Cloudy skies couldn’t dampen the spirits of the Riverhead Little League’s 350 players as they rounded the bases at the 2017 opening ceremony in Stotzky Memorial Park Saturday morning.
“We have about 25-30 more kids than last season and have added three more teams,” said Little League president Jeremy Savio. “Besides Longwood and Northshore, we’re one of the biggest leagues in District 36 now.”
After the annual opening ceremony parade, where players of all ages donned their team uniforms to march around the bases, Councilman Tim Hubbard asked the players to raise their right hands to recite the Little League pledge:
“I trust in God . I love my country and will respect its laws. I will play fair and strive to win — but win or lose, I will always do my best.”
During the ceremony, a plaque dedicated to last year’s undefeated District No. 36 division champions was unveiled.
“Those kids played some great baseball. They never gave up, and they played fair,” said Savio. “In the Division No. 36 championship game, we played East Hampton… it was a tough game, with a lot of bad calls against us. But Riverhead doesn’t give up, and KJ (Korey Duff) hit a home run over the fence to give us the 3-2 victory.”
The ceremony also featured a color guard presentation by the Cub Scouts, and Riverhead ninth-grader Lily Kutner performed the National Anthem.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Courtney Blasl
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