Play ball!

Jackson Tantleff of Bernardsville, NJ, left, and Brennan Maillot of Gladstone, NJ, push Matheny student Kim Alarcon toward first base.

The annual baseball game played between members of the Somerset Hills Little League and students from Matheny is an event that participants on both teams look forward to every year with great anticipation. This year’s game, in which SHLL players helped the Matheny students bat and field and pushed their wheelchairs along the basepaths, was again a lively fun-filled event and truly uplifting for both participants and spectators.

The game was held on Friday, May 10, at the Kiwanis Rotary Little League complex in Bernardsville, NJ. Baseball is one of several adapted sports played by Matheny students and patients as part of Matheny’s recreation therapy program, which provides a variety of recreation opportunities and resources to improve physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being.

Brad Dallas, left, and Ryan Tantleff, both of Bernardsville, NJ, with Matheny student Shane Szott.