Players on the Trash Pandas, one of the Milton Little League teams, cheer from atop their team’s float during the parade on the league’s opening day April 18 in Milton. Shown are (l-r) Dawson Libby, Chris Robinson, Conor Williams, Wyatt Wilkinson and Huk O’Brien. ELLEN MCINTYRE PHOTOS
The Milton Little League Hooks join the other teams in the parade April 18. Shown are (l-r) coach Anthony Natoli, Mila Post and Asher Natoli.
The Tin Caps are ready to hit the field.
Drillers team members Owen DeMalto, left, and Jordan Peet wave from their team float as they hold up drills.
The Milton River Cats cheer and wave a flag with their mascot on it during the parade. Shown are (l-r) team manager Brandy Magee and players Hallie Magee, Evelyn McCall, Kennedy Carter, Raelynn Reynolds, Piper Smith and Charlie Skotzko.
The Red Wings yell a team chant on their way to the fields.
Robin Johnson sports dangly baseball earrings, which read “Johnson” on both sides, in proud support of her three grandchildren Asher, Brady and Krew, who play for Milton Little League teams. Asher and Brady play for the Blue Rocks, while Krew plays for Storm.
The River Cats are ready to take the field.
Rowan Herbein, left, and Brooklyn DeLukey hold hands as they run onto the field.
Paisleigh Wyatt gets ready to enter the field with her T-ball team, the Timber Rattlers.
The Marauders get rowdy on their float.
Singers from Mariner Middle School’s choir sing the national anthem at the opening ceremony.
Milton Little League board members are recognized. Shown in back are (l-r) Robin Davis, Missy Davis, Tara Davis, Casey Reynolds, Devon Reber, Drew Libby, Jennifer Willey and Mike Nelson. In front are Blake Crosby, John O’Brien and Melzy Walls.
Players from the 2025 Minor League Pat Knight District III champion team are recognized at the ceremony. Players holding the sign are (l-r) Huk O’Brien, Dylan White, Brantley Peterson, Landon Reber, Conor Williams, Asher Johnson, Peyton Scisco, Dawson Libby, Parker Graves and Rowen Duncan.
Terry Dimka, left, one of this year’s Milton Little League Hometown Heroes, listens to fellow Hometown Hero Tony DeFazio, right, speak during the April 18 opening ceremony. Standing in the middle is League President Robin Davis.
Terry Dimka, left, and Tony DeFazio receive Milton Little League’s 2026 Hometown Hero Awards during the April 18 ceremony.
Milton Little League Hometown Hero Terry Dimka throws the first baseball pitch of the 2026 season.
Milton Little League Hometown Hero Tony DeFazio throws the first softball pitch of the 2026 season.
Milton Little League President Robin Davis thanks the team sponsors, families and all of the other people and organizations that have supported the league.
Players on the Trash Pandas, one of the Milton Little League teams, cheer from atop their team’s float during the parade on the league’s opening day April 18 in Milton. Shown are (l-r) Dawson Libby, Chris Robinson, Conor Williams, Wyatt Wilkinson and Huk O’Brien. ELLEN MCINTYRE PHOTOS
The Milton Little League Hooks join the other teams in the parade April 18. Shown are (l-r) coach Anthony Natoli, Mila Post and Asher Natoli.
The Tin Caps are ready to hit the field.
Drillers team members Owen DeMalto, left, and Jordan Peet wave from their team float as they hold up drills.
The Milton River Cats cheer and wave a flag with their mascot on it during the parade. Shown are (l-r) team manager Brandy Magee and players Hallie Magee, Evelyn McCall, Kennedy Carter, Raelynn Reynolds, Piper Smith and Charlie Skotzko.
The Red Wings yell a team chant on their way to the fields.
Robin Johnson sports dangly baseball earrings, which read “Johnson” on both sides, in proud support of her three grandchildren Asher, Brady and Krew, who play for Milton Little League teams. Asher and Brady play for the Blue Rocks, while Krew plays for Storm.
The River Cats are ready to take the field.
Rowan Herbein, left, and Brooklyn DeLukey hold hands as they run onto the field.
Paisleigh Wyatt gets ready to enter the field with her T-ball team, the Timber Rattlers.
The Marauders get rowdy on their float.
Singers from Mariner Middle School’s choir sing the national anthem at the opening ceremony.
Milton Little League board members are recognized. Shown in back are (l-r) Robin Davis, Missy Davis, Tara Davis, Casey Reynolds, Devon Reber, Drew Libby, Jennifer Willey and Mike Nelson. In front are Blake Crosby, John O’Brien and Melzy Walls.
Players from the 2025 Minor League Pat Knight District III champion team are recognized at the ceremony. Players holding the sign are (l-r) Huk O’Brien, Dylan White, Brantley Peterson, Landon Reber, Conor Williams, Asher Johnson, Peyton Scisco, Dawson Libby, Parker Graves and Rowen Duncan.
Terry Dimka, left, one of this year’s Milton Little League Hometown Heroes, listens to fellow Hometown Hero Tony DeFazio, right, speak during the April 18 opening ceremony. Standing in the middle is League President Robin Davis.
Terry Dimka, left, and Tony DeFazio receive Milton Little League’s 2026 Hometown Hero Awards during the April 18 ceremony.
Milton Little League Hometown Hero Terry Dimka throws the first baseball pitch of the 2026 season.
Milton Little League Hometown Hero Tony DeFazio throws the first softball pitch of the 2026 season.
Milton Little League President Robin Davis thanks the team sponsors, families and all of the other people and organizations that have supported the league.
Dozens of pickup trucks adorned with colorful signs and streamers made their way down Federal Street, Union Street and Atlantic Avenue in Milton April 18, carrying Milton Little League teams in a parade to the ballpark for the league’s opening day of its 2026 season.
The players, ranging in age from about 4 to 12, sat in truck beds and on trailers, belting out coordinated team chants, holding up signs and shaking pompoms.
Following the parade, each of the league’s 30 teams – comprising about 300 players in total – were called onto the field to be recognized in an opening ceremony.
League President Robin Davis led the ceremony, during which he also recognized the board of directors, team sponsors, players’ families, the Broadkiln VFW, and Jeff and Patsy Wells, who own the land the teams play on.
Students from Mariner Middle School’s choir sang the national anthem, and pastor David Chappell offered a blessing.
At the end of the ceremony, Tony DeFazio and Terry Dimka were named the league’s 2026 Hometown Heroes and threw the first pitches of the season.
“I’ve been doing this for 52 years, that’s why my knees are shot,” DeFazio joked as he accepted his award. “It’s so much fun being part of the game. To be an umpire is pure joy.”
DeFazio started his umpiring journey in Bryn Mawr, Pa., at his local Little League. His passion for the game quickly grew, leading him to umpire at a high school and collegiate levels.
Upon retiring in 1997, he moved to Lewes and later settled in Milton in 2008. In 2004, he became the Delaware umpire-in-chief for the United States Specialty Sports Association, and today, he continues to support the Milton Little League by supplying umpires for its coed recreational fall league.
Dimka, the second Hometown Hero, has been umpiring at the local level and beyond for more than 20 years, starting in South Maryland Little League in 2003 when his son first stepped onto the field to play. He has umpired state tournaments and all-star games, and earned a selection to two eastern regional tournaments in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Five years ago, he moved to Milton and became an umpire for the local Little League. Now, he spends several nights a week at the Milton fields.
“I mean this from the bottom of my heart: I have never been in a league that [has] showed such sportsmanship and respect, and that goes for the players, the coaches, the league itself, the parents. It’s amazing,” Dimka said. “I’m just floored at how everyone conducts themselves. I always say the best part of my day is 6 p.m., when I get to come out here and be with the boys and girls and umpire games.”
Players on the Trash Pandas, one of the Milton Little League teams, cheer from atop their team’s float during the parade on the league’s opening day April 18 in Milton. Shown are (l-r) Dawson Libby, Chris Robinson, Conor Williams, Wyatt Wilkinson and Huk O’Brien. ELLEN MCINTYRE PHOTOS
The Milton Little League Hooks join the other teams in the parade April 18. Shown are (l-r) coach Anthony Natoli, Mila Post and Asher Natoli.
The Tin Caps are ready to hit the field.
Drillers team members Owen DeMalto, left, and Jordan Peet wave from their team float as they hold up drills.
The Milton River Cats cheer and wave a flag with their mascot on it during the parade. Shown are (l-r) team manager Brandy Magee and players Hallie Magee, Evelyn McCall, Kennedy Carter, Raelynn Reynolds, Piper Smith and Charlie Skotzko.
The Red Wings yell a team chant on their way to the fields.
Robin Johnson sports dangly baseball earrings, which read “Johnson” on both sides, in proud support of her three grandchildren Asher, Brady and Krew, who play for Milton Little League teams. Asher and Brady play for the Blue Rocks, while Krew plays for Storm.
The River Cats are ready to take the field.
Rowan Herbein, left, and Brooklyn DeLukey hold hands as they run onto the field.
Paisleigh Wyatt gets ready to enter the field with her T-ball team, the Timber Rattlers.
The Marauders get rowdy on their float.
Singers from Mariner Middle School’s choir sing the national anthem at the opening ceremony.
Milton Little League board members are recognized. Shown in back are (l-r) Robin Davis, Missy Davis, Tara Davis, Casey Reynolds, Devon Reber, Drew Libby, Jennifer Willey and Mike Nelson. In front are Blake Crosby, John O’Brien and Melzy Walls.
Players from the 2025 Minor League Pat Knight District III champion team are recognized at the ceremony. Players holding the sign are (l-r) Huk O’Brien, Dylan White, Brantley Peterson, Landon Reber, Conor Williams, Asher Johnson, Peyton Scisco, Dawson Libby, Parker Graves and Rowen Duncan.
Terry Dimka, left, one of this year’s Milton Little League Hometown Heroes, listens to fellow Hometown Hero Tony DeFazio, right, speak during the April 18 opening ceremony. Standing in the middle is League President Robin Davis.
Terry Dimka, left, and Tony DeFazio receive Milton Little League’s 2026 Hometown Hero Awards during the April 18 ceremony.
Milton Little League Hometown Hero Terry Dimka throws the first baseball pitch of the 2026 season.
Milton Little League Hometown Hero Tony DeFazio throws the first softball pitch of the 2026 season.
Milton Little League President Robin Davis thanks the team sponsors, families and all of the other people and organizations that have supported the league.Event Details :
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