WILLIAMSBURG, VA. - Last week the William & Mary baseball team held its seventh annual baseball skills clinic with The Arc of Greater Williamsburg. The organization has served adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1976. 
 
Tribe baseball players stayed with participants as they rotated through skill stations which William & Mary sophomore Nick Lottchea said helped all involved build connections and friendships.
 
"The whole experience was just so humbling", said Lottchea. "The group as a whole was filled with so much energy and not one of the Arc players had a bad attitude or was too shy to try anything."
 
Lottchea's group started off in the outfield fielding fly balls. The Tribe baseball players lent their gloves to the Arc participants for all fielding activities. Next the players moved to the batting cages where they hit off of a tee and did soft toss. 
 
After hitting, the players once again put on the William & Mary mitts and went to the infield to stop grounders and complete throws to the bases. The team then moved to a tee set up where they hit balls as far as they could into the outfield. The night ended with all of the participants coming together as one team played defense in the field while another hit. 
 
The Tribe players helped play the field and cheered the Arc participants as they rounded the bases.
 
Lottchea formed a special bond with an Arc individual named Jamie who impressed the Tribe player with her fearlessness and tenacity. "She was limited to an electric wheelchair, but you are so wrong if you think that was going to stop her from putting on a glove and fielding a fly ball or grabbing a bat and taking the biggest swing she could."
 
Jamie and her friends from Arc left an impression on Lottchea that he will not soon forget. 
 
"Their perspective on life as a whole was just so joyful and that reminds us that we have so much to be grateful for. There are always two ways to look at things and oftentimes there is a positive light to view everything in. That is what the Arc of Williamsburg taught us that night. Only having a little over a years' worth of memories here in Williamsburg, that night with The Arc of Williamsburg is without a doubt one of my favorite memories here. They are such a remarkable group and I look forward to learning from and seeing them all again in the future."