It was announced on Monday that the Pennsylvania American Legion baseball season has been canceled.

Robert E. John, the Pennsylvania American Legion department commander, released an email to regional and sectional directors, as well as league presidents with their decision.

There are four senior legion teams in the area. They include the Carbon Monarchs and Northern Valley in the Lehigh Valley Legion; the Tamaqua Blue Sox in the Schuylkill-Berks League; and The Birches in the Northampton County (NorCo) League.

The decision also affects junior legion teams as well.

“It breaks my heart,” said LVL President Jeff Smith. “I feel awful for the seniors and last-year players. We’re better safe than sorry. At the end of the day it’s just baseball.

“We all care about the kids, and we’re going to miss them. My favorite part of the year is always that first day of practice. It’s a double whammy. Now they’re waiting a whole year until they get on the baseball field again.”

Last week, the national legion called off the World Series and regional tournaments, but allowed states to determine their own status.

“I’ve been involved with Legion baseball for about 25 or 30 years, so it’s a disappointment,” said Schuylkill-Berks Legion President and Secretary Ed Lloyd. “You want to see the kids play. And I think the kids wanted to play, especially with the high school season folding up, so there was a lot of anticipation to get into it.

“The last I knew, the Sunday before (last), we were informed there was going to be a meeting May 1 where, after they saw the governor’s guidelines, they were going to make a decision. And then of course this decision came yesterday out of the blue, and bingo. So it’s kind of disappointing, because there are more questions than answers yet. Some leagues still want to play and look at it. but really, we’re handcuffed and can’t do anything until we know what the governor’s guidelines are going to be, and that won’t be until May 1.”

South Parkland defeated Northern Valley 2-0 to claim the LVL title last season. It was the third straight league crown for the No. 1 seeded Trojans.

Derek Holmes hit .429 in the postseason with four RBIs and five runs scored for the Chargers, while Ryan King hit .300 with two RBIs. Both players also contributed on the mound, with Holmes recording a win and a save, posting a 3.37 ERA. King allowed just four earned runs over 13 innings of work in two starts.

Northern Valley had defeated the Monarchs 2-1 in the tournament before topping North Parkland 9-4 to reach the final. The Chargers had split their games with Carbon and dropped both regular season games to North Parkland.

Carbon manager Donnie Rehrig was optimistic about his squad’s chances this season. While it’s difficult to see the season end before it begins, Rehrig knows the decision to do so was not easy.

“We had a quality core returning from last year’s team,” said Rehrig. “But we’re kind of battling an invisible enemy; we really don’t know enough about it right now ... I wouldn’t want to be the person to make all of these decisions because you’re impacting thousands of youth across the state.

“When I got the news, I was disappointed because we were excited for the summer, especially after losing the high school season because it kind of gave them a light at the end of the tunnel, especially the seniors, who might not ever step on the field again.”

As difficult as the decision is for players, coaches and families, it also hits small businesses hard.

“A lot of the local teams depend on Shea’s and Valley Athletic for equipment and uniforms,” said Rehrig. “It’s not just impacting the kids, it’s also impacting small businesses and things like that.”

For Lloyd, the closures also impact the league’s fundraising efforts.

“Most of us rely on fundraising, or the Legion Post to donate money,” he said. “Well, Legion Posts right now are closed, so they’re limited, and we can’t even do our fundraisers; a lot of teams can’t do their fundraising, which is another factor that goes into this before we can really make a decision.”

Muhlenberg also won its third straight Schuylkill-Berks title, posting five playoff wins, including 8-4 over Hamburg in the final.

The Wanderers captured the Northampton County championship, defeating Northampton 1-0 in the third game of a best-of-three series. It marked the team’s first NorCo title since 1986.

Mike Haines also contributed to this story