EMASS Senior Softball League Opens Registration for 2021 Season

In full transparency, the press release and photo was submitted to SOURCE media

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FRAMINGHAM – Eastern 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.

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“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.”

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EMASS players cherish being able to get out of the house and have their weekly getaways to the field. They are inspired by the elder players who can still perform well into their late seventies and eighties. These active seniors love seeing an opponent or a teammate make a tough play, a clutch hit, or a comeback from an injury. That weekly three-hour escape to the softball fields distracts from life’s challenges with face-to-face camaraderie, teamwork and healthy outdoor competition.

“Playing EMASS Senior Softball during the pandemic was the highlight of 2020,” said Greg French, a 10-year EMASS veteran. “EMASS protocols set up a safe playing environment and our community had a great season with no positive cases.”

“I feel 20 years younger when I am out on the field,” said Rocco Andreotti, who played in EMASS for the first time last year. “Playing a team sport and getting outside with a bunch of softball-loving peers is the highlight of my week. I am looking forward to many more years in this league.”

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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.

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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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