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Despite the circumstances, Clarksville Orioles safely play ball in summer 2020




The Clarksville Orioles pose with their 2019 Orioles Classic trophy.SUBMITTED

The Clarksville Orioles pose with their 2019 Orioles Classic trophy.SUBMITTED

During this COVID-19 altered summer, there have been no organized sports in Montgomery County since the virus’ outbreak in mid-March…

…or have there been?

Turns out, the Clarksville Orioles, a travel baseball team based in the city, has been competing throughout June and will continue to do so barring something unforeseen.

When the pandemic began, the organization asked their families to put payments on hold and shut down operations. But once Gov. Bill Lee approved sports teams to come back in a limited capacity, the wheels began to turn for return to the diamond.

“We were in a fortunate position to have the use of Clarksville Academy’s complexes,” said Jared Hill, the team’s director of baseball operations. “They don’t fall under the same guidelines as Clarksville Montgomery County Schools.

“When the governor started opening up some things, it was a rat race to try and go ahead and get everything situated and played out. We’re still dealing with some of that.”

The Orioles were established in 1995 and have sent over 300 players through their team into college organizations and 14 into the major leagues with teams for kids aged nine to 17. They understood that, had the summer been lost, their mission to get young men into the next levels could have been massively impacted.

League parents understood the circumstances too and were given the option to opt out of the season, but Hill said that nobody in the organization chose to sit out the season.

“Everybody was encouraged to hear the news that we would move forward with what we were doing,” Hill said. “I would say there’s been a few more elderly people that have chosen to stay home, but we’ve just been encouraging all teams that we play against to stay on top of ‘If you don’t feel well, stay at home’ type thing.”

As of now, there have been no reports of players getting sick.

With athletic participation differing by the community, the Orioles have had some tournaments canceled, leaving them to decide how to move forward when a previously scheduled event disappears.

In some cases, they have welcomed the tournaments into Clarksville Academy and taken on the host role. At other points, tournaments – especially in Nashville – have been canceled and instead of taking the weekend off, the team has traveled as far as Memphis to play.

“I feel that baseball’s been a good thing,” Hill said. “We know that staying outside, staying active, staying healthy is a good thing for people no matter what. I think it’s been a pretty good thing for people to get out, enjoy the outdoors. It’s just been a healthy thing with everything that’s going on. It’s been a breath of fresh air for a lot of people.”

There has been a silver lining to the uniqueness of the summer, too. With a handful of businesses still closed and work-from-home mandates, more parents have been able to make time to see their kids play when they otherwise may not have been able to.

Whether the Orioles will be looked back on as one of the pioneers in the return of sports in 2020 or a taste at what could have been remains to be seen, but those involved are grateful for the opportunity to keep the game they love moving forward.

 

 

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