A few snow flurries fell over Plymouth Township Park on Saturday, April 28 during Plymouth-Canton Little League Opening Day ceremonies, but the weather did not freeze out the baseball fun.
Paws was there. So was Truckie, the mascot from Two Men and a Truck. And there was the so-called "Walk of Names," with every player's name and team emblazoned on baseball-shaped placards alongside the main sidewalk leading to the park pavilion.
Plymouth-based Vietnam Veterans of America Post 528 presented the colors, followed by Plymouth-Canton Educational Park marching band's rendition of the national anthem. And joyous proclamations of "Play Ball" could be heard across the four perfectly groomed diamonds.
"I don't know how you can't have enthusiasm for the great game of baseball," said Jeff Holt, in his third year as president of the PCLL. "I grew up in the game, playing on a field named for my father (Kitten Holt). I've been around it my whole life, coached my son (Elijah, now 14) to the point he was too big and moved on to other things.
And it was a day-long celebration of baseball, highlighted by first pitches from Matthew Slattery of Miracle League of Plymouth and Dominik Mankowski — whose dad, Joshua, serving on the U.S. Joint Task Force in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, watched him make his throws via live-stream (see related story).
"It was really great," said PCLL parent and board member Nikki Grenillo. "We usually have the Miracle League come out and we like to support them because they're amazing as well, what they do for those kids.
Grenillo stressed that the Opening Day ceremonies is the perfect time to "come together and celebrate how amazing our community is. And I am beyond grateful to be part of something for our kids. Even having the (P-CEP) marching band show up today is just a reflection of how great Plymouth and Canton really is as a community.
The weather even cooperated as the day went on with the sun even making an appearance.
An alum of PCCL, Elijah Holt, now an eighth grader at Clifford Smart Middle School in the Walled Lake district, also was there to take part in welcoming the return of another little league season.
So did all the boys and girls from T-ball age through the major division, who didn't seem to be bothered by the cold weather all that much.
And more kids are playing in the PCLL this year than 12 months ago, something that Jeff Holt likes to see. In 2016, his first year as president, there were 324 players; this year numbers are over the 500 mark.
"That's testimony to what we're trying to do," he noted. "People want to be part of a winning team, people want to be a part of something that's good.