Adaptive blind baseball played in NYC

NEW YORK - The young ball players may be visually impaired, but they certainly won’t be sidelined by their disabilities.

Adaptive blind baseball is removing all the barriers that may have previously kept them off the field.

17-year-old Janine Amber Frias realized she was losing her eyesight in the 6th grade.

The Queens teenager has a rare genetic disorder called Wolfram Syndrome, which is characterized by childhood-onset diabetes and a gradual loss of vision.

Now, she’s stepping up to the pitcher’s mound for the first time in seven years.

"We’re learning by feeling and hearing," Frias tells FOX 5 News.

Frias is a member of Lighthouse Guild’s Youth Transition Program.

Jaydan Mitchell, Lighthouse Guild’s Youth Services Coordinator, says the Manhattan-based non-profit organization is dedicated to fighting vision loss through prevention, treatment, and empowerment.

"The whole idea of the program is to basically give them the tools and skills that they need for future independence as young adults, so there’s a lot of teaching going on but it’s also about fun," Mitchell explains.

More than a dozen teenagers learned how to pitch like pros, hit homers, and run the bases.

Coaches and players from the New York Rockers, the first team of visually impaired athletes to play adaptive blind baseball in the United States, were on the field to show them the ropes.

"I always liked to play baseball but the ball was too small and I didn’t have good vision, so I couldn’t play when my friends used to play and now that we’ve found this adaptive game, we love it," says Team Manager and Coach Tom DeRosa.

Adaptive blind baseball was founded in Italy more than 25 years ago, but rather than using a traditional baseball, players use balls with built-in bells that give audible cues as to direction and location.

The batter drops the ball and swings with one hand, a coach stands at first base with a horn to indicate where the batter needs to run and another instructor stands at second base with clappers to help the runner get there.

"We need young, energetic people out on the field playing the game. I can’t tell you how many times I had goosebumps," says Sandra Dickson-DeRosa, General Manager and co-founder of the New York Rockers.