Kickball for Boston middle-schoolers debuts at Fenway Park

Curtis Sullivan, an eighth-grader Conservatory Lab Charter School, kicked the ball during the Fenway kickball game hosted by Representatives Christopher Worrell and Dan Ryan.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Fenway Park isn’t just for baseball. Hockey, football, soccer, and even pickleball have been played at the historic home of the Red Sox.

Now kickball has been added to the roster.

On Tuesday, 60 of the city’s brightest middle-school students took part in the first Fenway Park Honor Roll Kickball Game. For about two hours, under warm sun, seventh and eighth grade students from five schools split up into four teams that played a pair of games on the diamond.

The teams were coached by two of the city’s Democratic state representatives, Christopher Worrell and Daniel Ryan, who organized the game.

“I’m so happy the Red Sox opened their doors, allowing our scholars to come participate,” said Worrell, who thought up the idea. “I always want to pour back into the community, so I tapped in Representative Danny Ryan and said, ‘Let’s have a kickball game!’”

The game is believed to be the “first time in Fenway history” that kickball was played on the field, Worrell said.

When the first two teams were playing, the other two got a tour of Fenway, and vice versa.

Eliot School eighth-grader Romeo Borgida made a leaping catch in the second game.

“I feel very grateful for getting to experience this,” Borgida, 14, said after the game while enjoying a lemonade with his friends.

Harmonie Johnson, an eighth grader and honor roll student at Mother Caroline Academy, pitched during the First Ever Fenway Park Honor Roll Kickball Game. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Chantal Chala-Soto, an eighth-grader at Bridge Boston Charter School, said the game was the highlight of her school year.

Fenway “looks bigger in person than you would think,” Chala-Soto said. Though she admitted she’s not the best at catching, she still loved being out on the field.

“It was a great afternoon, great ballpark, good weather — couldn’t ask for anything more,” Representative Ryan said. His daughter is an eighth-grader at The Eliot School and played in the game.

After the games concluded, students and parents headed over to Game On! to enjoy a pizza party.

“It was very fun and very active,” said Nyela Fave, a seventh-grader at Conservatory Lab Charter School who played on Worrell’s team and said he was a “very encouraging” coach.

“There was lots of teamwork, and it was a great experience overall,” she added.

Worrell and Ryan said they hope this event becomes a tradition.

“These kids are some of the cream of the crop of what the city of Boston has to offer,” Worrell said. “I can’t wait to see what their future has to hold.”

Eighth Grader and honor roll student Jodrian Tejeda, of Roxbury Prep Lucy Stone Campus, caught a ball and dished it off to his friend inside Fenway Park before the games. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Thomas Toponarski, an eighth grader and honor roll student at The Eliot School, took a break from the sweltering heat to lay down in the outfield. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Rep. Christopher Worrell, left, cheered with honor roll students from his district.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff