Opening Day at Brantley Parks and Recreation saw 16 teams hitting the fields, with players ranging in ages from 3 to 19. And, with lots of support from area residents, Parks and Rec Director Terry Kilcrease is looking forward to an even more successful summer season.

“We’ll be playing a variety of other teams this year, and I feel like this gives the kids a sense of community pride whenever they face other cities each week,” Kilcrease said.

Brantley teams can look to face Goshen, Elba, Zion Chapel, Ariton, New Brockton, Samson and Kinston, Kilcrease said.

“We owe a lot of thanks to our Recreation Board president Jimmy Johnson,” he said. “Over the past two years, he has added a girls’ softball field and a T-ball field to our park. We now have four fields. He raised the money by getting local businesses to donate money and by doing most of the work himself—he’s such an asset to our community.”

“There is nothing like coming out and watching our kids play their hearts out each night,” he said. “Our league has really grown the seven years that I have served as parks and recreation director.”

Kilcrease said that with the success of Brantley’s Opening Day on April 11, he continues to see an increase in the number of youth who participate in the summer leagues.

“We feel like the success of our summer leagues has really brought our high school baseball and softball programs to a higher level as well,” he said.