Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League’s challenger baseball team relishing ‘amazing opportunity’ to play in Williamsport

In 2017, Zach Brooks was watching the Little League World Series on TV when he asked his dad, Gary, if he could take him to a game in Williamsport.

The Brooks family and two of Zach’s teammates from the Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League’s challenger baseball team, which is designed for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges, went to a game. They returned the following year, this time to watch the Little League Challenger Division exhibition game.

Gary noticed the excitement on the players’ faces as they took the field and soaked up the energy of the environment. On the drive home, an idea began to formulate.

Brooks, who is the director of the Berwyn-Paoli Little League Challenger Division and has been a coach for the past 13 years, wanted to get his team there someday.

“I remember distinctly on the way home talking to my wife and saying this is something we’ve got to do. I got to figure it out,” Brooks said. “So that sort of planted the seed and put it on my bucket list.”

That bucket-list item will become a reality for Brooks and the team this weekend.

The Berwyn-Paoli Little League Challenger Angels will compete in the 2026 Little League Challenger Division’s exhibition game on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in Williamsport as part of championship weekend. They will face the East County Little League from Oakley, Calif. WVIA, the PBS station for Northeast and Central PA, has partnered with Little League to televise the game.

Fifteen players from BPALL were selected to participate based on their age and how long they’ve been a part of the program. Each player will be introduced before the game, get an at-bat, and receive a medal. Little League teams from around the world will attend the exhibition, helping pack the stands and create an exciting atmosphere, Brooks said.

Challenger baseball counts roughly 950 programs around the world and 30,000 players. In the older and more skilled BPALL senior challenger games, they call balls and strikes, steal bases, and play on a 90-foot diamond. The only difference in challenger baseball is that the players don’t pitch.

The Berwyn-Paoli program, started in 1991 by Bob Roggio and Jeannie Roggio, includes players ranging from 8-years-old to 36. Brooks said the program is designed for young adults with disabilities who play baseball and have the skill and desire to play competitively.

“One of the things that I’ve seen and I’ve witnessed is when you teach the challenger players and keep raising the bar for them and the expectation of what you’re going to do on the baseball field — I want you to throw the right way, I want you to hit the right way, I want you to feel the right way,” Brooks said. “ It’s not about wins and losses. It’s about you’re going to get more enjoyment and enjoy more success out on the field if you’re doing things properly”

Brooks first submitted an application in 2019 to take part in the exhibition game at Williamsport. Each team interested in participating must submit an application in November, including a written explanation of why the team deserves the opportunity to compete in the game.

For years, Berwyn-Paoli was passed over. Now, this will be the first time in the team’s 35-year history that they will play at Williamsport.

The Brooks family first got involved with the Berwyn-Paoli Challenger team in 2014 after Zach, who graduated from VUnited Scholars at Villanova University in 2023, transitioned from Devon Strafford Little League to challenger baseball. Gary started out as a helper, but after seeing what happened during practices and games, he was “hooked” and became a coach.

“Once you start and you see the smiles on the players’ faces and the joy that they get from playing games, it encourages you to want to be out there helping these players,” Brooks said.

Brooks’ nephew is getting married this weekend, so he almost missed the opportunity to travel to Williamsport with the team. Initially, his wife, Wendy, wasn’t sure they would be able to make it work.

“I was like ‘Wendy, with all due respect, I can’t say no.’ If I say no, the league might never get this opportunity again,” he said. “I owe it to the league and the legacy of the Berwyn-Paoli Challenger Baseball league to go out there and do it right.”

Luck was on the side of the Brooks family as the wedding falls on Sunday, allowing them to attend both events. Zach, 29, will assist as a “buddy” for the players during Saturday’s game.

The weekend for Brooks is about more than the game itself. Being up in Williamsport and getting treated like “rockstars”, Gary said, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these players and families to represent the Berwyn-Paoli area.

“You got to pinch yourself a bit because we’re doing this on the biggest stage in youth sports in the world. Everybody knows the Little League World Series and ESPN is all over the place,” he said.

And when the players step on the field Saturday morning, Brooks expects the significance of the moment to sink in for all of them.

“When the families start seeing the other Little League teams coming to the game and on the field afterward, by the end of the day on Saturday they’ll have realized what an amazing opportunity this is,” Brooks said.