Bringing normalcy to our plates
LVBL games filling a void in a summer that is like no other
With the exception of the recent high school baseball tournament, it has been a quiet summer on most area diamonds.
But on a recent Sunday morning at Curt Simmons Field at Egypt Memorial Park in Whitehall Township, you could hear the pop of the catcher’s mitt, the crack of the bat and the chatter of fans sitting in lawn chairs.
For many, baseball provides the soundtrack of summer, and the familiar noises of the national pastime can be reassuring in these tough times.
It’s nothing new for Simmons Field to be busy in August, since it’s home to the Keystone Precision Solutions Orioles
and Northern Yankees of the Blue Mountain League.
In a normal summer, the BML playoffs would be going on in August and the Orioles or Yankees, or both, would likely be involved.
However, the BML’s 75th season was shut down, along with most other leagues, by COVID-19.
Instead, the game creating the buzz in Egypt on a Sunday morning was a Lehigh Valley Baseball League game.
The LVBL, in just its second season, is filling the void for players of all ages who were in need of a place to play when other leagues canceled.
Much like the Lehigh Valley Men’s Senior League, which features 18 teams divided by over-25 and over-55 age divisions, the LVBL is a 21-team weekend league with games primarily on Sundays. But unlike the senior league, there are no age restrictions in the LVBL which has become home to
players young and relatively old who are still looking for a competitive place to play. And it’s not hard finding a team either since the league stretches from the Poconos to Boyertown.
“I’d say this is the best level of talent we’ve had,” said league president Ron Cahill. “The younger group has really come together. The nucleus of guys is really a big step up from where we were. A lot of high school kids are coming right up and a lot of college guys have joined in who can’t play during the week and have no other place to play.”
The game at Egypt was a classic, nine-inning battle between the Wilson Warriors and Lehigh Valley Angels, division leaders in the league’s AA level.
The Warriors received five shutout innings of one-hit ball from former Notre Dame-Green Pond standout and pro pitcher Tyler Vail, winning 2-1.
“You can’t complain about a game like this,” Vail said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Vail was surprised by the level of competition in the league which features two current pro players — Vail and Gabe Mosser — five former pro players and Duke recruit Alex Stone. There are several more Division I and II college players who normally would be playing in a collegiate league like the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.
“It’s my first time in this league,” Vail said. “There’s a lot going on in the world right now and my season in the Frontier League with the Evansville [Indiana] Otters was canceled. I had two options. One was to play here and this gives my parents a chance to see me play. They enjoy it and it has been a lot of fun.”
The 28-year-old Vail has been playing pro ball for 11 years after being drafted by the Oakland A’s right out high school in the fifth round (155th pick overall) in 2010. He feels he can still pitch at the pro level and intends to return to the Independent League when it resumes. However, he said when the pro career ends, he will look to the LVBL as an option to stay in the game.
“When I’m done, I’ll definitely come back here, or, if God forbid, something happens like it did this year, I’ll be back,” he said. “Right now, I’m just trying to stay sharp. Each game I try to come up with something different
“Any hardships we have are outweighed by the fact that we’re here and a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to be out here.” — Thomas Bonilla, Angels manager
to work on.”
Wilson’s Brandon Smith and Donovan Fusco-Lomont would have been playing for Martins Creek in the Blue Mountain League and playing for Wilson in the LVBL this summer.
“There’s more guys here from the Blue Mountain League this year and it makes it more competitive and more fun,” Smith said. “It’s better.”
Smith and Fusco-Lomont believe the LVBL is a great option for guys who don’t want to commit to a 30-game season like in the BML.
“We do both, so we’re playing over 50 games in a typical season and it’s a lot on us,” the 22-yearold Fusco-Lomont said. “For the guys who just like to come out on Sundays and face good competition, a league like this is better for them.”
With the Warriors owning a 10-1 record, Fusco-Lomont, the team’s manager and Wilson High grad, is excited about the rest of the season which will stretch through September with playoffs. He has about 20 guys on his roster, enough of a cushion if a few players miss certain games due to vacations or other commitments.
“We’ve got a great group of guys with all skill levels and we’re meshing really well right now,” he said. “We come out, compete and give our best effort all the time and it’s showing so far.”
The 21-year Smith is a Wilson grad playing at Centenary College after transferring from Misericordia. He said it was heartbreaking to lose his NCAA season just 11 games in.
“Playing in this league is keeping us fresh and helping us get ready for the fall season in a few weeks,” Smith said.
Angels manager Thomas Bonilla, whose team is 9-3, has a lot of guys right out of high school.
“We have guys who either played together or against each other in the past,” he said. “We have a good nucleus of Liberty guys and a lot of guys played on the Wanderers Northampton County legion champs last year. Grant Hershman played for the Wanderers.”
Bonilla, a Freedom High graduate, is enjoying managing in the league for the first time. He said he has a waiting list for players who want to join the team and said he’s looking forward to next year when his club will likely move up from a AA Division to the Premier Division, which features the best teams.
“Any hardships we have are outweighed by the fact that we’re here and a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to be out here,” he said. “We’re grateful. We have a lot of guys here who played in the Blue Mountain League last year, but I think we’ll be able to retain a lot of these guys, especially if we get to move up in divisions and see deeper competition on a regular basis. When we go out there and beat people 20-0 it gets boring.”
Cahill acknowledges that the other leagues, like the BML and ACBL, will likely return next summer, and understands his league will see some departures.
He hopes the league has made enough of a positive impression that players will consider it a viable option.
“Had we gone full speed this year, we would have had 30 teams this year after having 18 in our first year last year,” he said. “I felt like we were filling a void even before the pandemic because kids don’t want to play in what they consider a senior league and they also don’t want to commit to playing several nights a week either.”
Cahill said the league, which was put on hold by Gov. Tom Wolf’s restrictions for three months before the area moved into the green phase in July, instituted a list of COVID-19 protocols. The players haven’t been wearing masks, but some umpires have. The interactions with guys on the opposing team have been kept to a minimum and there are no postgame handshakes. For the most part, the players involved look to baseball as a way to get some normalcy back in their lives.
“Every day back in March and April, I was getting updates and we kept hearing we’re not playing yet, and it was torturous,” Bonilla said. “So, when we’re here, we try not to think about Covid-19 because that’s all thought about for so long. But we’re still trying to stay safe while we play a game we love.”