MONROE — Zachary White would have been 20* this year.
An active boy with cerebral palsy, Zach played baseball as a member of the Monroe Miracle League for special-needs kids.
Five years after his death, his parents, Jill and Mitch Ruth, will be on hand today for the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Miracle League Field in Monroe.
“Miracle League meant so much to Zachary,” said Mitch Ruth, a Monroe city councilman. “This new field will mean so much to these other kids, who typically don’t have a lot of recreational opportunities open to them.”
The Miracle League Field will be the first of its kind in the region, designed to be completely disabled-accessible and dedicated to use by children with special needs, said Mark Mason, president of the Monroe Rotary Club.
The club has been instrumental in working with city and state officials, Monroe-Sky Valley YMCA, citizens and businesses to raise $1 million to construct the baseball field. Planning for the field has been under way for about seven years. The city provided the land for the field and the state helped with funding. Another $300,000 still is needed to construct a restroom and concession stand at the new ballpark, Mason said.
Construction of the field, which is flat enough for wheelchairs and features all-weather turf, is set to begin next week, with completion anticipated by mid-July. Children with special needs also will use the field for soccer and other activities, Mason said.
The ceremony today takes place in between the regularly scheduled Miracle League games that start at 9 a.m. Former Seattle Mariners pitcher Jeff Nelson plans to be on hand.
Close to 50 kids are involved in the Monroe Miracle League, and more are expected to join after the new field is built, Monroe YMCA sports coordinator Heidi Pratley said.
“We’re all really excited about the field,” Pratley said. “It’s going to be so great for all these kids.”
Monroe Rotary Club members and YMCA staff run the Miracle League program. In each Miracle League game, everybody hits and everybody scores.
“In a traditional Little League game, these kids would have to just sit and watch,” Mitch Ruth said. Ruth’s wife, Jill, joined Monroe Rotary because of the club’s focus on the Miracle League and now is president-elect of the service group, he said.
It’s been a pet project of the club, Mason said.
“We’re very passionate about this,” he said. “Miracle will be a first-class field.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
*Correction, May 6, 2009: Zachary White, who died seven years ago, would have been 20 this year. This story originally cited the wrong last name and age for him based on incorrect information given to The Herald.
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