The Northwoods League announced Thursday it is postponing the opening day of its 2020 season indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The home of the Duluth Huskies, the Northwoods League had targeted May 26 for the season's first day. In its latest update, the summer baseball league for NCAA student-athletes wrote "the regime of governmental restrictions currently in effect" is impacting the league's ability to put together a workable schedule.
"The league will continue to monitor the specific situation in each of the communities where it operates to see where play might safely commence, consider the league-wide impacts of each location's status, and will adjust various contingency plans accordingly," the league said.
The Huskies were scheduled to open 2020 at the Bismarck Larks on May 26 with opening day at Wade Stadium scheduled for 11:35 a.m. on June 1 against the St. Cloud Rox. However, the city of Duluth announced last month that Wade Stadium would be closed until July 1 due to the coronavirus.
The Northwoods League, whose season runs through mid-August, wrote Thursday it still hopes to play in 2020 with 22 teams in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
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"Fan, player, and personnel safety remains our primary focus," the league wrote. "Because the situation changes almost daily, and differently in each area where the league operates, our approach is to remain creative, nimble and adaptable to how each situation unfolds throughout the entire league footprint so that where and when baseball can safely be played, it will be played."
