By ALEX SPONSELLER After nearly four decades of volunteerism, Warwick North Little League legend Tom Doyle Sr. decided to retire from the league at the conclusion of the recent fall ball season.

Doyle Sr. became involved when his children joined the league, and he would go on to serve a handful of different roles at the pit in the ensuing years. He was a coach and eventually would spend a decade as the league’s vice president.

After leaving the board as an official member 20 years ago, he remained a mainstay in the league and became a jack of all trades. Whether it be coaching, field maintenance, running the concession stand, Doyle Sr. devoted much of his life to helping those involved in the city.

“Since Day 1, he never cared about winning. All he cared about was making sure that every kid had a chance to play. He wanted to make sure that he was a part of the community and that every child in the community had the best opportunity. He was for no scores, no standings, equal playing time, that was something that he pushed for,” said his son, Tom Doyle Jr.

Doyle Jr. added: “It was his dedication to the community. I can’t count the number of times that he would not make it home for dinner since he had to go down to the pit to take care of something that had to be done. Whether it was coaching or just cooking hot dogs in the shack. He just wanted to help, he just wanted to make sure that if something had to be done that he could make sure it got done. He always wanted to make time for the league, he didn’t have the time, but he made it.”

More than anything, though, Doyle Sr. was devoted to helping children and loved the friendships he made during his time helping out.

“His connection with kids, and the conversations that he would have with them in the dugout. They see this guy and would just talk to him. They’ll talk to him about school, anything. He really enjoyed that connection. Another thing is that he has great baseball knowledge. Sometimes, if you see this guy picking up trash or cutting grass, you wouldn’t think he had that, but he has a tremendous amount of knowledge and he had (a big impact) on those teams that he was around and were successful,” said Doyle Jr.

As he gets ready to enjoy the retired life, Doyle Sr. will always love Warwick North and feel passionate about the complex at the pit. He is also excited to see a new generation of board members lead the way.

“He enjoys it, he enjoys driving by the pit and seeing the grass and field look good, he takes pride in that. He has certainly enjoyed spending time with his kids and grandkids, and he has also enjoyed his time watching kids that he coached taking over,” said Doyle Jr. “I joined the board because that’s what my dad did. It was that sense of giving something back to the community.”