Covid-19 puts North Shore Little Leagues on hold for now

It breaks our heart that it’s not going on yet, but we have to do it safely. It’s really disappointing. You only get to enjoy your kids once.”

James Versocki Commissioner, Sea Cliff Baseball & North Shore Softball League

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Although there are several Little League organizations on the North Shore, their administrators have all expressed the same sentiments about the potential of a lost season: Spring won’t be the same without youth baseball.

Little Leagues across the state have shut down for now amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving thousands of young players without the national pastime. James Versocki, commissioner of the Sea Cliff Baseball & North Shore Softball League, said the season was supposed to begin last Saturday, and he did not know whether it would start late or be canceled altogether.

“It breaks our heart that it’s not going on yet, but we have to do it safely,” Versocki said. “It’s really disappointing. You only get to enjoy your kids once.”

Darcy Belyea, director of Glen Cove’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the Gold Coast Little League’s season was supposed to begin on April 18. The league is chartered by Little League International, which has advised that leagues conduct no activity until May 11 at the earliest. Belyea added that the league would follow Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s advice on sports and parks, and would be up and running if and when he gave the go-ahead. If the season could start by June 1, she said, schedules could be modified and the season could be shortened.

Season-opening efforts must be coordinated with surrounding villages and hamlets, Belyea said, because some Gold Coast Little League teams also play against squads from Sea Cliff, Locust Valley, Bayville and Oyster Bay.

Ryan Nardone, of Glen Cove, has three children in the Gold Coast league and coaches three of its teams, as well as two travel baseball teams for the Glen Cove Cardinals, who play year-round. This would have been his seventh year of coaching Little League, and he said and he and his children are dismayed that the season may not happen.

“It’s really upsetting,” Nardone said. “It’s even more disappointing for the kids, who have constant questions about when they’re going to start."

More to follow...