Group begins building 'miracle' baseball field for children with disabilities

SCHOOLCRAFT, Mich. — The Southwest Michigan Miracle League, an organization that offers kids with disabilities the opportunity to play baseball, broke ground on its new baseball facility in Schoolcraft on Wednesday.

Jud Hoff, president of the organization's board of directors, said the impact the field will have on the community is impossible to measure.

"The excitement and the joy that'll be around these games in this community will be just fabulous," Hoff said. "I think, as we all recognize, all three of those things are what we need in our communities right now."

Hoff said the group raised more than $750,000 over the last year for the first phase of the project, which consists of preparing the diamond and parking lot.

He said the project began two years ago, and dozens gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking.

Hoff said construction on the field begins this week and is expected to last two months. He hopes kids can start playing ball on the field this fall.