WRALL opens its 2012 season

WARNER ROBINS -- The sun was shining on the hundreds who attended opening day ceremonies for Warner Robins American Little League on Saturday.

The league is in its 59th year.

During that time, league President Mickey Lay said, 30,000 children have played baseball for WRALL.

The league has had much success in the past two decades.

Twenty years ago, WRALL had its first state championship team in baseball.

The major league softball team went to its first Little League Softball World Series 10 years ago and finished third.

In 2007, a WRALL team, managed by Lay, won the Little League Baseball World Series.

In 2009, WRALL sent both a baseball and softball team to play with the world’s best. The softball team won the championship that year and the next. “We are the only league to hold a World Series championship team in both baseball and softball,” Lay said.

The league’s success has not only put Warner Robins on the map but has created an expectation for the teams who play there.

Each team is different from year to year, but the pressure is on for any of the All-Star teams from WRALL.

Last year, another WRALL team played in the Little League Baseball World Series but came up short of the title.

“They exceeded anyone’s expectations,” Lay said of the 2011 Little League Baseball Southeastern Region championship team.

Team manager Phillip Johnson and coach Shane Williams were both present Saturday with most of the players from the 2011 team.

Even more important to this year’s board members is the Challenger League for mentally and physically impaired children.

Lay said he would like a field, with rubber resistant surfaces for wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs, that would be dedicated to the Challenger League.

Such a project will take $500 million to complete.

Ashley Minshew of the Warner Robins Civitan Club gave a donation to the fund.

“One of the great ways a child can grow is through athletics,” she said.

Across all the leagues on all the diamonds at the Flint Energies Sports Complex, the 2012 season is officially open.

“With our success, the eyes of the world are upon us,” Lay said.

This story was originally published March 14, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "WRALL opens its 2012 season."