The coronavirus robbed many seniors of a last chance to play high school sports in the spring as the entire season and schedule was wiped out.

However some of those who play baseball will get a chance to put on a uniform again and be with their teammates as part of the Last Dance World Series which gets underway today at sites throughout New Jersey.  Presented by RWJBarnabas Health, the event features more than 200 teams with some three dozen from the Jersey Shore.

While they are not directly affiliated with their high schools they are pretty much the same teams that would have played this past spring and in many cases their coaches will run the show.

Among the host sites for games that begin today are the Brick American Baseball League, Barnegat High School, Al Leiter Field in Bayville, Red Bank’s Count Basie Field and North Wall Little League.

The 222 team field will be reduced to 32 by the end of the week following pool play and while everyone wants to win the goal of this event is primarily to give seniors one more chance to play a game they love.  For more including local schedules visit shoresportsnetwork.com.

So for many one of the highlights of summer at the shore is the TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park which is usually run after the Triple Crown races.  Of course this year is a bit different and the race serves more as a lead-up to the Kentucky Derby which has been rescheduled for September 5th.

No matter, Saturday’s event at Monmouth Park is one that many would not miss for anything. That is unless they couldn’t get tickets.  Even though the annual race has drawn as many as 60,000 fans there will likely be about 58,000 less this time around.  That’s because the governor has limited Monmouth Park to 2,000 daily spectators this summer and most of those tickets for the Haskell will go to sponsors, horseman and season box holders.

That left only 500 tickets to the general public which were quickly sold last weekend at $100 each which irked many regulars who attend every summer, partly to collect the annual Haskell hat.

There is a small consolation…you can purchase the 2020 hat for $9.50 at monmouthparkstore.com

 

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