May 28, 2020 3 min read

Pulling off a baseball season during a pandemic is nearly an impossible task, but the Washington Wild Things and the independent Frontier League received some good news in recent days.

On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that professional sports in Pennsylvania can resume – without spectators – in counties where his stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the coronavirus is no longer in force.

Teams and competitors will be allowed to practice or play where Wolf’s yellow or green designation applies in his three-phase reopening plan.

To resume, a team or a league must first develop a coronavirus safety plan that has been approved by the state Department of Health. The safety plan must include testing or screening and monitoring of all “on-venue” players and personnel, the administration said.

With Washington County currently in the yellow phase, that means the Wild Things can take the field when its safety plan is approved.

“It’s good, yes, because the state is allowing us to practice and play in the yellow and green phases,” Wild Things general manager Tony Buccilli said. “The challenge is nothing in this is black and white at the moment. The state says pro sports cannot have fans. But what if the casinos reopen and they can have 2,000 customers, and we can’t have 800 fans? I wouldn’t get that correlation. I’d like to see them re-evaluate our case or give us some guidance.”

In recent days, New Jersey and New York also cleared the way for their pro sports teams to resume practicing. That includes three new Frontier League teams, two in New Jersey and one in New York.

Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana each are said to be close to reopening to pro sports, which gives the Frontier League a flicker of hope that it can begin a shortened season this summer.

“I’m still optimistic. The toughest part,” Buccilli says, “is this is moving quickly. What we were told a week ago has already changed. Nothing is really concrete.”

Playing an entire season without fans in the ballpark would not be economically feasible for a Frontier League franchise. It could, however, create opportunities for Wild Things home games to be televised or broadcast by radio stations, but Buccilli said he doesn’t know if either of those could generate enough revenue to make them a viable option.

While pro sports have been given a green light, local youth sports remain in a holding pattern. Wolf is allowing overnight camps and organized youth sports to begin to begin, but only in areas where the green phase is in effect.