Super Senior: Alice and Richard Angney

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - Baseball season is in full swing in Montpelier.

“They’re always something to do with the Mountaineers,” said Richard Angney. “Summer at the ballpark, it can’t be better than that.”

The Angney family is arriving early. In the 20 years the club has been operating, Richard and his wife Alice have rarely missed volunteering at the game. “It’s good baseball, it’s really good baseball,” Richard said.

The Vermont Mountaineers are made up of college players aspiring to make it to the pros. On this night, they’re playing the North Adams Steeplecats. Richard and Alice are raising money by raffling off an Adirondack chair, a dollar a ticket. “What we do during the games is whatever needs to be done,” Richard said.

That includes raking the baselines before the game -- tough going for anyone -- and Richard though is 82 and Alice is 79. “Richard loves baseball and I love Richard,” Alice said.

“She doesn’t love baseball. She likes it, but gets too worked up,” added Richard.

Reporter Joe Carroll: You’re supposed to say, I love Alice.

Alice Angney: He couldn’t have stayed with me for 60 years if he didn’t love me. I’m not an easy keeper.

The couple raised four daughters. Amy is a regular and Dawn recently moved back to Vermont from New Jersey.

“They are the real deal,” said Brian Gallagher, the Mountaineers’ longtime general manager.

At 6:30, the game begins. It’s a hot summer night and the Mountaineers are having a winning year.

Dawn’s son, J.T. is the longtime bat boy here. He was diagnosed with kidney disease at just five months old. When he was around 11, his condition looked dire. “They told us the Monday after Thanksgiving that he wouldn’t live past Christmas if he didn’t get a transplant,” Alice said.

Gallagher even came forward to find out if he was a possible donor. But it was Dawn who was a good match.

Reporter Joe Carroll: Do you think this team helped him heal?

Alice Angney: Oh yeah, absolutely. He’s been here since he was five.

“The cards, the stuff they sent to him -- baseball players from teams we didn’t know,” Dawn said.

Now 14, J.T.’s health, like this game, is safe.

Baseball may be America’s pastime, but for the Angney family, it’s a game-changer.

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