Challenger Baseball Recap

On October 5th, JBS students gathered on the Roz Schulte field to participate in the yearly Challenger Baseball event. Through partnering volunteers with buddies to play baseball, Challenger Baseball aims to “help every child feel the joy of making friends.” This program has been serving the St. Louis community since its founding in April of 1994. That first spring day, 14 players showed up accompanied by a team of softball players. Now in its 30th year serving the community, Challenger Baseball has almost 60 teams and 600 players across Missouri.

When I showed up to Burroughs at 12:15 on Sunday morning, volunteers were already preparing snacks, field equipment, and water stations. Over the course of the next 30 minutes, the field became packed with volunteers and players alike. There was a great turnout of buddies, volunteers, parents, and cheerleaders!

After a short speech by Coach Buck and Coach Katzman, players began to partner up with their JBS buddy. This portion of the afternoon always serves as one of my favorite parts; athletes have the opportunity to meet Burroughs students, tell them about themselves, play catch, and warm up for the game.

After having the opportunity to meet each other and warm up their bodies, athletes found their own teammates and huddled up. The field hockey field was split into two different games; the game on the left was for younger athletes and on the right side faced off The Poppers and The Jets vs The Tigers and The Wildcats. I was able to listen in on The Tigers pep talk and they had a great cheer before the first whistle! It definitely got their team hyped up for the game and ready to leave it all out on the field.

It was time to play ball! Challenger Baseball has a few differences than your average MLB game; depending on the skill of the player, teams can use either softballs or wiffle balls. Additionally, outs and runs aren’t counted and every player bats and plays the field each inning! For the next forty-something minutes, the field was full of smiles, pop flies, home runs, cheers, and celebrations. Some of my highlights were watching athletes and buddies dance in the outfield, high five after home runs, and listening to Molly Katzman lead the spectators in various cheers.

As the games came to an end, the laughter and camaraderie between participants wasn’t quite over. After a short closing speech, everyone gathered for a group photo and joined in singing Happy Birthday to a member of the Tigers. Afterwards, everyone’s favorite part–the ice cream truck! Both buddies and athletes were treated to a frozen treat of their choice. This final moment was the perfect opportunity for athletes and buddies to connect one last time and share their favorite moments of the afternoon. And with that, the 2025 Challenger Baseball event was marked a success!

As someone who has participated in Challenger Baseball throughout high school, I can confidently say that these Sundays have been a very rewarding experience. Challenger Baseball is testament to the idea that sports have the power to bring people together regardless of differences. No matter if an individual was an athlete or a volunteer, both parties walked away with new friendships and fun memories. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible and run smoothly. If you haven’t had the opportunity to engage in Challenger Baseball, I strongly suggest you look to participate in future years!

Author: Lilly Tourville ‘26

Editor: Kate Logsdon ‘26