Above: Nine-year-old Paige Gauthier of the Portsmouth Times Challenger team smiles and waves at her mom after getting a hit against Tom’s Lawn and Garden Sunday afternoon. It was the team’s first game of the season. Photo by Jim McGaw.

PORTSMOUTH — As soon as her bat made contact with the ball Sunday, 9-year-old Paige Gauthier turned to her right and beamed at her proud mom, who was taking pictures with her cellphone from the stands.

Paige kept on grinning all the way to first base.

Smiles are commonplace in and around this baseball diamond, as this is the Rhode Island Challenger District 2, which was started up by Bob Dyl nearly a decade ago. The program used to be part of Portsmouth Little League, but has since become financially independent.

The Challenger Division gives boys and girls, ages 5 to 18 and who have physical or mental challenges, the opportunity to participate in an organized game of baseball. (This year, Mr. Dyl started up a senior division of Challenger for older players — including his son, Caleb.)

Adult and youth volunteers — some from Little League or high school teams — come onto the field to help out the players when they need help with their batting stance, or perhaps a reminder on when to advance to the next base.

Paige plays for The Portsmouth Times team, which faced off against Tom’s Lawn and Garden Sunday for its opening game of the season at the Seveney/Rooney complex. The newspaper is sponsoring a team for the first time this year.

For more information about the local Challenger Division, click here or visit its Facebook page.

Check out our gallery of photos from Sunday's game below. All photos by Jim McGaw.