Telegraph photo by TOM KING A dejected Nashua Legion team gets ready to shake the hands of its Stamford, Conn. opponent after being eliinated in last year's Northeast Regionals in Worcester, Mass. Thanks to the National Legion's ruling, that is the last game a Nashua Legion team will play until 2021 as the Legion season was cancelled nationwide.

There will be no American Legion baseball in New Hampshire this summer – or anywhere in the U.S., for that matter.

The American Legion National Organization has cancelled all its sponsorship of baseball for the summer, which includes Senior, Junior, and the new Prep American Legion programs, due to the pandemic. Locally, Nashua and Merrimack have Senior and Junior programs and Hudson has a Junior program only.

New Hampshire Legion baseball chairman Richard Harvey of Hudson relayed the announcement Sunday evening after he received a detailed memorandum from the national governing body.

“With respect to this memorandum, The Department of NH American Legion Baseball Program will not continue to seek operation for this 2020 season,” Harvey said. “I am very sorry for our players who also had their high school season cancelled too.

“But in the wake of this memorandum and all the other obstacles we have been dealing with in 2020, this is our only course of action.”

The national memorandum states that after earlier cancelling the national and regional tournament, “Concurrently, The American Legion National Organization has shut down all sponsorship and all involvement in baseball for the 2020 season.

“This shutdown of all sponsorship and all involvement in baseball for the 2020 season means that those baseball teams that wish to continue playing 2020 season baseball shall be participating in a sporting event not sponsored, nor endorsed in any manner, by The American Legion National Organization, but sponsored and endorsed solely by the group the team is named.”

The New Hampshire American Legion had been waiting to hear from Governor Chris Sununu’s office for approval on playing this summer. A detailed proposal dealing with safety issues related to COVID-19 was delivered to Sununu’s office two weeks ago.

Harvey said he’ll be reimbursing Legion posts around the state their registration and insurance payments this week.

The door is left open possibly – depending on the Governor’s office – for baseball to still be played this summer if teams want to go it on their own, doing so without Legion sponsorship and supervision. That might be a tough financial burden.

Harvey told teams “If the Governor’s office does grant baseball teams the right to compete this summer under Covid-19 guidelines,” he would send them insurance company information for “non legion insurance”.

Harvey said he wants programs to stay positive to return in 2021.

“I think we all realized we had a great opportunity to get more players for our program this summer,” Harvey said. “If we are able to come back in 2021 we have a great opportunity to get more players for our program not only for teams that are already in existence, but to be able add new teams too.”