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Little Leaguers, community kids, mascots and an MLB Hall of Famer join for a Wiffle ball game

By Alyssa Maneval 3 min read

Rain couldn't stop the seventh annual Wiffle Ball game that took place Friday morning. This year's game between children helped by the local Dwell organization and Australia Little League, pitched by Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Alan Trammell, moved into Liberty Arena.

"It's a tradition," said Patricia Jackson-Gehris, president of UPMC in North Central Pennsylvania. "It's all about the kids and the community. This is what Little League is about."

Australian manager Brad Abel also called it a tradition because the Australian players have participated for the past three years.

"They were keen as mustard to get out of the complex and come down to play," Abel said.

The best part for him was watching the kids' faces as they played.

Julius Zerbe, 13, of Bloomsburg, said it was his mom who told him about the game and how it would help Dwell.

"I play Little League," he said. "This will be fun. It's for a good cause. Mom said we'll be able to help others."

He figured playing Wiffle ball would be pretty similar to playing baseball.

"They throw the ball and you hit it," Zerbe said. "You just don't hit it as hard."

Before the game began, the Dwell participants stretched by touching their toes, running the bases and doing jumping jacks. When the Little League World Series mascot Dugout and UPMC mascot Will M. Sport arrived, they stopped for pictures.

During the game, Abel spoke with parents from Dwell about the adoption process in this country.

"Back home, it's very hard to adopt," Abel said.

Dwell helps families in the process of fostering or adopting, Bridget Campbell, of Roaring Branch, said.

"When we first started with foster care, we didn't have Dwell," Campbell said. "With our first placement, our only placement, we didn't eat for three days."

All of the attention went into welcoming their new arrival, she said.

Campbell was part of the very beginning of Dwell, which focuses on supporting the families during the placement time. She was brought on to share her experiences with the parent support group made up of other foster parents and adoptive parents.

"(Dwell makes) the transition so easy," Campbell said. "They give you the support you need when you're making an exciting change in your life."

She and the other foster and adoptive parents were there cheering on their kids as they hit the ball and got home runs while the Australian players overthrew the ball, tripped over each other or just were stopped by Dugout.

For Trammell, coming to Williamsport had always been a dream of his, especially back when he was playing Little League from 1967-69.

He said his reasoning for coming here now was just "to have a good time," something he wanted to encourage the kids to do too. Getting older is when it's time to be serious. Being a kid means trying all of the sports and having a good time, he said.

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