Legion season is canceled
Pennsylvania American Legion baseball canceled its 2020 season Monday because of the coronavirus crisis, impacting 16 teams in the Schuylkill-Berks and Berks leagues.
The announcement came six days after the Legion World Series, set for August in Shelby, N.C., and eight national regional tournaments were canceled.
“It’s very disappointing, but there are a lot of things that have happened in 2020 that have been extremely disappointing,” said Jay Vaughan, president of the Berks League. “It’s not out of the ordinary the way things have been going.
“I certainly understand the decision made. I feel badly for the kids, but the kids are experiencing a lot of strange things. This is just another one of many things they’re encountering for the first time.”
The Berks League was prepared to begin this season in late May with six teams: Boyertown, Daniel Boone, Norchester, Post 217 (Oley/ Topton), Twin Valley and West Lawn. Exeter was unable to field a team for this season.
Longtime Boyertown coach Rick Moatz had announced last year that the 2020 season would be his final one.
The Schuylkill-Berks League was scheduled to start its season May 26 with 10 teams: Hamburg, Kutztown, Muhlenberg, Post 625 (Fleetwood/ Schuylkill Valley), Wyomissing, Pine Grove, Schuylkill Valley (Schuylkill County), Southern Area, Tamaqua and Valley View.
“We had our schedule and we were ready to roll when this thing hit,” said Ed Lloyd, Schuylkill-Berks president.
Vaughan, who was president of the Owls Sports Club in West Lawn for 30 years, is in his first season as Berks president. He said four other state Legion organizations had canceled their seasons before Pennsylvania’s decision Monday.
“It’s not like Pennsylvania set any type of precedent,” Vaughan said. “It was something that we expected. Ross (Berks league vice president Ross Smith) and I had talked about this possibility.”
Vaughan and at least one Schuylkill-Berks coach suggested that their teams could play an abbreviated season when Gov. Wolf lifts the state’s stay-at-home order. They would have to do it without the Legion affiliation and could not allow their players to wear Legion patches or logos.
“But that’s not to say that teams can’t get together and play a little baseball this summer when things are safe,” Vaughan said. “We wouldn’t promote doing anything if it put anybody in danger.”