Milton Little League kicks off season with opening day

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.”