In all of Plant City Little League's years, there's never been an opening day quite like Saturday's.
The league's annual season-opening ceremony, held that morning at Mike Sansone Park, was headlined by guest speaker Mark Wegner, a Major League Baseball crew chief, and performances of the national anthem and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" by the RedHead Express. It also featured three first pitches: one by Florida Strawberry Festival Queen Ally Elizabeth Burt, one by Plant City native and professional softball player Kristen Wyckoff and one by longtime PCLL fixture Jeff Jacobsen. Jacobsen and his wife were honored with a banner that event emcee and league treasurer Rhett Rollyson said will hang permanently in the park.
The league also held its first-ever raffle for the occasion. Open only to PCLL teams and players, prizes given away included baseball equipment, gift cards, bubble gum, Strawberry Festival tickets and a PlayStation 4 video game console.