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<p>WYOMING &#8212; Confined to a complex wheelchair, her grip so weak she needed help holding the plastic bat, Gracee Liddick still managed to hit the ball &#8212; then it happened. Amid the din of youngsters echoing through a small gym room, her grin and eyes widened into a beacon of bliss.</p><p>It was infectious. RailRider infielder Dan Fiorito smiled, too, conceding that tossing fuzzy white balls for the special needs students at New Story was &#8220;fun!&#8221; More fun, in fact, than the game he gets paid to play.</p><p>Fiorito and two teammates &#8212; pitcher Brady Lail and infielder Jonathan Diaz &#8212; were visiting the private school, which focuses on students with academic challenges and emotional/behavioral disorders. Originally scheduled to be held outdoors, the event was moved into a rectangular room that reverberated with joy, belying dark skies and the threat of rain outside.</p><p>RailRider mascot Champ high-fived, hugged and danced with youngsters while the players signed autographs before some literal inside baseball. They lobbed the soft balls as students took turns at bat on each side of the room.</p><p>Some, like Gracee, reveled in the softest bunt. Others, like Austin Dyers, thumped the bat against the square mat denoting home plate, then slugged so hard the cloth ball bulleted past the pros as they scattered, laughing, to give it space.</p><p>Anthony Hettes swung somewhere in between but, like most of the youngsters, just getting a crack at bat was enough as he smiled, clapped and high-fived anyone in sight.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s fun!&#8221; D&#8217;Jontay Dent summed up as the hour wound down. &#8220;It&#8217;s cool! It&#8217;s great!&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">New Story teacher Alyssa Langdon gives Gracee Liddick, 11, a hand with the bat as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders baseball player Dan Fiorito lobs a pitch under handed during a visit to the school in Wyoming on Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_newstory01-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>New Story teacher Alyssa Langdon gives Gracee Liddick, 11, a hand with the bat as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders baseball player Dan Fiorito lobs a pitch under handed during a visit to the school in Wyoming on Friday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_newstory02-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">New Story student Anthony Hettes, 11, visits with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders mascot Champ at Hettes&#8217; school in Wyoming on Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_newstory02-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>New Story student Anthony Hettes, 11, visits with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders mascot Champ at Hettes&#8217; school in Wyoming on Friday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

RailRiders take the ball game to students at New Story