Baseball for the visually impaired comes to N.J.

Baseball for the visually impaired comes to N.J.
Game uses cues including beeping ball, vibrating bases
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
At this time last year, Sherlock Washington and Ohmny Romero had to spend their weekends flying from their homes in New Jersey to California to find a baseball league to play in.

New Jersey Lightning player Ohmny Romero bats during the team’s inaugural game against the Pennsylvania Wolfpack at the Matawan Municipal Center ballfield Sunday. Left: Players wait their turn at bat. New Jersey Lightning is the state’s first baseball team for the blind and visually impaired. PHOTOS BY LAUREN CASSELBERRY New Jersey Lightning player Ohmny Romero bats during the team’s inaugural game against the Pennsylvania Wolfpack at the Matawan Municipal Center ballfield Sunday. Left: Players wait their turn at bat. New Jersey Lightning is the state’s first baseball team for the blind and visually impaired. PHOTOS BY LAUREN CASSELBERRY This year the two visually impaired athletes will benefit from home cooking, because they are members of the inaugural New Jersey Lightning team, part of the National Beep Baseball Association.

The Lightning kicked off their first season on June 13 with a doubleheader against the Pennsylvania Wolfpack at their home field at the Matawan Municipal Complex at 210 Broad St.

Washington, Romero, and Joe and John Sanfratello founded the team.

Beep baseball is a game that allows the visually impaired to play a form of baseball. John Sanfratello explained how the game works.

“It’s a 16-ounce softball and it has a speaker in it,” he said. “The ball will beep, and that is for the fielders to locate the ball.

“As far as batting, they go off of a cadence,” he added. “The pitcher and the catcher are the only two sighted people on the field other than the spotters that help out to make sure everyone is safe.

“They [spotters] give a location of where the ball is hit upon contact. The ball beeps and the bases will buzz.”

Sanfratello said unlike traditional baseball, the pitcher and catcher are on the same team as the batter.

“The pitcher, catcher and the batter are all on the same team, so it is the pitcher’s job to put the ball where he can hit it,” he said. “That is done through a cadence, where the pitcher will say ‘ready’ or ‘ball,’ and that will give the batter a cue that the ball is released from the pitcher’s hand.”

Sanfratello explained how the league works.

“There are 25 teams in the league that play in the United States and a team in Taiwan,” he said. “My understanding is there is a team forming in France; we all play under the National Beep Baseball Association.”

Sanfratello said that in the Lightning’s inaugural season, they would play their games in the Northeast and hopefully branch out further during their second year.

“We will be playing in a series of tournaments in the Northeast,” he said. “There is a true Beep BaseballWorld Series, and this year it is in Rochester, Minnesota.

“Next year it will be played in Indianapolis and next year we plan on attending,” he added. “We will play the Long Island Bombers, the Pennsylvania Wolfpack and the Boston Renegades, and we will be traveling to those locations to play those teams there for an overall championship called the Beast of the East.”

Sanfratello, who owns Angelo’s Pizza in Matawan, said he met Washington at his business, and they have tried to get a team together for the last nine years.

“My good friend Sherlock Washington is a player on the team, and he had told me about the team and the trouble they were having getting a field,” he said. “He was playing for the West Coast Dawgs, a team in Los Angeles, because there was no team in New Jersey.

“Him and Ohmny played on the West Coast Dawgs team and won the Beep World Series last year.

“We had a great deal of difficulty finding a field, and Matawan has been very good to us and very accommodating,” he added. “The other towns were not responsive at all.”

Sanfratello said the players on the Lightning come from all over the state.

“Some travel two or three hours to get to a practice,” he said. “Most travel quite a distance to get there.

“That is how important it is to them to be a part of this team, they love the game that much,” he added.

Sanfratello, who serves as the team coach and manager, said that many of the players have baseball experience.

“We have players that played when they were younger, we have players who were about to be drafted,” he said. “One gentleman [Romero] was being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and he was struck by a ball and was unable to play again.

“The players range from their 20s to their early 50s,” he added. “It is a co-ed league; we have two ladies on the team.

“These are very good athletes that play on a very high level.”

Sanfratello said the best part is hearing the players’ stories.

“The human interest stories are very nice with these players,” he said. “It is a very rewarding, satisfying experience to be able to afford them an opportunity to do this.”

The Lightning’s mission statement expects the impact of the team to go beyond the baseball diamond.

“The NJ Lightning’s stated mission is to empower blind and visually impaired athletes to play beep baseball as well as other sports,” the statement says. “New Jersey Lightning also wishes to raise awareness for all of New Jersey’s 290,000 blind and visually impaired residents.

“The team’s further mission is to help the sighted community better understand the capabilities of the blind and visually impaired community.”

The team, which is the first baseball team for the blind in New Jersey, is being completely funded by the Association for Blind Athletes of New Jersey.

“It is nice to bring a new sport to the state for the visually impaired,” Sanfratello said.

For more information about the Lightning, view their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Jers ey-Lightning-Beep-Baseball/ 122422584434827?ref=mf.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.