Wyoma Little League celebrates 60 years

Saturday was a day of celebration for Wyoma Little League.The league is marking its 60th anniversary this season. On Saturday, the festivities commenced with a parade on opening day, with the City Series softball champion Red Sox holding the 60th-anniversary banner.Click here for a photo gallery.”It went excellent,” league president Tony Luciano said on Sunday. “Great day, great weather, great ceremony.”Between 700 and 800 people attended the ceremony at Reinfuss Field in Wyoma Square, including the 400 youth players, Luciano said.One of the league co-founders, 91-year-old Thomas O’Brien Sr., served as grand marshal. He threw out the first pitch and received a plaque from the league.”His son contacted the league a couple months ago,” Luciano said. “He was also on hand for the 50th (anniversary). We said we would love to have him down.”Luciano said that O’Brien would practice pitching in his wheelchair, and that he threw the first pitch underhand to Luciano’s son Andrew, who was catching.The league levels are T-Ball (ages 4-5), instructional (age 6), baseball clinic (ages 7-8), softball clinic (ages 7-8), minor baseball and softball, and major boys and girls. Wyoma has had softball since the 1990s.Little League rules stipulate 14 games per player, but Luciano said that he usually tries to schedule 15 to 20 games.In a new development this season, the baseball programs will play an interleague schedule, with several games against other teams from Lynn. The softball programs have already adopted this change, Luciano said.Luciano, now in his second year as Wyoma president and the parent of three league players, said that the league does “all our own fundraising. There’s a registration fee; we try to keep it low.”He said that costs include field maintenance, purchasing supplies and uniforms, insurance and Little League charter fees.He added that the program has “a lot of volunteers.”Asked about how Wyoma has changed in the past 60 years, he said, “From the beginning, it’s grown. The last few years, the numbers have been a little down. The last two years, it’s crept up a little. Baseball is still strong. It’s getting stronger, I hope. We’ll do the best we can.”Asked about the benefits a young athlete can receive from playing baseball as opposed to another sport, Luciano said, “I’m just a baseball guy. I like the sport of baseball.” Then, noting that he might be just a little bit partial, he said, “We have probably the best coaches and volunteers in our league. They really work with the kids to teach fundamentals and sportsmanship that they’ll need moving ahead in life.”We try to teach respect for one another, respect for the coaches, encourage them, let them grow.”The Item will also run submitted opening day photos from other leagues.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].