Jon Morrison already had his collegiate baseball season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rhode Island sophomore and Hadley native was staying in shape and waiting to receive word to head to Holyoke, where he was scheduled to pitch for the Valley Blue Sox in the New England Collegiate Baseball League this summer.
A different directive came on Friday evening when the NECBL canceled the season.
“I was hoping to get some time in. The NECBL is really good competition,” the right-handed pitcher said. “I was really looking forward to competing with the best.”
Morrison started three games and made 10 appearances out of the bullpen during his freshman year for the Rams. He pitched for the Pittsfield Suns of the Futures League last summer, then made three appearances out of the bullpen for the Rams this spring before the season was called.
“I’m so used to playing baseball mostly year-round that you don’t play for a couple months and then you’re not playing over the summer, it’s a disappointment to be missing all the time on the field,” Morrison said.
The Cape Cod Baseball League canceled its season on April 24. Last Wednesday the Futures League announced a delay on its season, which was to start May 27.
The Blue Sox were scheduled to play its opener on June 4 at Ocean State.
“I was really looking forward to that opportunity,” Morrison said. “I know our (college) team was hoping that summer ball was going on. When other guys around the country saw their leagues slowly start to cancel the season, I was kind of expecting it but hoping for the best.”
Valley Blue Sox owner Fred Ciaglo, of Hadley, said it was a tough decision but the right one.
“The league did a good job of trying to put together information and not make a crazy decision,” Ciaglo said. “We looked at all the models and it’s a moving piece everyday. We waited until as long as we can wait before we really said there’s absolutely no way we could do this safely.”
The logistics of having a season for 13 NECBL teams made it difficult. Travel would be an issue as players come from across the country. The Blue Sox had players from as far as away as Pepperdine (Jeremy Farraye) and Jacksonville State (Isaac Alexander). Field availability was also an issue. Ciaglo said MacKenzie Stadium was unavailable until June 29.
The potential to play games without fans would hurt revenue, while sponsors face difficult economic situations.
“We would have to test, we would have to test host families,” Ciaglo said. “And what if we had them here, traveling in New England. Every state is different, different restrictions.”
Ciaglo said the Blue Sox were ready for a season.
“Every team was told to plan as if we were playing. We had our balls ordered, our bats, the hats. We had the roster since last fall. Every team jumps on it right after the season and puts their roster together,” Ciaglo said. “When the Cape pulled it we started getting calls from players and everybody wanting to play looking to play. It’s just too bad, too bad for the kids.”
Ciaglo said the NECBL monitored the progress of every team over the last month.
“Each team was in a different situation. Danbury is right down by New York City, the epicenter. Western Mass. is not in a good spot right now. Everything was changing and it was different every week,” Ciaglo said. “At the end of the day when Vermont is told they can’t use their field until a certain date, and then there’s restrictions in New Hampshire and the logistics of it all. Certain teams put together different scenarios like starting mid-July with three-team divisions to limit travel, but at the end of the day there’s too much liability. We don’t want to bring somebody in and get them sick.”
Staying healthy and safe was the main reason for canceling the season.
“This decision was reached after a careful and thoughtful review of the guidance from federal, state and local officials, the leadership of our host communities, and recommendations from the CDC and medical community,” the NECBL wrote in a statement on Friday. “The conclusion was that canceling the 2020 season was necessary for the health, safety and well-being of our players, coaches, umpires, volunteers, fans and host families.”
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. Follow on Twitter @mikemoranDHG.