Players with the Wareham Special Olympics softball program played hard in a practice of Wednesday, July 31, swinging for the fences and hurtling around the bases.

And when things didn’t quite go according to plan, “It’s ok,” said coach Mike Spellman, instructing players after they had ended up in the wrong position on defense. “Practice is where we learn.”

Spellman said he’d been involved in the Special Olympics program for 26 years, since his son was 9 years old. He’s spent the past 16 with the Wareham program.

“The best thing about special needs athletes — if you show them any attention, and just focus on the positives, they just eat it up,” he said.

The people in the program are tri-sport athletes, playing basketball in the fall, soccer in the spring and softball in the summer.

“This is very rewarding — you can find ways to make them all feel included,” Spellman said.