WATERTOWN, NY – The Watertown Rapids will not be playing this season, as their league, the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League announced today that the national health crisis has forced it to cancel the 2020 season.
Rapids’ General Manager Nick Czerow said the team regrets that baseball will not be played at the Alex Duffy Fairgrounds this year, but that the Rapids will return in 2021 “better than ever”. Czerow expressed the team’s appreciation to its fans, sponsors, players and staff for their support and patience.
The League announcement follows:
Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League Announces Cancellation of 2020 Season
In conjunction with Perfect Game USA, Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) President Robert Julian announced today the cancellation of the 2020 season.
“It is with sadness, but a recognition of the health reality we face as a state and a nation, that the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League will not commence or play its 2020 season,” Julian said. “We recognize this is a great disappointment to our collegiate players, to our fans, our host communities, and the dedicated staff and owners who have spent so much of their lives making the league a vibrant part of collegiate baseball and the American baseball fabric. The dynamic of this crisis requires cancellation.”
Perfect Game founder and president, Jerry Ford, stated, “The primary importance is for the health and safety of all concerned in this geographic area. As the naming sponsor of the PGCBL, we support Mr. Julian’s and the owners’ decision to cancel play for the 2020 season. While disappointed that baseball won’t be played in the PGCBL this summer, we recognize the significant barriers with housing, player travel to Upstate New York and between cities, and other factors the league faces that Perfect Game doesn’t face, as other areas of the country reopen for play later this spring and summer.”
Julian stated, “We have engaged in watchful waiting in the hope we could commence play on either May 29 or on a later date, but we are now persuaded that the likelihood and probability of either option is low to non-existent. We understand that the issues faced by our state and local governments create unsurmountable hurdles that prevent us from safely playing.”
Julian concluded, “We look forward to the 2021 season. In 2021, we will provide special access to our games to first responders, health care workers and provides, and essential workers in appreciation for their efforts on behalf of our communities. We will announce in the future our detailed plan to honor these special people.”