Today is the first day that the boys and girls of summer will be on the diamond to begin practice for the 2020 high school season. The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk and Hillcrest Academy baseball and softball teams will be among those holding their first practice session. The season was on tenuous ground through much of the spring due to the COVID-19 virus in the state. The spring sports seasons of golf, track and soccer were cancelled in Iowa.
A normal start to the baseball and softball seasons would have had the first games of the year held in the week after Memorial Day. That was pushed back initially to a June 1st competition start date. Governor Kim Reynolds and the state associations then pushed the earliest practice date back to June 1st, with the earliest competitions June 15th. This week, Mid-Prairie athletic director Tyler Hotz talked about the process and timeline getting ready for this season. “There was a lot of speculation out there about what could happen. There were a lot of unknowns. At that point we were really waiting on communication about what could happen. Since the announcement my work has been to sit in webinars. Gathering information. Reynolds announced, and we sat in a webinar with the Department of Education. They gave us primary information with a two page document. In there they highlight what precautions we need to take during practice season, when games come around. We’ve had zoom meetings with the Department of Education, the athletic unions, and with our River Valley Conference coaches. We had a zoom meeting with all of our RVC AD’s at 9p.m. the day that it was announced we would have a season to put together a schedule. A lot of communication with coaches and AD’s about what’s going on and how they are going to handle things so we can communicate with our administration and families.”
The Mid-Prairie baseball and softball teams will open the season Monday, June 15th against Northeast Goose Lake while the Hillcrest Ravens will take on the Highland Huskies on the same day to open the season.