The sound of a plastic bat’s sweet spot coming flush into contact with a whistling ball. Seeing the white orb traveling about 10 feet beyond the left field wall. Running the bases with pride as though you were David Ortiz, Carl Yastrzemski or Ted Williams. All these emotions are fed from a simple little backyard game that is best played during the summer: Wiffle Ball. For the weekend of Aug. 6-8, players from far and wide will get the same feelings when they play in the Travis Roy Foundation’s 2010 Vermont Wiffle Ball Tournament, but they also will feel fantastic for helping out a good cause.

Tucked away in the forested mountains of Essex, Vt., are what could be considered the most famous Wiffle Ball fields in the world, Little Fenway and Little Wrigley. Built in 2000 as a whimsical backyard project for a bunch of friends, Little Fenway was the first field built by Pat O’Connor and it quickly took a life of its own. After several trips between Boston and Essex to get the proper paint color, dirt type and dimensions of the original Fenway Park down “pat,” O’Connor opened up Little Fenway on July 4, 2001.

Part of the allure to building such a unique structure would be for recreation, but O’Connor saw beyond that and decided it could be used for something better. Since the beginning, Little Fenway has raised money through tournaments for many noble causes, including the Travis Roy Foundation. The two sides have teamed up since 2002, when the inaugural tournament was held.

“Little Fenway was designed for Wiffle Ball and it seemed like a natural venue to use for a tournament to benefit the Travis Roy Foundation,” O’Connor said. “The money we raise goes directly to the people who need it.

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