Without parade or opening ceremonies
There won’t be a parade. And there won’t be an Opening Day ceremony. But Little Leaguers will start playing in Cornwall on Saturday, April 17.
Little League President Judge Lynn Beesecker reported that enrollment is close to what it was two years ago before the onset of COVID. There were no games last spring. But kids returned to the fields in the late summer and played through the fall. The activity was successful. It got youngsters out of the house without spreading the disease.
Judge Beesecker was on his way home from South Carolina when I spoke to him. He informed me that a list of COVID precautions appears on the league’s website. The guidelines include instructions for players and spectators as well as for the supervisors who are organizing the games.
The league president acknowledged that there are still some questions about the new season. He wasn’t sure about the summer All Star Tournament. He doubted it would be an international event as it was in the past. But he thought it might take place on a smaller scale. Perhaps there would be a district-wide or statewide competition.
He was also unsure about the concession stand. It probably will remain closed unless someone steps up to supervise it. “We can always use volunteers,” Judge Beesecker admitted, “especially at the younger levels.”
Tee ball is available for five-year-old softball players (girls only) or for baseball players who are either five or six. Girls and boys are eligible to play baseball.
The league website (cornll.com) shows the programs that are available based on a player’s age. The most advanced leagues are for youngsters between the ages of 13 and 16.
Uniforms are included in the registration fee. A player will receive a jersey, baseball pants, socks and a hat or visor. In most of the divisions, players will receive Major League Baseball jerseys.
Cornwall kids have been playing Little League Baseball since 1951. The late Bo Gill, a sportswriter for The Newburgh Evening News was instrumental in introducing the program to families in Monroe and Cornwall.
