DOWNINGTOWN — The Downingtown Little League marked the launch of it’s 72nd season Saturday with an opening day ceremony that featured the dedication of a new pavilion to the memory of a late league alumni.

The structure was named for Matt Ciarlone, who died in 2009 at age 20 after a battle with leukemia. Ciarlone was an avid baseball player in Little League and high school, and his family said it was one of his true passions.

“This was his heart and soul,” said Ciarlone’s mother, Rose, as she looked out across the league’s four fields. “Baseball was one of his three loves: Baseball, girls and hunting. Maybe not in that order.”

Volunteers began building the pavilion in November and worked all winter on weekends to have it ready for opening day, Downingtown Little League Treasurer Patrick Cardelli said.

Funds for the pavilion came from many donors, including money raised at the annual Bats For Matt tournament held each summer. Best Buy stores also donated $4,000 raised in a basketball tournament held at the Downingtown High School.

“If it wasn’t for them, we never would have been able to get this done so soon,” Ciarlone’s older brother, Danny said.

The Bats For Matt softball tournament, held at the Downingtown Little League’s field each summer, has become a popular charity event in Ciarlone’s memory. Last summer, the tournament’s third year, over $8,000 was raised that went to a variety of charitable causes. About 50 people also register to be bone marrow donors at the tournament each year, according to Rose Ciarlone.

A bone marrow transplant allowed the Ciarlone family to spend an additional seven months with Matt before he passed, Rose Ciarlone said.

Money raised at the annual tournament is divided between several causes, including aiding a local family who now is going through a similar battle with cancer, a $2,000 scholarship to a Downingtown high school baseball player, and a donation to the Hunt of a Lifetime foundation.

The Downingtown Little League opened its season with about a dozen games on four fields Saturday. About 300 players joined the league this year, Cardelli said.

The Little League also announced a new Help Light Our Field campaign Saturday, which would add lights to all four of the league’s fields and allow teams to begin playing night games. About $350,000 is needed for the project to be completed, Cardelli said.

Follow Daily Local News staff writer Michael N. Price on Twitter @MikePriceWrites.

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