Rite of spring as 900 Little Leaguers start play in Santa Rosa’s Rincon Valley

Opening day for the North Coast’s largest Little League organization began in grand fashion Saturday afternoon in Santa Rosa, with nearly 900 kids in their colorful new uniforms parading onto a freshly mowed field before proud parents in what is an annual rite of spring for many families.

Players from 72 teams took the field at Rincon Valley Little League Park through a tunnel of red, white and blue balloons and a plume of manufactured fog as “Eye of the Tiger” blared across the sound system.

“It’s a family affair - parents, grandparents, everybody comes out,” said Brian Sullivan, whose 13-year-old son, Ian, plays for the A’s in the 50-70, or intermediate, division. “Every kid feels like he belongs to something that’s pretty special.”

The 17-league district covering Sonoma and Mendocino counties has more than 3,500 youngsters playing in it, from 5- and 6-year-old T-ball players still learning which way to run around the bases, to highly competitive 13- to 16-year-olds with dreams of making it to the big leagues.

Santa Rosa has four leagues, divided by geography: Rincon Valley, Mark West, Santa Rosa American and Westside.

It’s a big year for Rincon Valley Little League, which this year has 878 players, the largest crop in its 56-year history. The league just made a major investment in its fields, more than $55,000, in preparation for hosting the district’s All-Star Tournament for 12-year-olds over 11 days in June, said Pat Ward, the league’s players agent.

“This is the cream of the crop of Little League baseball fields,” Ward said.

Attending opening day is always a thrill, said district administrator Don Goodman, who’s been involved in Little League for more than 40 years.

“I’ll keep doing it until the hair on my arm stops standing up” Goodman said. “And when that young lady sang, I still got ’em.”

He was referring to a rousing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by local teen Dalles Duenas.

That was followed by the ceremonial first pitch by four special needs players.

Joe Geary, 16, Rex Freeman, 15, and Francesca Freeman, 14, all of Santa Rosa, and Aidan Spillane, 12, of Petaluma, all simultaneously fired one toward home plate to supportive applause. Sam Freeman, a board member of the North Bay Challenger Little League, thanked Rincon Valley for including some of his league’s 100 players in its opening day.

Then things got a little out of hand. Toward the end of the ceremony, organizers got out a T-shirt launcher and started firing the projectiles into the crowd of neatly organized youngsters, many of whom had been either standing in line or on the field for more than an hour.

Chaos ensued. One shirt misfired, landing on the infield well short of where the players were assembled. Dozens stampeded toward the garment, diving into dirt and wrestling over it. Similar exuberant scuffles ensued all over the field before coaches restored calm.

“We’re going to have to rethink that one,” Brad Cannon, league president, said with a laugh.

In 1959, Santa Rosa’s only youth baseball team, the Rincon Rascals, didn’t have a field and had to drive to El Verano in the Sonoma Valley to compete. The next year, the league was formed and play began on a field behind the Montecito Shopping Center.

The league moved to its new home in 1968 on land off Baird Road owned by the Sonoma County Water Agency. The site is where three tributaries of Brush Creek converge behind a dam. That makes the five fields on the property flood prone, requiring significant volunteer labor for their upkeep.

In an effort to upgrade the park’s multi-use field, the league is undertaking an $800,000 fundraising effort that could involve converting it to a synthetic turf field, Cannon said. A synthetic field would save water, reduce maintenance and improve drainage, he said.

One successful fundraiser has been the Hit-a-Thon, where players who raise the most money for each team get a shot at prizes.

Ben Carlile, a 10-year-old who plays for the Padres, walked away with the most hits by a minor division player during the event.

He hit four doubles and a single, one of which hit the T&B Sports sign, winning him a $25 gift certificate. His total of nine points won him a new Mako bat and entered him in a competition to win a trip to Florida.

He and his family raised more than $1,000 from friends.

“At first it was boring,” Ben said, referring to the hour it took to get the teams organized, lined up and marched in the main field for the opening ceremony. “But then it got exciting.”

Jessica O’Leary took photographs of her 6-year-old son Connor as he scored a run during the Orioles’ first game of the season. She said the whole day was “a little overwhelming” for her and him, but they enjoyed it.

“I just want him to go out there and have fun. That’s what it’s all about,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.?On Twitter @srcitybeat.