Youth sports get back in swing
Observer-Reporter
Youth baseball players were given the OK to ready for a shortened season last Friday when Washington and Greene counties moved into the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan for Pennsylvania.
Observer-Reporter
In this file photo, members of the Washington Rebels youth baseball team attempt to catch a ball at Consol Energy Park. Local youth sports teams were given the go-ahead to play when Washington and Greene counties moved into the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan.
Elich
The sound of baseballs and softballs smacking leather, the distinct pings of aluminum bats making solid contact with pitches and the voices of coaches giving instructions and direction to players are back.
Local youth sports programs and club teams were given approval to start play last Friday, when most of Western Pennsylvania entered the green phase in Gov. Tom Wolf’s multi-colored reopening system.
Counties in the green phase are “open for controlled non-contact practices, clinics and modified game rules,” in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society.
High school teams are still waiting to learn when they will be allowed to resume offseason workouts. Wolf said Monday that guidelines for those sports will be coming either today or Wednesday.
Washington Youth Baseball received permission Friday from the city to start its activities at Washington Park. It has scheduled opening day for June 22 and will play through the first week of August.
Youth baseball leagues in Chartiers-Houston, Canonsburg, the Mon Valley and Greene County are starting as well, as will the Greater Route 50 Youth Baseball League, which is based in the northwest corner of Washington County. Plans are similar for those baseball leagues as they target June 22 for opening day after 10-14 days of practice.
PONY Baseball & Softball Inc., Little League Baseball and American Legion Baseball each have said no national all-star competitions will be held this year, meaning leagues will only be playing locally.
The Greater Route 50 league ran into several unique situations that could have been stumbling blocks to starting its seasons. One of its league members is located in Beaver County, which is still in the yellow phase of reopening, and several teams use diamonds that are located on school grounds. Schools have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“South Side, because it’s in Beaver County, is still in the yellow phase but has agreed to play all away games until it’s in the green phase,” Greater Route 50 president Troy Elich said. “We have teams in Chartiers-Houston that use school fields, so the school board there was concerned. They wanted us to provide coronavirus guidelines, which we’ve done.”
Elich said Greater Route 50 was expecting to have more than 70 teams, ranging from tee-ball to Pony League (ages 13-14). That number has dropped slightly because of various reasons. He said Avella’s teams dropped out because of low roster numbers.
Sam Pager, president of Charleroi Youth Baseball, said his teams, which range from Shetland (ages 5-6) to Colt (15-16) will be permitted to begin practice Wednesday, though schedules for the season have not been finalized. He added that teams from Beth-Center have dropped out of the Mon Valley league for this season only.
Dave Rankin, president of King Coal Youth Baseball in Carmichaels, said his teams have seen only a small decline in players.
“We lost a few kids for various reasons, not virus related,” he said. “Some have a scheduling conflict. We were expecting more than 120 players and we’re going to be close to that.”
Rankin said the Greene County leagues will start “around” June 22 and run through Aug. 8.
“Then we’ll have some kind of playoff tournament the next week,” he explained.
A spokesman for TWIST softball, which is based in Washington, said the organization was hopeful to receive approval from the city by no later than today and is planning a late-June startup for its slow-pitch leagues.
Many league presidents said they have guidelines in place for games and practices, though what they were presented with were somewhat vague.
The rules include, but are not limited to:
- Dugouts will not be utilized for team benches. Designated seating areas outside of the dugout will be utilized, and each player’s equipment will be kept separated from their teammates.
- Scheduling of games and practices will be staggered to limit the amount of overlap at the fields from one practice/game to the next.
- Concession stands will either be closed or be limited to grab-and-go items.
- Catcher’s equipment will not be shared during games.
- Players will not be permitted to share bats, helmets, etc.
- Sunflower seeds and chewing gum will not be permitted.
- The wearing of PPE face masks by players is optional.
- Instead of working behind the catcher, the home plate umpire will work from behind the pitcher’s mound.
- Most leagues will require teams to provide the baseballs for when their team is playing the field. They will be required to sanitize the baseballs during inning breaks.
Elich said he attended a tournament in Tarentum last weekend and some of the guidelines were enforced while others were not. Still, he was happy just to get back to sports.
“I was at the Burgettstown fields Friday and throwing batting practice to my son in the cage. The place was packed,” he said. “It was like everybody had just been let out of home arrest. Everyone was excited to be with everyone again. It was like homecoming.”