MARION - Youth baseball and softball in Marion County is taking a summer vacation of sorts.
"There is no county rec ball youth season this year," said Scott Pierce, the president of Marion County Baseball and Softball for Youth and also an organizer for Prospect Baseball and Softball for Youth. "We canceled that when they closed the schools at the end of the year. Anything you see on the field right now is going to be a travel team."
It's been an unsettling time for the recreation scene in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
"In today’s world, you don’t know," said Justin Bowers of the Pleasant Baseball/Softball Association. "You can’t say this is what we’re planning on because you don’t know what you’re going to be allowed to do in two weeks."
And that's why county youth baseball and softball organizers decided against trying an abridged version of rec ball when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine allowed it to resume last week.
"Pleasant uses the Pleasant fields, so we have to abide by their rules," Bowers said.
The area's schools are following the guidelines set by the Ohio High School Athletic Association in terms of how facilities will be used during three phases this summer. These plans are then approved by Marion Public Health.
The first phase, which lasts a minimum of two weeks, uses strict social distancing and sanitation rules and doesn't allow equipment, only exercise, conditioning and weight training. A form of practices could follow with the possibility of competition coming a month after the start of the first phase.
That wouldn't leave much time for the rec leagues to participate in a meaningful way.
A message to the Marion Merchants program was not returned, but River Valley Baseball for Youth's complex on Ohio 309 could see some action later in the summer.
"We canceled our county rec league for this year," RV's Aaron Corwin said. "I think we’re going to edge our way back into tournaments in mid- to late-summer as long as we can do it and meet all the Ohio Department of Health guidelines. We’re going to abide by those."
Corwin said he's already received calls from tournament organizers around central Ohio asking to use RV's facilities. While the organization is independent of the school district, River Valley owns the land on which the complex is built, so River Valley Baseball for Youth will follow their guidelines.
"Whatever we do, we’re going to make sure it’s in line with the health department and we’re going to make sure the school board is okay with it as well," Corwin said. "We’re hopeful that we can have a few tournaments yet this year."
The annual fall ball league at RV is expected to be played and will likely expand as kids are anxious to play after missing out on the spring and summer rec games.
"We’re hopeful about that," Corwin said.
But it's all dependent on how Marion County's COVID-19 numbers respond in the coming weeks. If the cases go down or at least plateau and all the overseeing entities agree to it, baseball and softball could return in some form or fashion.
"If you abide by the restrictions, I think it can be done and done safely, but I think we need to ease our way into this obviously and follow the guidelines and recommendations and the rules," Corwin said. "Being that we’re on school property, we’re going to make sure we’re following those rules and not going against the grain there."
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Marion County rec ball shuttered, hope for fall ball remains - Marion Star
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