Baseball Contingency Planning March 16 2021 BASEBALL CONTINGENCY

Baseball Contingency Planning March 16, 2021

BASEBALL CONTINGENCY GROUP OSAA Staff on the webinar Tad Cockerill, OAOA - Oregon SRI – Baseball Russ Bolin, OADA – Roseburg HS (6 A) Howard Rub, OADA – Astoria HS (4 A) Kevin Moffatt, OADA – Kennedy HS (2 A) TJ Presley, OADA – Pilot Rock HS (2 A) John Arntson, OACA – Clackamas HS (6 A) Matt Kabza, OACA – Grant HS (6 A) Scot Mc. Donald, OACA – Crescent Valley HS (5 A) Mark Vidlak, OACA – Hidden Valley HS (4 A) Parker Mc. Kinley, OACA – La Grande HS (4 A) Bo De. Forest, OACA – La Pine HS (3 A) Dave York, OACA – Umpqua Valley Christian (1 A)

Goals: • To develop a set of recommendations that we can present to the OSAA Executive Board to help our membership schools with guidance and a comprehensive set of guidelines in the specific sport of baseball • We need to remember that we are dealing with 204 schools who offer baseball and are from all scopes, so we need to make it fairly simple (KISS method) Need to think Globally/Stately not Classification

OHA Contact Sport Designations: * Outdoor full-contact sports allowed in lower and moderate risk counties. Outdoor full-contact sports allowed for K-12 with submitted plan in high and extreme risk counties. Indoor full-contact sports remain prohibitive at this time. Training and conditioning cannot include full contact of any kind.

County Risk Levels:

What we know: • Rankings will not be used this year • Priority on regional/local play vs. League play (could mean the same for some areas) • Season 3 – April 5 – May 22 5 practices required before competitions 15 games • Transportation restrictions will be an issue.

What we know: • Season 2 is off and running 2 weeks completed! • Practice Limitation no Rule of 2, limited to 6 total hours per week, with no competitions • 3 weeks away from Baseball starting practices!

What we can anticipate: • Things are going to change (medically and legislatively) • Postponements and cancellations will most likely occur due to outbreaks. • Not every activity will look the same. • Potential travel restrictions (due to costs and availability). • Continued restrictions on group gathering sizes.

Baseball Modifications COVID: • Masks shall be worn at all times by all individuals in attendance. • Physical distancing measures shall be in place at all times other than when engaged in competition. • Sportsmanship is a key component, while physical contact of handshakes, fist-bumps, etc are not allowed, teams are encouraged to acknowledge their opponents in pregame and post game rituals with a physical distancing observance of the teams’ choosing.

Baseball Modifications COVID: • PITCHER: If a pitcher puts his/her hand in their mouth off the mound and touches the ball, “TIME” will be called, a new sanitized ball will be inserted into the game, and the pitcher must sanitize their hands before throwing the next pitch. • Physical distancing requirements must be observed by everyone in the dugout. If the dugout is not large enough to provide for physical distancing requirements, players and game personnel may move outside the immediate dugout area to practice physical distance requirements.

Baseball Modifications COVID: • If athletes cannot provide their own equipment, then it is recommended that equipment be sanitized between each use. • Each team will provide sanitized ball buckets while on defense, have a bucket for “dirty” balls that can be sanitized before being placed back in the game. Umpires will check game balls for proper stamps prior to the game, but then will not be responsible for touching the balls again throughout the game.

Baseball Modifications COVID: • No seeds, gum or spitting. • Coaches will not be allowed to enter into fair ball territory. If a coach wants to discuss a play with the umpire, they are to request time, go to the foul line nearest the umpire in question, and wait for the umpire to come within six feet to maintain physical distancing.

Meeting #5 Focus Question: • What is your current schedule? • District tournament? • Culminating Week • on going conversations with the OSAA Executive Board • Discussing challenges present Travel Regional play