The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
One Nation tourney hit for fans, players
Despite heavy rains, over 30 teams took to the fields at Oakwood Park in Lorain on June 27 in the One Nation slow-pitch Ohio state championships.
The event, which was originally slated to start at 8 a.m., was delayed two hours while the event’s organizer, Jorge Villegas of Lorain, cleared the infield of water.
“I got to the park this morning about quarter to six and it was terrible,” Villegas said.
“We (normally) have three fields, but now we can only use two due to the rain. I had to buy a bunch of oil-dry to mix with the dirt to dry the fields. Had to rake the field and bring some leaf blowers to push some of the water out.”
Rain couldn’t drive away many spectators from coming out of their novel coronavirus quarantine to enjoy the festivities.
“It’s just nice to be outside. I’m not the type of person that likes to sit at home and do nothing,” Lorain resident Mark Willis said. “This is enjoyable and a better alternative to sitting at home and watching TV. This is the best form of free entertainment there is.”
In accordance with social distancing guidelines still in place from the novel coronavirus pandemic, spectators sat in their own chairs on the grass surrounding both fields. The bleachers at both fields were closed to the public, while players also had to contend with restrictions of their own.
“I told everybody to bring lawn chairs, so they could be six feet away, and sit in the outfield or behind the fences somewhere,” Villegas said. “There’s no handshaking or high-fives, there’s no gum or seeds allowed, and no more than five people are allowed inside the dugout at one time.”
Villegas had held four tournaments before the pandemic and noticed some changes on and off the field.
“Pre-COVID you’d see thirty people in this set of bleachers, and 30 people in those bleachers and a bunch of people behind (the backstop),” Villegas
said. “I know a lot of (players) that since COVID started have kind of taken the year off. So that’s kind of thrown things off.”
One thing that didn’t change were the strict qualifications on the gear players could use. Before teams were allowed to play each member had to have their bat tested to see if it met One Nation’s compression limit.
The lower the compression the higher the trampoline effect, which helps a batter get better pop on their hits.
“Everybody on every team has to get their bat checked with a compression test,” Villegas said. “So to pass it needs to have 220 PSI — if it’s anything lower than that it fails the test. A lot of these bats nowadays are so weird that you can get a brand new $300 bat in the mail that you’ve never swung before that will fail the test.”
Villegas’ team, the Sandlot Boyz, play their home games at Oakwood Park, making this tournament an extra special one for him and his teammates.
“It’s been amazing. We’ve gotten a lot of respect from the community and a lot of people coming out,” Sandlot Boyz player Paul Birk said.
“It’s been great. Also to get some teams from Columbus and Cincinnati, guys that we don’t get to see a lot being here in Lorain.”