BIDDEFORD — Biddeford Little League enjoyed one of its most successful seasons in the 2016 spring, and is preparing for another year of fun as opening day approaches.

The number of players have stayed consistent for the most part, the coaches and volunteers have continued to work hard, and the city is inching closer to kicking things off next Saturday at May Street and Hill Street.

Despite late snowstorms this winter, the Biddeford Little League representatives and volunteers have worked hard to settle the fields, and are hoping to have things 100 percent clear for opening day.

“As far as the fields go we are already using them for practice, but the fields are a little bit soft,” said Biddeford Little League President Dan Michaud. “On the baseball side our volunteers maintain the fields, the city takes care of the softball fields and as of last week the softball field on May Street still had quit a bit of snow on it, it’s surrounded by shade so it takes a little longer. We’re hoping it will clear off in the next week.”

Coaches also hope to have their teams ready for action on the diamond by opening day, and have also endured the inconsistent weather of Southern Maine.

“It’s always good when you get nice weather — last week it was 80 degrees but (on Wednesday) we had coaches cancel practice because of the cold, it’s up and down here in Maine,” said Michaud.

At the conclusion of the regular season, many young Tigers moved on to the state all-star tournament in the summer, and both baseball and softball made plenty of noise.

The baseball all-star team was state runner up and qualified for a regional appearance, while the softball squad won the state title and also competed at the regional level.

The Tigers expect to have continued success, and feel that the wins stem from a healthy mix of determined players, coaches and volunteers.

“It’s two things — we’ve had some very good athletes and we’ve had some really good, really dedicated coaches in both softball and in baseball,” said Michaud. “We have many kids playing year-round, we try to keep the kids going with clinics and travel baseball and softball. It’s two fold — our coaches push the kids and give them opportunities to get better. Good support too, good support from everyone else too.”

With opening day just over a week away, Biddeford’s future stars are excited to hit the field with their friends and teammates.

“They’re excited, the kids have been practicing for a few weeks now and when we start next week I’m sure kids will be chomping at the bit to get going and play games, that’s what they want to do,” said Michaud.

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.