Virus throws PONY Baseball a curve
Abe Key, president of PONY Baseball and Softball, proudly watched some Pony League World Series games from last summer that were recently rebroadcast on AT&T Sports Net as replacement programming for canceled Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins games.
“I sure did,” Key said. “That was awesome. In addition to getting exposure in the Pittsburgh market, those games were also shown in Seattle, Houston, Los Angeles and some other markets.”
Key, however, had to be wondering if those games would be the only Pony League baseball he will see this year because of the growing coronavirus pandemic.
“Anything is possible,” Key said, “though I like to think that situation is not probable. I hope that doesn’t happen.”
PONY Baseball and Softball is a global organization, so it is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation in many countries, not just the United States. PONY has halted all organization activities, including on-field competition, until early April.
“We have postponed until April 6,” Key said. “A conference call will then be held to discuss the situation. We’ve been very upfront with people. We’re delayed until April 6. A decision on what happens after that will be made based on information from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and what local and state governments have decided. There are a lot of layers to this.”
The Pony League World Series is held annually at Lew Hays Pony Field and brings teams from around the globe to Washington. In addition to the host Washington County team, there are teams of 13- and 14-year-olds from the United States who qualify along with winners in the Mexico, Caribbean, European and Asia-Pacific zones.
The Pony League World Series has been held every year since 1952. The majority of those have been played in Washington, where PONY Baseball was formed and is headquartered.
The first competition that has fallen victim to the pandemic is the European Zone’s Pony League World Series qualifying tournament that was to be held earlier this month in Prague, Czech Republic, but has been cancelled. Also cancelled were the European Zone tournaments for Colt League baseball, and Pony and Colt softball.
“We are very disappointed that our European Championships will not take place, but the health and safety of the players, the local community, fans, volunteers, umpires, sponsors, vendors, and everyone involved with the event is of paramount importance,” Key said in a statement. “We are discussing opportunities for 2020 World Series participation and future events in Europe and are in the process of discussing multiple options.”
Several zone championships that are scheduled for outside the United States are not scheduled to be held until July, Key said.
“I talk to people every day. I’ve talked to our people in Italy, where the situation is much worse than it is here,” Key said. “I’ve talked to people in Japan, in China, the Philippines, Europe, the Czech Republic, Poland and other countries. Certainly, everyone is concerned, very concerned. Every country is different in how it has been impacted. Some are on lockdown. We are in a big waiting period. We’re all waiting for what the next 19 or 20 days will bring.”
Locally, youth baseball leagues typically begin play in April but surely will be delayed to some extent.
Though baseball everywhere has been thrown a curve by the coronavirus threat, Key is hopeful that every zone will be represented at the Pony League World Series, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 7, and that local leagues can get started without much delay.
“We’re holding out hope that we have something for the kids,” Key said. “It might be a condensed season. It might be a season that is extended, but if you do that then you’re running into summer vacations and school.
“We are hopeful; we are optimistic. We hope that this virus runs its course or that a vaccine is found and made available to everyone.”