With help from Barstow Community College coach, Alternative Baseball Organization to form High Desert team for teens and adults with autism

Sep. 19—Taylor Duncan is a 25-year-old baseball executive with autism, who is working to bring a "special brand of baseball" to autistic teens and adults living in the High Desert.

As commissioner, executive director and CEO of the Alternative Baseball Organization, Duncan told the Daily Press that Barstow will soon have a team designed for players 15-years-old and up with autism and other challenges.

"All of our teams are created to help players gain social and physical skills for life on and off the field," Duncan said from his office outside of Atlanta, Georgia. "In Barstow, coach James Stellino is going to help make that happen."

Stellino, who is Barstow Community College's new head baseball coach, said Thursday that he'll help Duncan make his field of dreams a reality on campus with "plenty of available resources and passion."

"Duncan is a man with a vision to plant these teams across the U.S. and throughout the High Desert," said Stellino, 52, who began coaching at BCC in January. "Here at the college, we have the fields, plenty of coaches and a passion to help these kids and adults."

Since the organization's founding in 2016, the Alternative Baseball Organization, or ABO, has expanded to nearly 90 teams across the U.S. — with Southern California teams forming in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

Stellino said he has received approval from BCC to form a team and is actively recruiting volunteers and players for a possible ABO spring season.

BCC spokesperson Amanda Simpson said the college campus is open for all services and with COVID-19 guidelines in place.

"We have athletes here training for all sports, but are limited to indoor attendance based on our league, the Western States Athletic Conference," Simpson said.

Once the local team is created, the players will compete against other ABO teams at home and on the road. Games will be played on high school fields, and will use the same rules as Major League Baseball, Duncan said.

"Some of our rules include the use of wood bats, base stealing and a dropped third strike," Duncan said. "Our specially designed baseballs are a bit larger and not as hard as a traditional ball."

Duncan said Stellino contacted him about forming a team last year after he watched a KTLA news clip about Duncan and his ABO coming to the Los Angeles area.

"James called me and was pretty excited about the opportunity to form a team in Southern California," Duncan said. "After chatting with him for a bit, I knew he was the right guy."

As a home health provider to his 19-year-old son, Nicholas, who was born with cerebral palsy and also has epilepsy, Stellino said he has the "passion and understanding" to help those with autism and other challenges.

"Nicholas is doing great, he's a big guy standing 6-feet 4-inches and is a swimmer at Cypress College," said Stellino, who lives in Cypress with his wife, Christine. "But I still remember when Nick was younger, back when kids teased him and laughed at him."

Stellino said children, teens and adults with challenges are often faced with social hurdles and are often passed up or ignored in school, at work and by athletic coaches.

"Kids and adults who have challenges will thrive if given the opportunity to work and play," Stellino said. "I know our coaches will make that happen."

Stellino said he has players and coaches on his staff who have family members with challenges, adding that those coaches and staff members have shown interest in helping the team.

Stellino, who once helped with Cypress Youth Baseball's Challenger Championship Division League, said he'd also like to start a challenger-type league in Barstow in the future.

The head coach said he spends three days a week in Barstow during the off-season and up to six days after the season begins in January.

Stellino and his wife, Christine, are also parents to 21-year-old James Stellino Jr. III, in addition to Nicholas.

Stellino, who officially began his position as head coach in January 2021, has over 26 years of baseball coaching experience.

He began his coaching career in 1994 at Mary Star of the Sea High School and was the assistant coach at Los Angeles Harbor College in 2012.

In the fall of 2015, Stellino became an assistant coach at Golden West College, where the team earned the school's first-ever trip to the CCCAA Baseball State Championships, finishing runner-up in 2016.

During Stellino's 12 years of coaching at the community college level, he has helped commit over 200 student-athletes to the next level; 60 of which went to Division I programs.

As a child, Duncan had speech and anxiety issues, and he wasn't able to participate in competitive sports due to developmental delays and the social stigma from others thinking "autistic people are limited or worthless," he said.

"With the help of my mother, teachers, mentors and coaches who believed in me, I've gotten to where I am today," Duncan told the Daily Press. "Now, I'm here to help those like me achieve their dreams."

Duncan serves as a youth baseball umpire and completed umpire training through Atlanta International Umpires. He completed a non-profit management program through Kennesaw State University.

He is also a motivational speaker who earned awards through Toastmasters International.

In 2019, the ABO was recognized as a Community Hero at an Atlanta Braves game and was also featured on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" and NBC's "TODAY" show.

Duncan spoke during a TedXAtlanta event, sharing a bit of his life story and how ABO provides opportunities for those with autism and other special needs.

For more information on playing or volunteering, call James Stellino at 714-833-2644 or email him at Jstellino@barstow.edu.

Visit www.alternativebaseball.org for information on the Alternative Baseball Organization.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.

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