Orange City, Iowa — The 1st annual beep baseball event sponsored by the Orange City Lions Club and Fareway is set for Saturday, May 2nd with games at 11 AM against the Lions Club and at 4 PM against a team made up of Orange City Fareway employees.
The Iowa Reapers are Iowa’s only blind-baseball team. It’s a sport designed for the blind. The local participants will try to play this adapted version of baseball blindfolded.
Frank Guerra with the Reapers tells us more about Saturday’s event.
Guerra talks about the growth of beep baseball since it’s beginnings in Minneapolis in the late 1960’s.
Guerra also told us about the mission of the Iowa Reapers.
Beep baseball is played on an open grass field. There are only two bases in a beep baseball game, and they buzz. The object of the game is to hit the beeping 16-inch softball (while blindfolded), then make it down to 1 of the 2 buzzing bases before the fielder retrieves the ball. If successful, that’s a run. If the fielder retrieves the ball before the runner makes it to one of the bases, they are out.
The batter gets 5 chances to hit the ball. There are 3 outs per half-inning. There are 6 innings in a game. A pair of games are set for Saturday May 2nd at 11 AM and 4 PM in Orange City at the Orange City Pool Park.
