prestigious hoops tournaments in December. The Chicago Elite Classic takes place…
It’s been a rewarding experience
Spread the love. By Patti Tyznik Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • [email protected] I started writing this column one year ago this month. It has been such a rewarding experience, to say the least. Along the way I have met many wonderful, caring people who volunteer their time to community events and…
Kaegi’s actions should be scrutinized
Spread the love. By Ray Hanania Last year, a report was issued that showed that a major tax burden would slam commercial properties in Cook County. Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi reassessed properties in 2021, claiming it would ease the burden on homeowners. But in fact, it has not. In fact, at Kaegi’s direction, assessments…
SAFE-T Act problems aren’t over
Spread the love. By Rich Miller . Hannah Meisel’s recent report for Capitol News Illinois included a line that jumped out at me: “Per state law — which hasn’t been updated since 1949 — only counties with 35,000 or more residents are required to set up offices of public defender.” According to information posted on…
Indiana Wesleyan scrapes by Saint Xavier after missed 2-pt conversion
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Life is about choices. Sometimes, the result is to our benefit; sometimes it is not. In Saint Xavier’s loss to visiting Indiana Wesleyan on Sept. 16 at George R. Deaton Field in Mount Greenwood, head coach Mike Feminis was presented with an important decision to make with his team…
High School Football Wrap: Week 4 | St. Laurence has Ball in win over Providence
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Providence has won 10 state championships and finished runner-up four times, including last season in Class 4A. So how did St. Laurence’s student body celebrate the Vikings’ second-ever victory over the Celtics, 31-24, last Friday night in Burbank? With an old-fashioned field-storming. St. Laurence senior Aaron Ball scored the…
Sandburg shreds Lockport defense, block last-second FG attempt to secure win
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Anthony Shelton burst on the scene a year ago in a big Sandburg win over Lockport. The Eagles junior last week solidified himself as a top quarterback in the South Suburbs with another win over the Porters. Shelton threw for 300 yards and a pair of touchdown passes as Sandburg…
Chicago Bears honor Stagg’s Nero, Gilmore
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent The Chicago Bears named Stagg head football coach Colt Nero and Chargers senior Lebarion Gilmore as the Chicago Bears Coach of the Week and the Chicago Bears High School All-Star for Week 3 of the 2023 season. The honors came after Stagg defeated visiting Belleville West 24-0 in a…
Neighbors
As state Supreme Court weighs another BIPA lawsuit, lawmakers mull child data privacy framework
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In Springfield on Thursday, the medical industry went to court. The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of class action suits brought by two suburban nurses, Lucille Mosby and Yana Mazya, who allege their employers violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, a landmark 2008…
State’s high court opens new interactive learning center
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – In 1946, the Illinois Supreme Court heard a case that would eventually become a landmark in American legal history. The public school district in Champaign, like many other districts in Illinois at the time, allowed a group of local religious leaders to use their schools to…
Biden administration responds to calls from Pritzker, other leaders, for help in migrant crisis
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Department of Homeland Security will speed up the processing of work authorizations for asylum seekers and extend Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan migrants, actions that could help thousands of migrants who have arrived in Illinois in recent months. Those moves were announced by the Biden…
Former Illinois State Police trooper who pleaded guilty in relation to deadly crash postpones hearing
By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Matt Mitchell, the former Illinois State Police trooper who caused a high-speed, distracted-driving crash that killed sisters Kelli and Jessica Uhl, has asked to delay his Sept. 20 hearing for the reinstatement of his driver’s license. Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for Illinois Secretary of State Alex Giannoulias, said…
As SAFE-T Act goes live, murder suspects previously eligible to post bond are held in jail
By BETH HUNDSDORFER & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] In courtrooms around the state early this week, judges conducted the first hearings under a new system that determines whether a defendant will be jailed while awaiting trial based on dangerousness and risk of fleeing prosecution, rather than their ability to post bail. The abolition…
New State Police rules for assault weapons permits will take effect Oct. 1
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans who own weapons that can no longer be purchased or sold in the state under its new assault weapons ban will soon be able to register those weapons so they can legally keep them. The law, officially known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, bans…
Ahead of cash bail’s end, state’s replacement pretrial justice system takes shape
By JERRY NOWICKI & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Beginning Monday, state courts in Illinois will be prohibited from jailing individuals who are accused – but not convicted – of crimes simply because they cannot afford to post bail while they await trial. Monetary bond will be abolished in favor of a system that…
Disparately resourced public defenders prepare for the end of cash bail in Illinois
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois on Monday will become the first state to fully abolish cash bail through an act of the legislature — a major criminal justice overhaul spurred by the advocacy of a progressive faction of the Democratic Party that’s grown increasingly powerful in recent years. The reform goes into…
Illinois House Speaker’s staff could test limits of Workers’ Rights Amendment
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Efforts to form a union by staff in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office could provide an early and unexpected test of the new Workers’ Rights Amendment to the Illinois Constitution. Brady Burden, a staffer in the speaker’s office who is part of the organizing committee…
‘Thunderdomes of controversy and strife:’ Giannoulias testifies before U.S. Senate committee
By JENNIFER FULLER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C. this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans. LISTEN TO THIS STORY: Capitol News Illinois · IL Secretary of State testifies before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee…
Great article.
Love this