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Regional & National American Legion Baseball Tournaments Canceled

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — If any American Legion baseball competition can take place in West Virginia this summer, the state tournament will be the end of the line instead of a springboard to the regional level.

The Americanism Commission, in consultation with National Commander James William “Bill” Oxford, announced Tuesday the cancellation of all 2020 American Legion Baseball national tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes all eight regional tournaments and the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C.

“The decision to cancel was extremely difficult but deemed necessary, first and foremost in the interest of health and safety, and in the face of uncertainty,” Americanism Commission’s Richard Anderson noted. “These times are unparalleled. And while it is distressing to think of all those youth across the nation who are disappointed to learn of the cancellation of American Legion programs this year, it would be a much, much greater tragedy if even just one of those youth were to fall ill during a program.”

“That is what you prepare your whole season for,” said Morgantown Post 2 manager Tyler Barnette. “You get the games throughout the year but they are to prepare you for the area tournament, the state tournament and eventually the regional tournament. That is every kids’ goal when they put on the uniform is to get to that point.”

Morgantown won the West Virginia state championship in 2019 and they won their first two games in the Mid-Atlantic regional.

For now, state associations have the opportunity to compete up to the state tournament level. Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee have already decided to cancel all state competition for the 2020 season.

“They are waiting at the national level on a ruling to see if they can give states jurisdiction to make a decision based on what they see,” Barnette said. “We are still waiting on that ruling. I expect it to come later this week or early next week to see whether we can still compete at the state level.”

If teams in West Virginia are allowed to compete in a regular season, Wheeling is scheduled to host this year’s state tournament.

West Virginia State Assistant Commissioner of American Legion Baseball Chris George led his Elkins Post 29 team to the regional competition in 2012.

“It was one of the best experiences I ever had,” George said. “I know as a player, it is something they never forget. I still talk to players from my team in 2012 and they still talk about the experience they had.”

Many American Legion teams are supported locally by businesses and some may have difficulty coming up with their annual funding.

“There’s lots of small businesses that help out all the American Legion baseball teams not only in West Virginia but in all states,” George said. “Many of those businesses are shut down right now. We don’t know when they will re-open and if they do, where will they stand financially? How much are they going to be able to help the teams?”

American Legion baseball provides an extension to the competitive season and college coaches frequently use summer tournaments to recruit prospective players.

“Especially the seniors, they could potentially lose their last high school year,” George said. “They could potentially lose their summer. And the 19-year-olds that are playing after their freshman year in college, their seasons were cut short. They are looking to get some at bats in or innings on the mound. If we don’t, it is a totally lost year.

“Let’s face it, there are a lot of rising seniors that need a high school season and a legion season to up their stock to play college baseball.”

“A lot of kids on legion squads are juniors and seniors looking to be seen by college coaches,” Barnette said. “Even if we don’t have a season, I know our crew will do whatever they can to get these kids in front of colleges, whether it is by video or however we can do it.”

“We just want to get these kids playing baseball,” Barnette said.





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