EMASS Senior Softball League registration now open for 2021 season

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Mike Carroll of Northborough at bat in a UMASS game last year.
Mike Carroll of Northborough at bat in a game last year. Photo/submitted

RegionEastern Massachusetts Senior Softball (EMASS) is opening its annual registration campaign for slow-pitch softball players age 50 and over. With over 400 members, the league attracts players from towns across Eastern Massachusetts with games played on fields in Wayland, Medfield, Ashland and Framingham. The EMASS season opens in May with 18 weeks of regular season games scheduled through Labor Day and year-end playoffs completed in early October.

“We played ball safely in 2020 and we will do it again in 2021,” said Walker Royce, Commissioner of EMASS. “Our players will do whatever it takes to get out on the field with their teammates and we will adjust the COVID protocols we used successfully last year to ensure the safety of our members in the 2021 season.”

After COVID-19 delayed last year’s season opening until July, EMASS salvaged a welcome half-season in its Saturday divisions and delivered a full 36-game season in the weekday divisions by playing twice a week. With facial coverings, social distancing and other common sense guidelines, EMASS played throughout the summer and fall of 2020 without any member testing positive.

“The 2020 EMASS season was a healthy escape and a lot of fun with a new twist,” said Royce. “With masks concealing the identity of every batter, it was hard to tell whether the player at-bat was a rookie power hitter or an old veteran place-hitter.”

EMASS will open the 2021 season as soon as the towns give the go-ahead. After the experience with pandemic play in 2020, the league knows how to get its COVID-19 protocols approved with town officials to ensure a safe environment.

“Player feedback in 2020 was exceptional and we will build on that experience to deliver a great Senior Softball season in 2021 as well,” said Royce.

 

About EMASS Senior Softball League

EMASS was founded in 1995 and offers over 400 seniors of all skill levels a safe, well-organized opportunity to play competitive slow-pitch softball. EMASS members range in age from 50 to 90. Skill levels range from casual recreational players to those who play on nationally competitive tournament teams. Players of any skill level will find a spot with teams of similar abilities in one or more of EMASS’s five divisions. The American division (average age 60) and National division (average age 67) play doubleheaders on Saturday mornings. The weekday divisions play once-a-week doubleheaders on different days with the Pacific (average age 64) on Mondays, the Metro (average age 75) on Tuesdays, and the Atlantic (average age 69) on Thursdays. Many members play on different teams in multiple divisions.

For more information about EMASS Senior Softball League, visit www.e-mass.org.

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