LOGANVILLE , Georgia ( CNN ) -- The crowd cheered as Morgan Lawless faced her first pitch of the fall baseball season . Morgan Lawless , who has cerebral palsy , plays baseball at Bay Creek Park near Atlanta , Georgia . The 14-year-old middle-school student clenched her teeth as she swung the bat into a single . Instead of running to first base , Lawless zoomed over in her motorized wheelchair . Lawless has cerebral palsy . She 's among nearly 300 children who play in a special-needs baseball league at Bay Creek Park in the Atlanta , Georgia , suburb of Loganville . `` It 's actually fun because we get to be kids and we can play like regular people , '' Lawless said . What 's different about this ballpark is that the field is made of a rubberized material that allows for easier movement in wheelchairs . `` We started out on a dirt field , '' said league founder Cathy Smith . `` But power wheelchairs and dirt do n't mix . '' Smith helped raise some of the half-million dollars in private and county funding needed to build the field in 2004 . She said she gets goosebumps whenever she watches the young players come across home plate . `` The grin and smile on their faces just says it all . '' Coach Tom Estes joined the program eight years ago with his now-15-year-old son , Justin , who has cerebral palsy . Estes noted that some of the players , like his son , use a wheelchair , but others with autism , Down syndrome and multiple sclerosis are ambulatory . Health Minute : Watch more on special needs baseball » . During a game , the children are paired with young helpers from another local baseball league . No special skills are required to participate , Estes said . `` If we have to help them hit , help them run , help them catch , we are simply here to let them play baseball . '' The coaches have taken extra precautions to make sure no one gets hurt . The players wear batting helmets , and a coach feeds large , softball-sized rubber balls into a pitching machine to control the direction . There are no umpires , and no one really keeps score . `` We have a lot of tie ball games , '' Estes chuckled . The games are short , just two innings , but everyone gets to play . `` It 's not about competition as much as it is about the ability to just do what other kids do , '' said Mike Lawless , Morgan 's father . He said his daughter looks forward to the games all week . So does Estes ' son . `` Until you get involved , you do n't realize the closed life they live , '' Tom Estes said . Being part of the team gives the players a sense of independence and self control and gets them outside in the fresh air , he said . `` They 're out here doing the same thing as the other kids . They really do n't do that on a normal basis . '' The weekly games also give the kids something to brag about in school on Monday morning , Estes said . `` They hear everyone else talking about it ... and my son can say , 'Yeah , I hit a home run yesterday , too . It was great . ' `` Justin Estes seemed to take all the attention in stride . And what does he think is the best part about playing baseball ? Pointing past his wheelchair to the smooth surface of the field , he said simply , `` No ruts . ''
Special-needs baseball league near Atlanta has nearly 300 children . Some players use a wheelchair , but others are ambulatory . Field is made of a rubberized material that allows wheelchairs to move more easily . There are no umpires , and no one really keeps score .