By ALEX SPONSELLER With the spring season wrapping up and All-Star tournaments beginning this week, the Warwick North Little League recently held a parade at the pit to celebrate the end of the season and kick off the summer.

Roughly 400 locals made the trip between the players, families, coaches and league administrators. Not only did the ceremony give the kids one last chance to throw on their uniforms and march down the street and onto the fields, but it also brought the community together to celebrate Little League and to honor those at North.

The parade started at CVS and ended on the fields at the pit. After a few speeches from board members as well as Mayor Frank Picozzi, the league recognized a few of its members.

Michael Moreira was handed the Sherlock Award while Zachari Fontenault was given the Costantino Award for MVP of the Majors Division.

Jaime Banspach was also the 2020 Lifetime Membership Honoree for her years of service as a volunteer. The league also took a moment of silence to honor Guido Proia, a former league president who was instrumental in establishing the league as one of the premier programs in the state.

DeGiulio Insurance was honored for winning the Majors Division while Dave’s Marketplace won the AAA Division.

From there, the league held a home run derby and activities such as a dunk tank, face painting and a handful of others.

“The turnout was fantastic. We were lucky to hit that sweet spot in the schedule where the season was over but people were not going vacation yet. It was the first time in a year and a half that we were able to do something like this, so to see the turnout was great,” said board member Sean Wiggins, who helped organize the event.

Not only was this a celebration of 2021, but it was also an opportunity to say thank you to those in the North family that hung in there during some of the lows of the pandemic.

“We were very proud of our league in the perseverance to make it through last year. This parade was about both 2020 and 2021. Instead of having an opening day, we did an end of the season parade as a thank you. It was an untraditional event, but probably something that we are going to adopt moving forward,” said Wiggins.

With the All-Star tournaments starting up this week, Wiggins and company are excited to welcome back the summer tradition and to take one step closer to normalcy.

“With the All-Stars starting up, it’s starting to feel like how it felt back in 2019. Kids are starting to catch up after the lost season last year, but this year we are back to doing our normal district rules. Now we are back to competing for a chance to play in the Little League World Series, the pressure is back on,” said Wiggins.

Wiggins added: “Being down at the field, watching All-Star baseball, it’s great. We’re starting to see some familiar faces come back. There were some umpires, for example, that bowed out of last year for safety that are back so it’s nice to see them. We’re just so proud of our kids for making these teams. The coaches are great. It feels like how it was two years ago.”