During the week, the Billy Hitchcock Miracle Field is just another baseball complex, but Sunday afternoons, to many, it becomes much more.
"The Miracle League is designed to give special needs individuals the opportunity to play baseball," said chairman Rob Cox.
The league meets every Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. and plays on a field created primarily for those with special needs.
"Billy Hitchcock Miracle field is one of only 215 in existence," Cox said.
The field consists of 35,000 square feet of soft surface hand-laid tiles with 12 inches of different bases designed for quick drainage and easy access for those with walkers and wheelchairs.
The league has come as a blessing to many, including Lisa Clayton and her 28-year-old son Chad Sanders, who plays on one of the six Miracle League teams, the Diamondbacks.
"I really like it because I get to hit and play with all of my friends," Sanders said.
Sanders is in his second year of Miracle League and his mother encourages him to keep playing as long as he wants.
"It's absolutely amazing to have an organization like this that gives these guys and girls the chance to get out there and play because there is nowhere else for them to go," Clayton said.
The League is a non-profit organization, and provides uniforms and snacks to the kids free of charge, thanks to benefactors such as Auburn assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor.
Taylor is the registration chairman for the league and helped donate money thanks to the new Ability Towels.
"Coach Trooper got involved with us last year and we have seen a 30 percent increase in the league since his involvement," Cox said.
The towels have Trooper's name on it, and, just like at the football games, supporters wave the towels as the kids run the bases.
"We've been lucky to receive the support that we have and hope to expand the league to different age categories and continue to get support from our buddies," said volunteer coordinator Scooter Sanderson.
As the children go up to bat, they are accompanied by a volunteer, also called a "buddy." The goal of the buddies is to keep the children safe and make sure they stay hydrated.
"We just want everyone to have a good time," Sanderson said. "That's why we have the buddies there to help out and run the bases with them."
Sanderson said when the buddies first arrive they don't always know what to do but that after spending just a few moments with the children, everything seems to come naturally as they run the bases while children's names are blared over the loudspeaker.
"Just hearing their name means so much to them," said announcer Danielle Tadych. "It makes them smile, and it helps to fire up the crowd."
Tadych has loved baseball since she was a little girl, but was unable to play because of Osteogenesis imperfecta, known as brittle bone disease.
Tadych tried to start something equivalent to the Miracle League through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but was denied because the organization is unable to purchase land such as baseball fields.
"It was after the Make-A-Wish Foundation was unable to help me that I stumbled across the Miracle League, and it means more than anything to me to be involved with an organization as great as this one," Tadych said.
Cox said his main focus is to continuously get more people involved with the program and make sure everyone has a good time.
"The scoreboard is not in the center of the field, but in the center of your heart," Cox said.
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