What will baseball be like this year?
by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
The return of the spring and summer season often means warm weather, the end of school, and clangs of balls hitting the bats. This year has been much quieter, and the lack of sports has contributed to that. Baseball has been no exception to this, as games have been canceled in the face of the pandemic.
Normally, baseball and softball are popular sports in Garretson. Teams start practicing in early March and often start playing games toward the end of the month. Many of Garretson’s teenaged players are often on more than one team.
The sport encompasses all ages, from t-ball to amateur leagues. Between the Blue Dragon Varsity sports team, the American Legion teams, VFW teams, the Garretson Blue Jays amateur team, separate teams for youth, and more, Tandberg Field and the Jaycee Sports Complex stay busy hosting games and practices throughout the summer and into the fall.
This year looks different so far. Many of the teams have had their schedules altered or canceled. The transition of school to distance learning meant that no school or intramural sports could play or even practice on school property, which includes Tandberg Field.
“Due to the fact that the baseball field is owned by the Garretson School, Tandberg Field Falls under the guidelines of the SDHSAA and must follow those guidelines pertaining to public use during Covid-19. So we kind of have our hands tied when it comes to using our field,” said 15/16U Coach Cody Linneweber. The Garretson Ball Association is hopeful that clearance will come in June.
While the Garretson Ball Association is aiming for at least some kind of season, decisions have been all over the place.
The Garretson Blue Jays, the local amateur baseball team, has been given the go-ahead by their league to play. They are scheduled to begin playing games in mid-June.
The American Legion league, which the Garretson 17/18U team is a part of, has had some conflicting decisions. On May 9, the South Dakota Legion baseball commissioners made the decision to move forward with a season starting in mid- to late May. On May 10, the national headquarters issued an email suspending the play of all teams under the American Legion banner.
“The complete cancellation of the 2020 American Legion National Organization baseball season means there is no American Legion National Organization baseball program “national rules,” nor are there “national guidelines,” as there is no 2020 American Legion national involvement,” the press release stated.
On Friday, May 15, however, South Dakota Legion Athletic Commissioner Chairman Dan Sudbeck announced that the use of the American Legion trademark had been sanctioned, allowing teams to play with their usual jerseys and under the American Legion rules. It also meant that local legion posts could choose to continue sponsoring their local teams. At this time, the Garretson Post will not be sponsoring their teams this year.
The South Dakota VFW Baseball commission, which is the banner the Garretson 14U and 16U teams play under, will be making its final decision on the season on June 1. Until that final decision is made, plans for tournaments have not changed.
“If there is no season we will try and play independently and have some sort of baseball for the 14U teener team and the 16U teener team,” said Coach Linneweber.
Garretson Ball Association board member Cory Buchholz concurs. They are hoping for, at the very least, to try for some scrimmages among Garretson teams at some point this summer. Plans are still in the air regarding details, however.
In a post on Garretson Living dated May 14, Buchholz wrote, “As far as coach pitch and t-ball goes, we are trying our very best to come up with a way to have something that we can organize later in the summer. It is our hope that we can put together something that the Garretson teams can scrimmage each other to get a few games in later in the summer. This IS NOT a guarantee but hopeful, wishful, and positive thinking!!” He also noted that news about girls’ softball was also still unknown.
The MinnDak League, which the under 13 youth baseball teams are a part of, canceled their season the first week of May. Commissioner Matt Larson was open about the reasons why.
“Early last week (April 28th), the Governor made a declaration to start a plan of “back to normal,” he wrote in a press release. “The announcement has left it up to cities on how to loosen restrictions that we have been under for some time, but her document also mentioned that we should practice social distancing. I thought the plan was vague and open to many different interpretations from city to city. Regardless of that, the truth is more people are now going to be going out in public more. I felt this comes with an increased risk of more getting infected. Also, the CDC website still does not recommend playing organized sports at this time.”
Even if games were to be played, however, several changes would need to be made.
“What we do know is that if these seasons start and we begin to play games there will be many rules and procedures that the teams, players, and coaches may have to follow that may change the way we play, officiate, and spectate,” said Coach Linneweber. “There will be changes such as how many spectators are allowed, what part of the field they can spectate from, distancing rules, where umpires are located while officiating, sanitizing often, how close players can be seated together in the dugouts, and other restrictions or guidelines that are not quite clear yet. There are no set-in-stone procedures or guidelines yet, but these are things I have seen sent out and suggested to teams and communities.”
All the cancellations currently mean that organized youth baseball is off the table, and local ball teams that want to play are left scrambling to make up their own schedules. While Tandberg Field is closed, the Jaycee Sports Complex opened with the City Council’s decision to re-open all park facilities at its meeting on May 4. Other cities have not yet opened their park facilities.
“It’s sort of just a waiting game right now to see if any restrictions are lifted or new ones are put into place that will allow us to play,” said Coach Linneweber.
