Published in the June 30, 2020 edition.

The Intercity League Board of Directors met again on June 25 according to a recent press release. It was the latest in a long series of meetings to continue their discussions regarding the possibility of conducting a shortened 2020 summer baseball season.

Massachusetts remains in Phase 2 of the reopening plan which prohibits any games or scrimmages to be played. Phase 3, in which leagues can return to action, is scheduled to begin on July 6 at the earliest.

The league announced that in order to give teams some time to prepare, the best-case scenario is now an eight-game regular season in which all nine teams would play each other once, followed by a playoff tournament. If Phase 3 begins on July 6 the earliest start date for the ICL would be Monday, July 13.

The ICL must also await Board of Health approval as well as guidelines and field availability permits from each of the cities and towns where games could be played. Those include Wakefield, Melrose, Somerville, Malden, Lexington, Reading, Cambridge, Revere and Woburn.

The league maintained that the safety of players, managers, coaches, administrators, umpires and fans remains the number one priority and any decision made moving forward will be reflective of that.

“All sports at every level across the country are facing uncertainty at this point. The ICL is no different,” said the board. “These are challenging times. We remain optimistic but are aware that the window for summer baseball may narrow.”