Little Leagues In Wallingford Grapple With Coronavirus Impact

WALLINGFORD, CT — While officials at the CIAC said this week that it is too early to cancel the high school sports season, the state’s youngest athletes are also holding out hope there will be games played on Little League fields this spring and summer.

Little League International has advised all of its local programs to delay their seasons and all league-related activities through at least May 11 to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Officials said that while this is the heart of the traditional Little League season, it is “our hope that by doing this, we will all play a small, but important part in flattening the curve in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Wallingford Little League President Joshua Carroll said the impact has been felt “tremendously” on the local level. The league would normally be three weeks into its season by May 11 and Carroll said the local board of directors is at a “standstill.”

“We are unsure if there will be a season at all this year, which puts a hold on all the background work it takes to make the league run,” Carroll said. “Our events are being planned with uncertainty, uniforms and equipment can't be ordered and scheduling is all up in the air. More importantly though, our players (over 300) and their families are left with unanswered questions. We are communicating any information we can but without knowing how long this virus will last, we just aren't sure what's to come.

“The players who look forward to the spring season all year, who practice and workout all winter, our newest 4-year-old players who are excited for their first season, our graduating 12-year-olds who don't know if they will play their last season, they are all left disappointed. That is the biggest letdown of our board members. We can order equipment last minute and get uniforms together quickly and would go through all that craziness in a heartbeat if it meant that we could see the kids play. Since their health and safety is our first priority, we will wait until it is safe for them to do so.”

Yalesville Little League President Ray Gomes said they have also suspended all activities until at least May 11. The league has also kept the winter locks on the fields and batting cages with the hope that it will discourage people from using them, according to Gomes.

“My concern is on everyone coming through this healthy,” Gomes said. “Baseball, even Little League baseball, is secondary to everything right now. If we play this season, it will of course be an abbreviated schedule and I have no idea what Little League will do about the All-Star season.”

Gomes said the league presidents were scheduled to have a webinar Thursday to hopefully get more information.

In a message addressed to the players of District 5 in Connecticut, D5 CT Secretary Kara Simard wrote that officials are “working to make sure that your season is ready. We have hope that we can give you what you want so badly. I am sure our 12-year-old baseball players and softball players are feeling this delay in a profound way.”

“Having a senior in high school who is struggling with the changes in his own milestone year, I can see firsthand how devastating and fearful the idea of not having this season play out the way you envisioned it is for you,” Simard wrote. “We here at D5 CT Little League are thinking of you and have not forgotten you. Baseball is America’s game. It is a beacon of light in dark times…. Please know that we are thinking of all our players! We are dreaming of running bases, home runs, that great catch in the outfield… and always the sounds of our Little League Baseball and Softball players cheering each other on!”

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