ROCHESTER — With a covid-safe summer season under its belt, the Old Rochester Youth Baseball League fall baseball season is underway and will swing, bat and bunt its way into November.

“It’s been going awesome,” League President Peter Vieira said. 

Initially, Vieira said a fall season “wasn’t even a consideration,” but the parental support for it pushed the league to reconsider and start playing games on Sept. 26.

Now, the league is open to players outside of the Tri-Town. Players from Acushnet and New Bedford have joined the league alongside Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester players.

Altogether, the league has 88 players in the major division, 66 in the minors, 48 at the farm level and 32 players in tee-ball.

For the fall season, teams in the minor league play double headers on Saturday mornings, and major leaguers play back-to-back on Sunday mornings. The games are spread out between Dexter Lane Fields and Gifford Park in Rochester, and the baseball field at Sippican School in Marion.

As part of covid regulations, each player hangs up their bag in spots on the sideline fence and stands in a designated zone outside of the dugout. Players and coaches wear masks around their necks and put them on whenever they come in close contact, such as a team huddle.

Regulations are still the same now as they were in the summer, which made the transition “extremely seamless,” Vieira said.

Dylan Alves of Mattapoisett has been playing in the league for the last three years. His mother, Rachel, said “he’s ecstatic, he’s missed it.”

She said it’s great because the players “love to be able to socialize and play sports.”

Owen Pope of Rochester is in his first year of play in the league. His mother, Micaela, said he likes being at the games for it being his first season, and “being outside is great” for the kids, she said.

In all of this, Vieira said Rochester’s Board of Health and Parks Department has been “fantastic” and “extremely welcoming” of the fall season, which ends Nov. 8.