Baseball More Than Just a Game for East Syracuse's Domenico Cambareri

By Julia Morris

Domenico Cambareri throwing out the first pitch 

©Michael Greenlar 2014

East Syracuse baseball player Domenico Cambareri has minimal speech without the help of a typewriter, but he did not have to say anything for one to see how excited he was to throw out the first pitch at NBT Bank Stadium on Monday night.  Cambareri waved his arms excitedly and smiled brightly before he threw the ball as hard as he could toward home plate.  After the pitch, the crowd erupted into a thunderous applause and many fans could be heard cheering loudly for Cambareri.  

Cambareri, 20,  has autism and struggles to communicate, but that has not stopped him from playing a game he loves.  He is currently a third baseman in the Syracuse Challenger Baseball league, which is an official Little League division specifically designed for children with special needs.  Cambareri’s father, Dom Cambareri Sr., signed him up when he was seven years old.

"We wanted him to be able to play some summertime baseball and be a normal kid," Cambareri Sr. said.  

Cambareri had such a good time, he has not missed playing in a single game since 2001. When the Challenger Baseball program directors quit in 2004, Cambareri Sr. decided to take over because  he saw how the league positively impacted his son and other participants. 

"When you watch them play,  when you see the look on their faces and the effort that they put in and the joy that they experience just by being able to hold a bat and swing it…there’s nothing that can describe the looks on their faces,” Cambareri Sr. said.  

Cory Brocious, who is Cambareri’s mentor in the program, helps him run the bases and throws him balls during batting practice.  Brocious says playing baseball has changed Cambareri’s attitude and outlook on life.  

"Before he was shy and to himself,  now he’s just more active, he’s going out, he’s working out, he’s choosing what he wants to do and becoming more independent,” Brocious said. 

Brocious has also seen  how the Challenger Division has influenced Cambareri to push himself to try things outside of his comfort zone, such as pursuing his education at Onondaga Community College. 

"Dreams that you asked him four years ago would never have popped into his head," Brocious said. "Now he's graduating and going to college, he's becoming a man and I get to see it through my own eyes." 

While Cambareri has certainly had many highlights throughout his 13 years of playing in the Challenger Division, Brocious says throwing out the first pitch before the Chiefs game is one of his top moments.  

"The look on his face...I have no words," Brocious said. "He was absolutely glowing."