47.0°,
Fair Just one of the girls
Student with autism bats on Clarke’s senior day
Shelby Soodek has played a big part in the Clarke Lady Rams’ softball team’s success this season, but you won’t see her name on any of the games’ stat sheets. Soodek, 20, who has autism, has been an honorary team member, joining the girls regularly for practices and cheering them on from the dugout at home games.
But in the team’s final home game on May 8, when the squad honored its seniors, Soodek was more than just a cheerleader. As Clarke players took the field to face visiting Mineola, the first girl to step into the batter’s box was Soodek. Clarke coach Rachel Barry tossed the first pitch, which Soodek lined up the third base line. Cheered on exuberantly by her teammates, Mineola players and spectators, Soodek rounded the bases and crossed home plate.
It was the Clarke players’ way of thanking Soodek for the positive impact she’s had on them all year long. “They’ve adopted her as another teammate,” said Barry, a first-year coach, adding that it was her players’ suggestion to let Soodek bat. “She gets the players involved and motivated. They want to be around her, and she wants to be around them.”
Soodek is part of the East Meadow School District’s REACH program — Recognizing and Encouraging Accomplishments in Children — for students with special needs. An aim of the program is to mainstream its students into group sports and activities.
But Shelby’s mother, Michelle Soodek, said her daughter’s trip around the bases last week was just “icing on the cake” in what has been a remarkable year for Shelby, who will graduate next month. “I’m just so happy to see her engaged with her schoolmates in an after-school activity,” she said with a smile, adding that this was the first year her daughter had been able to collaborate with a team. “She looks forward to being with the girls and being part of a team. They’re incredible young women. They don’t baby her. They include her and they teach her.”
The Soodeks live in East Meadow. Michelle and her husband, Wayne, also have a son, Aaron, and a daughter, Joelle, both of whom are graduates of East Meadow High School.
