The College baseball season was canceled earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is a strong sense that the game will in fact return sooner than later.
A recent report from D1Baseball.com, stated that college baseball will back in early June with a 4-team tournament on schedule. The college baseball regular season is over, but this event will be considered in the category of “summer ball”.
The 4-team tournament, Collegiate Summer Baseball Invitational (CSBI), will be held June 4-6 in Bryan, Texas and will consist of collegiate players from across the country.
The CSBI will be pulling players from colleges such as Texas Tech, Texas, Texas A&M, Penn State, Texas State, Dayton, McNeese State and Kansas. Many more collegiate programs will be entering their players in the tournament as more details will be announced.
The big question is with the pandemic currently active, “How will the tournament keep players, coaches and umpires safe?”
The tournament, which has been verified and approved by health officials, will have several safety precautions in place to ensure safety in all members.
Players, coaches and umpires will be arriving to Bryan, Texas a few days prior to play to receive COVID-19 tests. Once all tests (hopefully) return as negative, players, coaches and umpires will be quarantined in a local hotel for the entire duration of the tournament.
All team members and umpires will not be allowed to leave the hotel unless they are being shuttled to or from the ballpark.
What if a player/umpire tests positive for COVID-19?
If this is the case, CSBI officials will preform mandatory daily temperature checks and various other tests to ensure the safety of the individual player and others.
If executed smoothly, this tournament could be the spark that ignites the baseball world back into resurgence across the nation. This plan certainly isn’t perfect, but it’s a start.
Baseball is (almost) back!
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