Laconia Little League celebrates 70th opening day

LACONIA — Laconia Little League celebrated its 70th year on their April 23 Opening Day with an annual parade, a presentation from new Board President Chris Fernandez, and the ceremonial first pitch thrown out by Mr. Laconia Little League 2021 Wyatt Divers. The Winnipesaukee Muskrats mascot “Marko” was also on hand during what was a crisp and sunny morning with players, fans and families ready to ring in the new season. 

“We have perfect weather and a great day for baseball and huge turnout, so we’re just excited to get the season started," said Fernandez. "Every year we start with a parade that starts over by the courthouse and goes through downtown and then finishes up at Opechee Park. The Kiwanis team leads it each year and this is our 70th year, and I think this is the 70th year that Kiwanis has led it.”

Sponsors Stafford Oil, Elks, Rotary, Kiwanis, VFW, and the American Legion have been involved with Laconia Little League baseball since its very beginning, and the league now has over 175 players spanning 16 different teams. The day kicked off with the national anthem performed by Amelia Cunningham, Grace Mairano, and Analiese and Lorelei Robinson, all of whom have brothers or sisters that play in the league.

Divers, last year’s Mr. Laconia Little League, said that a good attitude and having fun were both parts of his approach to baseball, and to try to "keep your head up and show up every day ready to play".

“I coached him for three years and he came up through the minors program and he’s always been just a great kid, a positive kid, a good role model, a good leader," said VFW Coach Francis Rowley. "Especially when we had a lot of younger kids, he’d always cheer his teammates on, and probably most importantly, he cheered on the other team, he was never negative, the kind of kid that really embodies what Mr. Laconia Little League is.”

Two of the top teams from last year played the opening game on Colby Field. Last year's All Star team came within one game of the Little League World Series.

“We had an amazing year last year," said Fernandez. "Our 12 Majors baseball team lost to the North Manchester-Hooksett team that ended up being fourth at the Little League World Series, and we gave them everything they could possibly want. In fact, they said in interviews on ESPN that their District Title game was actually the hardest game they played. We have a chance to make some real noise in the state of NH this year.”

Along with the momentum of last year’s success, the League added many new members, two-thirds of which are first time board members, as they remain focused on what the players need.

“We are very kid-centric, every idea we start with is how every player will benefit from what we are doing. We’ve been able to update our uniforms, and we’ve been able to do different things because we have new ideas and that is what this new board really brings. It’s really exciting because it brings a different perspective which I think is always appreciative. It’s been very refreshing to have that, and to have exciting new things be implemented,” said Fernandez.

For the Laconia Little League schedule, visit laconiall.org or facebook.com/LaconiaLittleLeague.