Boston Strong: Beep Baseball For All

Matthew Debrigard, 14, plays all types of sports at the youth level, but all at a crucial disadvantage because of Stargardt’s disease—a condition that causes sensitivity to light and vision loss.

 

However, Debrigard has found solace and a starting role competing with adults on an all-inclusive beep baseball start-up team named Boston Strong. 

 

Beep baseball, a sport for the visually impaired, was already available in Massachusetts through the Boston Renegades—a team that finished top five at the World Series six times. 

 

Joe Quintanilla, a longtime member of the Renegades, decided to move on from the team after 22 years due to leadership differences but opened the door to a new possibility. He approached Adaptive Sports New England President Joe Walsh in 2022 with plans of starting a new beep baseball team in Boston, one welcoming to players of any experience.

 

“You don't have to be 1,000% competitive,” Quintanilla said. “You can be a part of this team and just want to be active and exercise once a week and still learn.”

 

One component of the composition of the team is that the coaching staff are all visually impaired, a trait not shared with Quintanilla’s previous team.

 

“The team is truly led by blind people,” he said. “We have a different way of teaching and conveying the sport because we've actually done it and we have a different understanding because we're blind.”

 

Darren Black, 57, of Salem is one of two assistant coaches of Boston Strong. A brain tumor at seven years old was the main cause of his loss of vision, but it didn’t stop him from running track in high school and later on putting up 319 putouts and a couple of World Series Defensive MVPs in Beep Baseball. 

 

“The problem for a sighted coach, mentor, or teacher, is they don't always understand,” Black said. “They don't always set the bar as high as that should be or in some cases are too unrealistic and I think that's really important.”

 

Boston Strong is open to anybody who wants to learn and the team has a 54-year age gap. 

 

George Kamara, 62, is the oldest player on the team and like many other individuals on the roster, had never played the sport before last season’s initial practices. Kamara lost his vision due to chemicals used during the Civil War in his home county of Liberia. 

 

His life has taken him through many trials and tribulations, but he was always one to fight for the equality of those with disabilities. Kamara looks to continue his efforts in proving people wrong about those with visual impairments.

 

“I want people to see me,” Kamara said. “I would tell people that I play and they would respond with ‘How can you play baseball,’ and I just say you have to watch me.”

 

With the door open for younger players to get involved, it allows many children to get an opportunity to play sports, which is a guiding principle of Adaptive Sports New England. 

 

“Most of our other adaptive sports programs are youth-focused,” Walsh said. “We've been able to respond to their interest and Joe [Quintanilla] has been able to organize practices in a safe and fun manner.”

 

With their lone daughter named after Sanibel Island, baseball has been a focal point of the Davis family. Vicky Wu Davis was aware of the option to play beep baseball, but there wasn’t a youth team available when she sought it. She would be one of the first to be in contact with Adaptive Sports New England about joining the team and is also a volunteer with her eight-year-old daughter Sanibel being the youngest member of the team — later joined be fellow eight-year-old Ethan. 

 

“Everybody that's involved in Boston Strong has been awesome,” Wu Davis said. “Sanibel is very athletic and extroverted and she has been giving it all she’s got. We were looking for something she could be passionate and competitive about and the timing was perfect.”

 

Matthew is the oldest of five children on the team and has gotten a lot of playtime in tournament play. He also participated in Little League wearing a special helmet, but after a pitch rattled off his helmet the spikes were hung up. Previously he had met with Quintanilla who reached out to the family upon creating the team and despite the age gap, he competed.

 

“I was a little nervous about it,” Matthew’s mother Jody Debrigard said. “Matthew is fearless but I was worried he could get really hurt, but they seem to hold their own and they all kind of understand each other.”

 

Children with disabilities face many challenges not only physical but mental. Some are isolated or put down because of their impairments, but having many adults on the team helps navigate not just the sport but life.

 

“I see myself as a role model,” Kamara said. “To those that believe they cannot play, I tell them my age.”

 

It’s another reason there was an emphasis on putting together a coaching staff full of visually impaired individuals.

 

“Being an adult who's been successful and who's lived with blindness, is powerful in itself,” Black said. “When you have a similar experience that is often challenging or requires resilience, it sends a strong message to those around you.”

 

Certain experiences can be an effective way to bond and for Matthew, it’s been a nice switch of pace to his other two sports soccer and track.

 

“It's always fun to meet new people, especially if you have something in common with them,” Matthew said. “ We all love sports and we all have challenges seeing…They're all really helpful.”

 

Before the season started Matthew was very excited to show off his abilities and gain experience despite that most of his opponents were fully grown adults.

 

“I want to prove that I’m good at the sport,” he said. “There is adrenaline and a feeling of accomplishment…I love being out on the field.”

 

When it came to the end of the season, Quintanilla was impressed by his efforts.

 

“Matthew has been doing excellent and scored his first run earlier this year,” he said. “He’s been the only minor to start every game for us this season.”

 

In their first year running, there was a lot of learning and plenty of disadvantages the ill-experienced team faced in competition. However in the final tournament of the year on Oct. 22 in New Haven against the Long Island Bombers, Boston Strong secured its first program win, 4-2. 

 

Despite it being a glorifying moment, Quintanilla made sure to keep it calm in the dugout. 

 

“We're happy to get one but I think I certainly expect more so I didn't want to make it into this huge deal,” he explained. “I think the right mentality is let's go get the next one.”

 

The team turns its attention to the next goal, qualifying for the World Series tournament which will be hosted in St. Louis. Quintanilla is poised to make it a reality.

 

“From a player's standpoint, I think we've got nine people already committed to wanting to do it so we got to keep working hard, getting better, getting faster, getting more confident,” he said.