After a year-long hiatus, the Cape Cod League is finally set to make its return to the rich summertime baseball scene in New England.
There was no crack of the bat, sight of beach chairs and blankets on the hillside or roar from the crowd across the Cape’s ballfields last summer. The first pitch of the 2021 season for the nation’s most prestigious summer circuit is set for Sunday night, marking 671 days since the Cotuit Kettleers hoisted the Arnold Mycock Trophy for a modern-era record 17th time.
All 10 teams will be in action on the season’s first night, as is the case for a vast majority of the season. The opening slate includes a matchup between the defending champion Kettleers and the 2018 winners, the Wareham Gatemen. In the most recent title series, Cotuit swept a Harwich Mariners team that enters 2021 with plenty of New England talent on the roster.
This summer will have a different look in the league as the schedule will be a slightly-shortened 40 games in length, running through Wednesday, Aug. 4. There is no All-Star Game, and the postseason will feature just four teams competing in a pair of best-of-three series.
