Ken Pawsat after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at little league opening day, on April 15, 2023.
Angels coach Lee Cummins works with one of his team members at little league opening day on April 15, 2023.
A celebration was held Saturday morning honoring the several little league tee-ball, baseball, and softball teams competing against one another this summer.
Opening day festivities kicked off with a parade around the block after leaving Wald Park, which had each team and their coaches riding through town in trucks donated to the parade by McFarland Chevrolet in Maysville. The kids were happy to see so many members of the community out showing their support and cheering them on along the parade route.
As the trucks returned to Wald Park, their families were waiting anxiously to cheer on their ball players as they took to the field.
“I think the biggest thing is, with COVID and the pandemic and everything, kids didn’t have a lot to do. I think this gives them a safe environment to get out and be with their friends and learn what sports competition can teach them in life, and I think it’s just a great way to get kids, parents, grandparents and coaches around the area to come together and have some fun as a community.” said board chairman Josh Owens.
Each team and their coaches then lined up along the baseline to be introduced and honored. As tradition in little league baseball, each team chose a major league team to have as their name for the year. The first five teams announced were the tee-ball teams competing this year, which were the Dodgers, Rockies, Twins, Giants and Royals. Then they announced the coach pitch baseball teams, the Brewers, Orioles, Rays, Reds and Redsox, the softball teams, the Angels, Mets and Whitesox, and then lastly the player pitch baseball teams, the A’s, Astros, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Pirates and Yankees.
“We’ve got some coaches that it’s their first time out, and they’re learning as tee-ball coaches, and a lot of times it’s moms and dads that come out and do it, and we’ve got our coaches that are doing the older age group, the player pitch division, that have done it for years and I think it’s amazing how one season of coaching helps the kids and helps the coaches. We’ve been fortunate to have quite a few coaches that have been down here for many years, and I think that’s probably the most important thing for the success in the future.” said Owens.
Following the team announcement, Ken Pawsat was asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and Lamont Taylor gave a prayer hoping for fun and success for each team competing this year.
After the parade and opening ceremony, each team was given a half hour to compete in scrimmages, in order for coaches and players to showcase their skills and get used to competing against one another. Families and friends in attendance were watching from the stands, cheering on their kids team, and enjoying the day out honoring the game of baseball. After each teams scrimmage, they took team photos with professional photographers.
“The big thing that we’re trying to teach them here is, we want to have some competition, but really we just want these kids to come out and love and enjoy playing a sport and learning a sport and hopefully in the process learn a little bit about winning and losing. Baseball, softball is a sport where unfortunately it’s a lot of failure. You’ve gotta practice, and understand that you’re not gonna be perfect every time and I think that’s something that teaches these kids discipline at the end of the day.”
The event was a huge moment for the kids competing. Getting to see their families cheer them on, and have fun learning the game, Saturdays festivities were a great time for everyone involved.
