‘It’s not easy, but worth it.’ Bellefonte Little League learning how to play ball amid pandemic
Wednesday night’s Little League baseball game between the Knights and the Lions went off without a hitch.
The two teams played a full six innings with the Knights winning 6-2 and no major incidents of players getting too close or breaking the Bellefonte Little League’s social distancing protocols during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
While the game went smoothly, that doesn’t mean the preparation to get to that point was easy. League President Bill Carey let out a laugh at how well the game went. For him, it’s never too easy, and it’s not always the young players’ faults.
“Just as many people think this thing is a hoax as think this thing is unbelievably dangerous,” Carey told the Centre Daily Times. “It is impossible to find common ground with those two polar opposites. In addition to my managing duties and working with kids, I have had to spend countless hours on the phone with parents trying to get them to understand what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Once Carey and the league set forward a plan to return, his stress triggers turned from the planning to the enactment. The league president, and coach of the Lions, has gone from focusing solely on the game at hand to making sure his players are staying as safe as possible.
Those safety precautions begin before the opening pitch and extend off the field to where the team stands while they’re not in the field. The dugout no longer houses the entire team while it awaits the opportunity to take the field. Instead, on-deck batters wait in the dugout while the rest of the team sits in front of the bleachers usually used by spectators.
The Lions sat on buckets behind the fence with each spot 6 feet apart from the closest teammate and their head coach posted up on the bleachers three rows back. On the front row sat hand sanitizer ready to use for players, who each pumped a splash onto their hands prior to the game’s first pitch.
Once out on the field the young players looked at peace, smiling and laughing while they played. On the bleachers, Carey did what he could to enjoy the game but knew he had other concerns to ponder.
“I have to move a mile a minute,” he said. “I’m trying to watch, when we’re on defense I’m trying to make sure we’re where we’re supposed to be. And then I’ve got to monitor that dugout like a hawk. … I relegated myself to make sure the kids are staying safe. It’s not easy, but it’s so worth it.”
He ensured his players maintained proper distance with a calm but stern call of “Gentlemen, separate,” when he saw two players moved too close together. Between innings Carey gathered his team on the edge of the field, but did so with an abundance of caution, instructing them to spread out as he spoke.
Of course you can only control children that young so much, and they soon scurried out to the bleachers, disregarding their distance and surging through the narrow opening of the fence.
Still, Carey had to be pleased with the efforts to keep the players safe. They maintained their distance off the field while enjoying the game on it. For the league’s president, that was the top priority.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that these kids are getting to be kids,” he said.
The fact that the season took place at all is a win in Carey’s book, but it’s not a guarantee that it will be in a great financial situation moving forward. The league’s concession stand sits past center field with yellow caution tape draped around its tables. The stand is closed as a necessary safety precaution and has caused the league to lose an important source of revenue.
Carey is hopeful that the league will continue to raise funds to make up for that shortcoming, but knows it still needs the community’s help.
“The other giant challenge this season has been running the league financially,” he said. “We fully depend on that concession stand to fund the league, to pay the umpires, to pay the electric and to buy uniforms. … We’ve had some really great donations. We’re still doing fundraisers. If people happen to see a fundraiser for Bellefonte Little League, try to help us out.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "‘It’s not easy, but worth it.’ Bellefonte Little League learning how to play ball amid pandemic."
