Northeast Miracle League Tournament Draws 80 Athletes to Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — The Western Massachusetts Sports Commission (WMSC) and the Miracle League of Western Massachusetts recently joined forces to produce the first-ever Northeast Miracle League Tournament.

Eighty athletes and their families from surrounding Miracle Leagues in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut traveled to Western Mass. the weekend of Sept. 7-8. The games took place at Archie Allen Field at Springfield College on Sept. 7. The WMSC hosted the Breakfast of Champions award ceremony on Sept. 8 at La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Springfield.

The Miracle League supports active participation in baseball for boys and girls ages 4 to 21 with physical and or cognitive disabilities. The games were open to the public with free admission (donations may be made at miracleleaguewestma.com/donate.

“The Western Mass Sports Commission is proud to have hosted the first-time event for differently-abled athletes in the Northeast. We hope the athletes and their families enjoyed the tournament and all that Western Mass. has to offer,” said Mike Hurwitz, co-chairman of the WMSC, a division of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Players stayed at La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham and received a medal, T-shirt, and entry to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Museums. 

Sponsors of the event included the Western Massachusetts Sports Commission, Florence Savings Bank, Eversource of Massachusetts, the Coca-Cola Co., the Big E, the Westfield Starfires, and the Springfield Thunderbirds.