Delayed by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Mon-Clair League said this week that it plans to begin its shortened 2020 summer baseball season on July 4.

Mon-Clair League President Don Barton said all teams were represented at a league meeting Monday night and a 14-game schedule was approved starting July 4. Due to the Valmeyer Midsummer Celebration being canceled this year, there will be no July 4 baseball tournament at Borsch Park.

The league playoffs will follow the regular season schedule, putting the estimated end of the 2020 season at mid-August.

“There are some questions to be answered as far as liabilities and actions to be taken under certain circumstances,” Barton told the Republic-Times. “We will meet June 29 to finalize these questions.”

The Mon-Clair Baseball League currently consists of eight teams, which is down from a 10-team league in 2019.

The 2020 schedule will be played without the Charleston Riverdogs and St. Louis Latinos.

“The Riverdogs could not find a replacement for their manager and also, three of their best players were going to play elsewhere,” Barton said. “The Latinos were wanting back in, but for several reasons, we voted them out.”

The Riverdogs, who played their home games in Jackson, Mo., finished with a record of 10-16 last season. 

The Latinos, in their inaugural Mon-Clair campaign, went 2-24 last season. 

The teams competing in the Mon-Clair League for the 2020 season are the Waterloo Millers, Valmeyer Lakers, Millstadt Green Machine, Belleville Rockies, Fairview Heights Redbirds, Cape Girardeau Capahas, St. Louis Printers and St. Louis Spikes. 

Millstadt won the league playoffs last season.