There will be no Little League baseball in Powell this summer.

Canceling the 2020 season was “definitely a tough decision,” said Joe Gardner, president of the Little League board.

“It was heart-breaking,” Gardner said. “It was a decision none of us wanted to make, but at the end the day, it was the only choice we could make.”

With the threat of spreading COVID-19 amid the ongoing pandemic, “you can’t be in the dugouts; you can’t social social-distance 5-year-olds. Period,” he said.

Little League Baseball incorporates youth from 5 years old to age 12 in four levels: tee ball, coach-pitch, minor league and major league. Little League leaders at the state level had already canceled both the regional and state All-Star tournament, leaving it up to local officials as to whether they would hold a season on a local level.

In a May 8 Facebook post announcing the cancellation, Powell Little League leaders said they know that “kids were excited to play their first year, their third year or their final year in in Little League, however, there are a lot of factors to consider and as a board, we feel that each player’s health is most important!”

“If one Powell Little Leaguer got sick, it would be terrible,” Gardner said.

In the Facebook post, the board members said that calling off the season was something they never thought they would have to do, noting that a lot of fun times and memories will be missed.

“I want to see baseball succeed in this town,” Gardner said.

But for the young ballplayers, it will have to wait a year.

— By Dave Bonner