This team is golden.
The Pasco Stars have been together such a long time, the team is practically half-family, and they’re — well, they’re good. Like really good.
Like three-time-gold-medal-winners-at-the-Special-Olympics-national-tournament good.
“These guys give it their all,” said longtime pitcher and first baseman Ken Carriveau, who has been with the team from the start. “These guys, we know each other, that’s how we do — we’re family, that’s what family does for each other.
“I love (playing on this team),” he added. “Because we go out and have fun, yes sir.”
On top of having fun, the Pasco Stars have been winning, including a brand-new, shiny gold medal for winning the Special Olympics national tournament in September in Lynchburg, Virginia. There, over seven games, the team went 5-2, topped Team Canada 11-1 in the final and was even recognized by the City of Zephyrhills City Council on Oct. 24.
“These guys love it,” said coach Judy Brunner, who helped found the team and was a special needs teacher for the county for years. “They’re competitive and they have fun, and if we could find a softball league to play year-round, we would love that.”
The team is made up of 14 players, many of whom have been with it since the start, and several are related. Along with Brunner, the team is coached by Stacy Moms and Belinda Brown — the former being related to about five players and the latter also being a former special needs teacher.
“Yes sir, the team is awesome,” Carriveau said. “The guys, they play very good, but it’s all because of the coaching — the coaching makes the team.”
“We’ve taught some of these boys since they were 8 years old,” Brunner added. “We’ve seen them grow up, we’ve seen them get better as players, we’ve seen some of them get married and have kids. It’s a very close team.”
It is a tight-knit bunch that has done plenty of traveling. Of those three gold medals, the team has been to the national tournament five times, winning in 2017 in Roanoke, Virginia, and in 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. After a COVID hiatus for the national tournament, the team came right back and won in September.
Even if it wasn’t gold, this team has still medaled, including taking silver the first time it made the national tournament in Chicago and another time in Oklahoma City, taking home bronze.
“I was shocked at how good everyone was, shocked at how skilled everyone was and the camaraderie of everyone,” said Richard Proctor, a relative newcomer to the team, being with it for about four years now. “It’s fantastic, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Now, the team is gearing up for the Special Olympics state tournament, which will be on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 at the Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
The players are still practicing hard, as they do every Saturday morning at Krusen Park in Zephyrhills — fielding groundballs, taking batting practice, working on drills given out by Brunner — all the while, taking it seriously, but having some fun, too.
“Everyone is constantly talking throughout the week,” Proctor said, “but we do give each other a hard time. But that’s how all teams do.
“It’s just another way to show we love each other.”
Carriveau agrees.
“We’re family,” he added. “It’s just a great group of guys that’s going to go out there and have fun. That’s all you gotta do.”
Published November 02, 2022
