Published May 14, 2020
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
NORTH READING — The North Reading A’s have been in the North Shore Baseball League for many years as the franchise moved to town from Lynn back in 2004. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the length of the 2020 season is up in the air heading into May.
The wood-bat league, for players 18 and over, normally would start on May 20 and end in mid-August. The regular season is typically 24 games long and then goes to three rounds of playoffs.
On April 28, Governor Charlie Baker extended the stay-at-home date until May 18.
“We are trying to stay positive,” said A’s player-manager Joe Dardeno, who is also part of the league’s board of directors. “Our number one focus in on the player’s safety and seeing what the doctors and politicians have to say.”
On the league web site, it states that the league is still planning on playing this year and is accepting prospect forms for players interested in participating.
“We are looking at all options, so we are not shutting down.” said Dardeno, as there most-likely would be a shortened season.
Dardeno went on to say that decisions made by other adult leagues will not play a role in what their league will decide what to do and that they have weekly meetings to keep everyone updated through text messages.
The A’s, who play their home games at North Reading High School, had six players from town on their roster last summer. The other five players, beside Dardeno, from North Reading were Matt DiVecchia (first and third base), Ben Harrow (utility), Marco Vittozzi (infielder), Keith Linnane (second base) and Rich Giannattasio (right field).
The league has 11 teams overall and has been around since the late 1800’s.
