No Little League World Series for the First Time Ever

This one breaks my heart. When I was 11, we moved from Vermont to Florida and I missed out on my final year of Little League baseball.

Now, kids all over the U.S. will be deprived of THEIR final seasons of Little League ball. Due to COVID-19, the Little League World Series has been cancelled for the first time since it began in 1947. The finals are held every year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania--just a four-hour drive from Utica. It's a dream every Little Leaguer has, and in 2020 it won't come true for anyone.

In recent years, teams from New Hartford and Whitesboro have chased the dream into regional play. And the dream came true for three teams from the state of New York that went on to win Little League World Series titles:

• Schenectady in 1954 (Billy Connors played 3 seasons with the Mets and Cubs, and spent 17 seasons as a pitching coach, including for the Yankees, and Jim Barbieri played one season for the Dodgers)
• Staten Island in 1964
• Maine-Endwell in 2016

Also, a team from East Rochester won the Senior Little League World Series (for 13-16 year-olds) in 1966.

With 2020 out of play, better luck next year for all the players and teams across Central New York and beyond.