Perky League, local baseball is coming back

Baseball has slowly returned to the area after the COVID-19 pandemic put a freeze on play in the spring and early summer. And in a few weeks’ time, the Perkiomen Valley Twilight League will be joining in the resumption of play.

Originally set on opening action in May, the Perky League is scheduled to finally start competition Monday, Aug. 3 with the adult baseball league having a slim-down set of teams and a schedule that will run into the fall.

“The goal of the Perky League has always been to put the safety of the community, players, coaches, fans, and umpires first. Then play baseball second,” said Lansdale Tigers manager Jeff Murtha, who has led the league’s COVID-19 planning, in an email. “When evaluating the trends for COVID-19 we felt pretty confident that Montgomery County would not move into Green Phase until July.

“Our predictions were spot on. While we could have started games in July, we felt the best approach was to take a pause and evaluate the uptake in cases due to restrictions being relaxed.”

The league was set to field 11 teams in 2020 but its August opening has it going with six — Lansdale, Ambler Brewers, defending champ Collegeville White Sox, Nor-Gwyn Packers, Stony Creek Cannons and Valley Forge Bucks — with the half-dozen sides playing a 20-game regular season. Games will be Monday through Wednesday with Thursdays and Fridays used for makeup dates.

Five teams will qualify for the postseason — the fourth and fifth seeds meeting in a one-game playoff with both the semifinals and finals being best-of-five series.

For waiting to start until August to play, Murtha said reasons included proving time for players to prepare along with acquiring the necessary equipment to help provide safety during the pandemic. Murtha also stated that at this moment the league is following state and county restrictions on fan attendance.

“We wanted to be sure we did not restart too soon and compromise anyone,” Murtha said. “In addition we wanted to make sure we allowed for adequate time after a several month layoff for individuals to get back into baseball shape and have time to practice to prevent injury, again another safety precaution.

“Finally, while we could have started in early July we felt there was still not enough adequate personal protective equipment available to keep our players safe (hand sanitizers, Lysol sprays, etc.) and we were not going to compromise player safety and felt the extra time would allow for adequate PPE stocks to be restored.”

All six teams will be in action on the league’s new opening night of Aug. 3 — Lansdale hosts Valley Forge, Stony Creek visits Nor-Gwyn while Ambler is at Collegeville. The regular season is scheduled to be completed Sept. 16.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the look of the league this year slightly, we are excited to have the league’s top finishers over the past years in the league this year,” Murtha said. “We expect the season to be highly competitive every night and the product on the field to be fantastic.

“Safety has and always will be our first consideration during this season and future seasons we will not compromise the health and safety of our communities and will put out an amazing product on the field, while maintain the safety protocols and guidelines put forth.”

IN OTHER BASEBALL ACTION RETURNING LOCALLY » The Lansdale Cannoneers Senior Babe Ruth team — which was its American Legion team but the state’s Legion season was cancelled — begins Chesmont Senior Babe Ruth League play Saturday hosting the Boyertown Blue Collars Saturday 7 p.m. at Lansdale Memorial Park. Cannoneers asking fans to wear masks and practice social distancing at all times.

The Cannoneers’ Senior Connie Mack team has already started play in the Bux-Mont’s Hostelley Division, which is for players ages 19-44. The Cannoneers’ 30+ and 45+ teams begin Sunday.

• Per its website, the Bux-Mont Connie Mack ‘A’ league — with teams consisting of players ages 12-16 — is to begin play this upcoming week with the first game set for Tuesday, July 14. The regular season is scheduled to end Aug. 28.

This season’s ‘A’ league has 10 teams — Central Perk, Deep Run, Doylestown, Fort Washington, Harleysville, Hatfield-Towamencin, Montgomery Township, Nor-Gwyn, Plymouth Whitemarsh and Upper Moreland — that will play 18 regular season games.

With the State Connie Mack Tournament cancelled, the season will finish with the league playoffs — the 8th and 9th place finishers meeting in a play-in game for the last spot in the double-elimination tournament.