By Stephen Appezzato
TINTON FALLS – As the first pitch nears for this summer’s inclusive baseball league at Ranney School, local nonprofit BaseABLE is celebrating a year of remarkable growth and momentum across state lines.
BaseABLE is on a mission to make the sport accessible and competitive for athletes with intellectual and physical disabilities, and their efforts are gaining traction.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” said cofounder Gary Chropuvka in an interview this week. Chropuvka founded BaseABLE with former Boston Red Socks player Tony Vlahovic in 2020 after he overheard Vlahovic discussing expanding baseball to those with disabilities while at his son’s baseball game.
In the past year, the organization has doubled the number of athletes participating in the summer league, which will host games July 13, 20 and 27 at Ranney School. The opening day will feature a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Monmouth Medical Center CEO Eric Carney, who the founders said has been “a great partner.”
“We’re going to have four teams, not just two, and they’re coming from South Jersey, from North Jersey and from Central Jersey,” Vlahovic said. “We’re really looking forward to that.”
The growth isn’t just in the number of athletes. “We also have 12 coaches this year, which is a lot more than last year, and a slew of volunteers,” Vlahovic added. “The BaseABLE program has definitely progressed and grown.”
One of the league’s biggest accomplishments came just last week, when they were notified that baseball will officially be an exhibition sport with Special Olympics New Jersey – a key step toward becoming a full-fledged Gold Medal sport in the program.
“We filled out our application probably last year, and they voted – their committee voted – to move forward as an exhibition sport,” said Chropuvka.
“Every new sport has to go through a process within Special Olympics,” he explained. “You have to be an exhibition sport for two years. First you get voted on to be an exhibition sport, and then you get a temporary time of two years, where you gather a lot of players, you gather interest, resources, and then they’ll vote in two years whether you become a sport for Special Olympics in a particular state.”
Expanding Appeal
While New Jersey is leading the charge, BaseABLE is already working to expand the sport’s reach. “It looks like South Carolina is definitely on their way to making baseball a gold medal sport,” Vlahovic said. “North Carolina isn’t too far behind, but still in the developmental stage, and Western Pennsylvania is still in that stage of growing. Hopefully, this year, we can develop the Eastern part of Pennsylvania along with it,” he said.
In February, BaseABLE partnered with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans for a clinic and game in South Carolina. The event welcomed athletes from South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and marked the organization’s first official appearance in South Carolina.
Discussing the growth of the league, Chropuvka said he was most excited for the expansion of competitive and inclusive baseball in other states.
“It’s not a participation sport,” said Chropuvka. “It’s competitive, and they’re pitching themselves, they’re hitting themselves. It’s a real game of baseball, and people are energized, particularly down south where baseball is just so huge, in places like South Carolina and North Carolina,” he said.
BaseABLE’s leagues and clinics offer competition and camaraderie for players of all abilities, at little to no financial cost. The founders say removing cost barriers has also helped expand access. “There’s so many fans and so many people that want to play,” Chropuvka said. “And (we’re) just trying to provide an opportunity and a pathway to making it easier for them, taking the money aspect out of it for the most part,” by covering travel, equipment and other costs.
While expanding the program across state lines and bidding to become a gold medal sport in the Special Olympics, Chropuvka and Vlahovic devised a rulebook and coaching guides for BaseABLE leagues. “We’re really trying to cover all the bases, if you will,” Chropuvka said, referring to the materials the organization has produced to help other states replicate their model.
Last week, BaseABLE funded a trip and clinic for 29 athletes to USA Baseball’s headquarters in Cary, North Carolina.
“We were able to practice at their facility. We did a clinic outside of their facility, and had probably about 35 to 40 athletes there trying to promote the sport in North Carolina,” Chropuvka said.
The trip also included a livestreamed exhibition game.
BaseABLE’s rapid growth over the past year is not accidental. Vlahovic attributes it in part to the sport’s natural appeal and to the word-of-mouth enthusiasm among athletes and families.
“I think that personal touch with the athletes and the families really has made it to a point where people want to be involved and want to try it,” Vlahovic said. “Even athletes I’ve talked to who haven’t played in years want to come out and play, because they know that it’s well run. There’s fun involved, there’s also teaching, and it’s competitive,” he said. “We were playing some really good baseball.”
Looking ahead, the organization has set its sights on expanding both its reach and its visibility. “One (goal) is obviously to be a gold medal sport in as many states as possible within Special Olympics,” Chropuvka said. “Secondly, we do want to engage Major League Baseball again to reconsider an ‘athletes with disabilities’ day or week,” he said.
“Major League Baseball has 12 events — Jackie Robinson Day, Breast Cancer Awareness Day – we’d love there to be a Disability Day and celebrate the millions of Americans that are born with some level of a disability,” Chropuvka said.
With four teams set to compete in this year’s summer league and multiple states showing interest in making the sport part of their Special Olympics programs, BaseABLE continues to create new pathways for athletes of all abilities to compete on the diamond.
The article originally appeared in the July 10 – July 16, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
