The Challenger Mariners have had quite the baseball season this year. The program, in its fourth year of play, allows kids with special needs the opportunity to get out on the ball field and play some baseball with the help of the Bainbridge Island Little League’s Major softball and baseball players helping as buddies.

As in the past few seasons, the Challenger Mariners battled their North Kitsap rivals during a home series, with all the players having fun.

This year offered the unique chance to get a personal tour of Safeco Field and batting instruction from former Seattle Mariner John Olerud. The players took their swings in the batting cages underneath the stands with Olerud’s coaching eye to help them become better hitters.

The Bainbridge Island Little League had its inaugural season of upper division play begin this year.

Fielding three teams in the Junior Division, the Blue, Gold and Gray teams played a 20-game season against the other District 2 Little Leagues.

The Bainbridge Island Little League Juniors fielded an All Star team which played in the season-ending District 2 Tournament, finishing with a 2-2 record.

The games were quite exciting with a couple of nail-biter wins for the Bainbridge Island Blue, along with a couple of heart-breaking losses.