Pitchers, catchers report to practice for delayed start
In a normal year, high school baseball and softball players around this state would be about a month into their preparations for the upcoming spring season.
However, with concerns about the coronavirus pandemic lingering in 2021, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association decided to push back the start of that spring campaign.
Not only will official games for NJSIAA schools hold off until Monday, April 19, but teams have not even begun to practice yet.
Taking that into account and realizing many of these youngsters have not been able to play much baseball or softball in the last year (after COVID-19 shut down the 2020 spring season), the NJSIAA came up with an interesting strategy to get some of baseball’s and softball’s most important players back on the field a little quicker than its Thursday, April 1 official practice start date.
The state’s athletic association followed the model Major League Baseball has used for years in agreeing to let pitchers and catchers begin practice sooner. Those battery mates will step on fields around N.J. beginning Friday.
Not a huge head start, but a necessary one after so many hurlers got such limited opportunities to throw over the last 12 months.
And, remember, the majority of this year’s oldest players will have last played for their high school team when they were sophomores.
The NJSIAA’s most likely, one-time-only move comes with some extra regulations noted on its website to keep teams from abusing its kindness.
First and foremost, these extra practices are meant to help pitchers and catchers improve their arm strength and accuracy during their 24 days of preseason work (as opposed to the 18 days position players will be given to get ready for the 2021 season, beginning next Thursday).
The NJSIAA is not permitting other position players to attend these earlier practices.
Thus, if throws to bases need to be attempted, other pitchers and catchers or coaches are expected to be used to cover those bases.
The same is the case with people in the batter’s box — either the other pitchers, catchers or coaches will be used, or a dummy.
The NJSIAA explicitly states in its extra rules for this workout period: “There is no swinging of bats permitted at any time.”
To drive home its points further, the NJSIAA ends its guidelines for these workouts by stating: “If other position players are present, it will be considered out-of-season coaching and may result in game suspensions.”
The monitoring of this falls on the busy shoulders of each school’s athletics director, while he or she is also making sure that N.J. Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as local health department COVID-19 protocols, like face masks and social distancing, are being followed.
Still, while NJSIAA schools have a bit of a wait before the season gets underway, some local prep schools, who play for the New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association, have begun practice and plan to start playing games in the next few weeks.
Without a Mercer County Tournament again this spring, there will be no crossovers between Colonial Valley Conference teams and prep squads until the end of May after the CVC completes its own tournament and before the NJSIAA begins its state tournament in June.