Members of the Dream Team raise their hands and cheer following a game at Hermiston’s Field of Dreams on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.

HERMISTON — On Tuesday nights at Hermiston’s Field of Dreams, a very unusual softball game takes shape.

Both teams wear the same green T-shirts, emblazoned with the words “Dream Team.” There are half a dozen shortstops, but zero outs. The game is only two innings long.

The weekly games are part of an annual tradition that takes place each spring when special needs athletes ages 6 and to young adult play together, helped along by members of local Little League teams. On Tuesday, May 4, the Devin Oil Marlins softball team and the Hermiston Generating Cardinals baseball team were taking their turn.

“My favorite part is at the end of each game, when they ask, ‘When do we get to play again?’” Coach Tasha Bleyenberg said.

She and Coach Kristi Smalley gather their 18 players each week at 6 p.m. They start out by pairing up Dream Team athletes with Little League athletes for a game of catch to warm up, then lead everyone in some stretches before the athletes divide into two teams and the game begins.

“Are we gonna have some fun tonight?” Smalley asked everyone during the May 4 game, while everyone enthusiastically chimes back that fun is the focus.

David Shasteen, age 9, said he has been on the Dream Team for several years now. His favorite part is getting to swing the bat at the plate.

There are no strikes — players get to hit the ball as many times as they need, either from a ball pitched by a coach or a T-ball tee — and David said he usually hits the ball right away.

“But sometimes I miss the ball on the fourth time or the second time,” he said.

The players’ skill varies widely. During the first inning, one player wandered toward third base after hitting the ball before her Little League buddies got her going in the right direction, while the next hit a line drive past third base and jogged quickly straight to first. All players run one base at a time, until the last batter brings everyone home.

Outfielders send the ball back to the pitcher instead of to a base, and several outfielders also toss a few extra softballs back and forth while they wait their turn to bat.

No matter what happens, players, coaches and parents in the stand erupt into cheers.

Smalley, whose daughter plays on the Dream Team, said she appreciates the opportunity to create something that works for a lot of different age groups and abilities to join.

“It’s nice to do something that’s activity based, that doesn’t rely on verbal skills,” she said.

Smalley also said she often hears from parents of the “neurotypical” Little League athletes that it was their child’s favorite game of the season.

Bleyenberg said Little League has always been great about getting them whatever equipment they need. When she first got involved in the program, started about a decade ago by John Guillen, she assumed it was a standard part of Little League. But she has since learned that most kids don’t get that opportunity.

Lexi Sinor and Avery Devin, both 11, were two of the Marlins helping Dream Team athletes field balls and run bases on May 4. Avery said she liked helping out with the game and was glad she did it, while Lexi said it was her first time playing in the game, but she had a lot of fun helping other people get to play softball like she does.

“I like helping kids that don’t always have the same advantages,” she said.

After the two-inning game is over and each Dream Team player has gotten to bat twice, players do some cheers before lining up for a squirt of hand sanitizer and a snack.

Rian Middleton grabbed a treat bag and juice box before giving other players his signature high fives. He said his favorite part is getting to hit the ball. It’s also the hardest part, he said.

The final game of the season is May 25, and Smalley said it will end with a pizza party.