By Gary Curreri

Brian Johnson grew up with the Deerfield Beach Little League.

Deerfield Beach Little League President Brian Johnson goes through Opening Day ceremonies on Feb. 27. Photos by Gary Curreri

The second-year president was sporting a huge smile as he walked around Opening Day at Deerfield Beach Middle School Athletic Complex on Feb. 27.

“This is our biggest day of the year,” Johnson said. “It generates the most fundraising. It is just great for all of the kids to be together and participate in all of the events. We have fast pitch events, home run derbies and a dunk tank. It is just great for them to come out and have a good day and, later on in the day, we start the season with four games. We gave out trophies for the different events too.”

There are 280 players, ranging in age from 6 to 18, on the league’s 23 teams. There are six divisions– Farm, Minor, Major, Junior, Senior and Big League.

“I have been involved in this league for 30 years, since I played when I was 9-10 years old,” Johnson said. “So not only have I played, coached and now I am on the board of directors, I now have kids that I coached back here with their kids and coaching.

“It is a cool feeling to know there are kids you helped as youngsters that have come back to the league and are giving themselves back to the same league,” Johnson added. “You keep them here in a community setting and off the streets. We want to provide six months out of the year a place where they can hang out even if they are not playing. They can have a good time and learn baseball on top of it.”

Rockhounds

Deerfield Beach’s Avery Thomas, 8, has been playing baseball for 5 years. Thomas plays on his father’s Minors Division team, the Rockhounds.

“My dad plays it and I like it,” said Avery Thomas, who plays mostly every position on the field. “I like playing baseball because you can meet new people. It is more important to have fun than win games. I’d like to play for the Marlins. It is a big dream.”

His teammate, Zachary Johnson, 9, also of Deerfield Beach, has been playing the sport for 3-1/2 years. He is a pitcher and can also play multiple positions.

“I like that you can hit the ball and pitch,” said Johnson, who also has aspirations of playing in the big leagues someday. He said he would oppose Thomas when they are older. “I want to play with the Red Sox.”

Johnson said he also was happy to learn how fast he pitches.

“It was really cool because I always wanted to know what my pitch speed was,” said Johnson, who was clocked at 38 miles-per-hour in the fast pitch competition.

Observer Rockhounds pictured above from L-R (first row): Zachary Johnson, Zachary Fletcher, Adam Musa, Isiah Harris, Michael Esau; (second row) Michael Ballesteros, Teriq Phillips, Justin Ray, Tristan Clark, Avery Thomas; (third row) Coach Shaun Thomas