Marklund near Geneva seeks volunteers for baseball with residents

The Marklund Hyde Center near Geneva relies on more than 250 volunteers on Tuesday and Thursday nights to help its residents play baseball during the summer.

Most who live at Marklund – a nonprofit that serves adults with profound disabilities – can’t run bases or throw baseballs on their own.

But with the help of baseball buddies, they can join in on the fun, according to a news release.

“Baseball is a great way to engage both individuals and groups,” Nikki Osterloh, Marklund manager of volunteer engagement, said in the release. “When we are looking for volunteers, the twice-weekly baseball games are always a hit. People are eager to sign up because they are full of fun and energy.”

This summer’s baseball season includes 18 games played through the second week of August.

The games are played on a newly renovated accessible ballfield, a baseball diamond on the Marklund Hyde Center campus, 1S450 Wyatt Drive in the Mill Creek subdivision in Blackberry Township.

It features a flat-surfaced rubberized turf in place of grass, with dirt and raised bases to allow wheelchairs to move smoothly and safely, according to the release.

Each game needs 16 to 20 volunteers. Each volunteer pairs with a resident, ideally, to help them hold onto the bat, touch and throw the whiffle ball.

Volunteers learn how to do hand-over-hand assistance, a method where one person places their hands over another’s and moves through the action with them.

Marklund staff attend the games to assist new volunteers on how to work with residents.

During a typical game, music plays while volunteer buddies push residents up to home plate and provide assistance so that the player can hit the ball off a tee.

They head for first base together as the resident-volunteer pairs positioned in the field try to make the play, according to the release.

Individuals, couples and volunteer groups are invited to sign up for scheduled games online at www.marklund.org or via email nosterloh@marklund.org.