High School Baseball & Softball Are Back in Iowa

Iowa high schools are moving forward with high school baseball and softball. On Monday, a few minutes after midnight, baseball and softball players from Collins-Maxwell High School gathered for their first practice in over 2.5 months. It was the first sanctioned high school gathering since the pandemic shut everything down in mid-March.

Games can start on June 15th, giving teams two weeks to implement the laundry list of new rules into their routines. Some new rules include no sunflower seeds, mandatory temperature checks before practice and games, and sanitizing equipment after each use, kind of like a gym.

“We have to retrain,” Jean Berger told ESPN. Berger is the executive director of the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union. “This is the summer of being a mom for us — Don’t touch your face, go wash your hands.”

If you’re thinking this is late for high school sports, you’re right. Iowa is the only state to play high school sports in the summer, according to ESPN.

As of June 1st, Iowa has had 19,552 coronavirus cases and 534 deaths (2.7 fatality rate), per the CDC. The most recent data available shows the state had a 30-day low for new cases on May 28th (109 new cases).

Per the ESPN report by Elizabeth Merrill, only one school in the state confirmed they will not be participating this summer, Belmond-Klemme.

Iowa will be the testing ground for how a lot of other states and leagues proceed. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction and one towards healing. Plenty of people will be paying attention and rooting for things to go smoothly and safely.