Jaden Drinkwater had been driving her parents crazy the whole week before Opening Day, asking them to buy her a helmet and cleats for softball.

She got a glove for Easter, and the new instructional league at the Wareham Girls Softball Association meant that the 6-year-old could play softball for the first time.

On April 28, the morning of Opening Day, Jaden Drinkwater jumped out of bed.

"She was super excited when I woke her up," Jaden's dad, Derek Drinkwater, recalled. "I said, 'Do you know what day it is?" and she said, 'time to play baseball!'"

The Wareham Girls Softball Association celebrated Opening Day on April 28 at the Wareham High School softball field with hot dogs, popcorn, line-dancing, an inflatable moonwalk for children, and of course, good old-fashioned softball.

The approximately 20-year-old association has had many Opening Days before, but this year's carnival-like atmosphere was a first.

"This is the biggest that I can remember, said Derek Drinkwater. "They went all out and definitely put a lot of thought and effort into it this year."

Opening Day kicked off early in the morning and by 10 a.m., the league teams, sponsored by various local businesses and with names like the "Raptors," the "Threshers," and the "River Bandits," started their scrimmages with parents, siblings, and friends watching on the sideline.

"I think the teams are going to be a lot more fun," said Taylor Fagundes, 13-year-old member of the River Bandits. "As you can see, they're all energetic, and they just can't wait to play."

The association has had about 125 players sign up this year, with around 25 players in a new instructional league, 40 in the third- to fifth-grade junior division, and 60 in the senior division, which consists of sixth- to eighth-graders.

This year is the debut of the instructional league, in which girls in kindergarten through second grade can learn the ropes of the game.

The debut is part of the revamping of the association that has been taking place since the fall of 2011, said Keith Lefrancois, who became president of the association last fall.

"The league is going to be a lot better this year than it ever has," said Lefrancois. "We're really doing a lot of groundwork now so that each year it will continue to grow and get better and better."

Some of that groundwork is in the purchase of new gear and new equipment. Lefrancois discovered a "huge surplus" of association funds when he became president, and has used it to buy new pitching machines, bats, catching gear, and uniforms.

He has also used it to spruce up the less tangible aspects of the softball league — coaching and player development.

The association held clinics for coaches in the weeks preceding Opening Day and developed a "coaches' kit," which Lefrancois said he hopes will turn into a kind of "Coaches' Bible."

It contains information about managing rosters, codes of conduct, and other aspects of structure and organization.

The association also held player drafts to ensure that there was a good mix of talent and every team had at least one good pitcher.

The idea is to develop the girls through good coaching and training at an early age so they become confident and skilled players in the future, Lefrancois explained.

"If you practice and drill and do the fundamentals and really make them learn everything … then they really see the fruits of their labor in the games," Lefrancois said.