Tom Dodge
The city of Eunice has announced softball and baseball will return this summer to the Rec Complex.
According to Eunice Rec director Robert Johnson, the plans are to hold the summer leagues for ages 4 to 14 with the games starting around June 15.
The registration had reached over 600 players prior to the shutdown of all city rec facilities on March 31 due to the COVID 19 pandemic, Johnson stated.
“We sent out a return to play survey to determine who still wanted to participate and in which age groups,” he said.
“We now expect around 350 to 400 enrolled and we will issue refunds for those who chose not to participate,” he said.
For more information about the refund process, call the rec office at 305-0017.
“We will follow the state’s guidelines of social distancing and sanitization,” he said.
“It will be a challenge,” Johnson said. “But we are going to give it all we have and get through it.
“Hopefully some of the restrictions will loosen up and we can allow more people in the park at one time.”
The leagues will play Monday thru Thursday nights, using only two fields each for baseball and softball games and play two games per field per night.
“We will use fields opposite corners of the quad so the players and parents won’t be close to the other game,” he said, “Right now the regulations state no fans will be allowed to sit in the bleachers. So they will have to bring their own chairs and spread out along the foul lines and outfield fences.”
Restricting the fields per night will also limit the number of games play per league, the director said.
“If the state’s restrictions are lifted some along the way, then we can add more games for each team,” Johnson said.
The league play is expected to finish at the end of July.
Johnson said they didn’t consider raising the age limit to 17 to include any older high school players.
“A lot of those high school kids also play on travel ball teams over the summer,” he said. “But we have been asked to consider to add travel leagues on the nights we don’t play city rec games.
“But our top priority is to take care of our local community first,” he said.
Registration closes tonight, including a response from those who withdrew so that can get on the refund list.
“This next week will determine how many are in each age division,” he said. “That will help us know how many teams we need.”
Johnson said player evaluations, team selections and getting the uniforms is about a three-week process.
“We will follow the state’s guidelines as we discuss the rules on the field to avoid contact between players and teams,” Johnson said.
“Wearing masks for the players or fans is an option,” the director said. “But the fans will be required together as families.
“We are ready to see the games return,” Johnson said. “But if the restrictions get tougher, we will have to change directions.”