District 24 Little League decided Wednesday evening to cancel its annual All Star tournament for 2020.
The annual Little League All Star tournament includes most local Little League organizations from Schuylkill County and a part of Dauphin County.
District 24 posted to its Facebook page on Wednesday following a call with all leagues: “With all the what ifs and leagues trying to put together some kind of season for the kids to enjoy when we finally get to the green phase, it would be more beneficial for the leagues to have a better and longer season and letting the kids enjoy what season they have left for 2020.”
It continued: “Hopefully, our leagues could get started and the kids and parents can enjoy what is missed by all Little League followers sooner than later.”
The decision comes more than a month after Little League Baseball decided to cancel the Little League World Series tournament in South Williamsport.
District 24’s tournament determines a winner that has an opportunity to play in the Little League World Series. At the very least, the winner of the District 24 tournament gets to claim local bragging rights for a year.
District 24 Little League Cancels 2020 All-Star Tournament
Even though there won’t be a 2020 All-Star tournament in District 24 doesn’t mean there won’t be Little League Baseball this year. Local organizations can still decide to start a modified season within their own communities. Organized youth sports can resume under Pennsylvania’s Green phase of the coronavirus reopening plan.
Schuylkill and Dauphin counties currently sit in the Yellow phase of that plan since May 29. Presumably, both counties could enter the Green phase next Friday, June 12, if Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf holds the line on waiting at least 2 weeks for a county to stay in Yellow before going to Green.
At that point, youth baseball and softball could resume. But it’s unclear if any communities will choose to hold Little League baseball or softball in 2020.
The following Little League teams typically compete in the District 24 tournament:
- Shenandoah
- Mahanoy City
- Ashland
- Ringtown/Frackville.Girardville
- Tri-Valley
- Upper Dauphin
- Cressona
- Pottsville Area
- Halifax
- St. Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia
- Line Mountain
- Orwigsburg
- Pine Grove
- Minersville
- Schuylkill Haven
Coronavirus Guidelines for Little League
Local Little League organizations are encouraged to follow local and state health guidelines when and if they decide to conduct seasons in 2020.
Tamaqua Little League Planning Season
The Tamaqua Little League appears to be moving forward with a season of its own. Tamaqua LL competes in District 18. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the league says it hopes to have local teams organized by June 5.
Photo license purchased via Depositphotos.com
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