Hitting a home run

Matheny student Najee Rogers, right, with, from left, Matt Oliver of Peapack, NJ, and Adam Lewis and Nicole McCloskey of Bernardsville

“I just like to see them happy.” That’s how Adam Lewis of Bernardsville, NJ, described the experience of playing an adapted baseball game with students from Matheny.

Lewis is a member of the Somerset Hills Little League, which hosted Matheny students on May 11 at the Somerset Hills Kiwanis Field in Bernardsville. About a dozen 10- to 12-year-olds volunteered to participate in the game, and there were lots more students and families cheering on the sidelines.

Neil Klein of Gladstone, NJ, who organized the event, described the experience as “spirited, engaging, tender and heartwarming.”  The Somerset Hills players helped the Matheny students bat and field and pushed them along the baselines. It was a game that everybody won.