Youth baseball, softball lift bats

Local youth baseball/softball organizations are gearing up for the upcoming season following a year of cancellations and concessions due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Everyone is planning on moving forward as normal,” said Dan Gurich, president of Keystone (LaGrange) Hot Stove, which plays home games at LaGrange Community Park, 422 W. Main St. “We did not have a season last year.

“Lorain County Hot Stove, as an organization, cancelled last year. We are part of that organization. There is the Lorain County Hot Stove, and then members from that board, also sit at the state level.”

Gurich said getting ready for the 2021 season is not too different from previous years.

“I think the communities are expecting lower turnouts with the pandemic,” he said. “We also have the rise of travel ball which has taken the numbers away from Hot Stove more and more over the last few years.”

Gurich said the league is not worried about the different safety protocols.

“Hot Stove cancelled last year as a safety precaution, but I coached some travel ball last year,” he said. “At the travel tournaments, there were no outbreaks, none of our kids contracted it.

“So, I don’t anticipate having an issue with COVID this summer.”

Gurich said having baseball and softball is good for youngsters.

“It gets them outside and active,” he said. “They get the opportunity to make some new friends; it teaches them some of the softball/baseball fundamentals. Especially for the younger ages, it’s very instructional.

“It’s the fundamentals that are key to the game and are important to develop at a young age. Especially in our community ... if Keystone is known for anything, it’s known for softball.

“If you’re a girl born in LaGrange, there is an expectation to play softball. These youth leagues are where they get their start until they make it up to the school teams.”

Gurich said the in-person sign-up events have past but the registration form can be found online.

“The form the parent would need is on our website (https://www. leaguelineup.com/handouts.asp?url=keystonehot stove),” he said. “They can download it, then fill them out. If there are issues, we will make accommodations as far as coming in-person for something.

“At some point, we do need the kids to try on uniforms so we know what to order, but we will work with what parents want to do. The games will start for us the last week in April. The signup deadline for us is March 1.

“Folks can get the form on the website and the contact number of who to call is on there as well.”

Oberlin

Anthony Gallam, president of the Oberlin Baseball Softball Federation, said their teams will play this year after not having a season last year.

“Last year would have been my first season as the president, but COVID happened,” Gallam said. “Hot Stove cancelled their season last year. Last year, they initially came in, emails were sent out, and they said we were having a season and they were going to monitor the situation closely.

“That was the message in December (2019), January, February and they went through April with the message that a season was going to happen.”

In May, the message changed, Gallam said.

“May is when you start getting ready to play games,” he said. “Practices were being coordinated, jerseys were ordered ... and they made the decision to not have a season.

“North Ridgeville then started making calls to the coaches of the Hot Stove teams and we decided to get together and have an unofficial league with some of the Hot Stove teams, but it wasn’t technically Hot Stove. It was put together as a kind of hodgepodge. We played, followed the guidelines and nobody got sick.”

Gallam said this year Lorain County Hot Stove is absolutely not going to cancel.

“I honestly think that they saw how well communities around us and in the state were able to play last year and do it safely, and I think they regretted their decision,” he said. “So, the season is still playing and we are moving forward as of right now.”

Gallam said it has been difficult preparing for the new season.

“We still don’t know if we will be able to use fields in Oberlin,” he said. “Last year, when we were playing in the makeshift league, the city of Oberlin would not let us use their fields (225 W. Hamilton Road). They’re the fields we normally use.

“So, we played our home games in Wellington. There is uncertainty there for this year, and we have not been able to go into the schools for indoor stuff. Right now, we are urging parents to get kids to the batting cages and things like that.”

Gallam said folks can search Oberlin Baseball Softball Federation on Facebook and Twitter for the sign-up sheet. Sign-ups are through the month of March.

Mike Ellis, board member for Elyria Little League, which plays at Vic Janowicz Park, 100 Wittenburg Ave., said the season is moving forward.

“We are still planning on having a season,” Ellis said. “We did have a season last year. We’re waiting to see what, if any, new guidelines come out.

“Last year, we had masks for all the players and coaches.”

Ellis said the 2020 season continued to follow the guidelines throughout.

“They had the masks and folks socially distanced,” he said. “We did not run our concession stand. We did not have a known transmission of the virus last year due to our games.

“We have 20 acres of land, with seven fields, so the parents spread out very well. We are just starting to see the numbers start to trickle in, but we should have a good number of kids register.

“Registration is open now. Folks can go to https://www.elyrialittleleague.org/, it’s all done online.”

SUBMITTED People gather at LaGrange Community Park for softball in 2020.