We are excited to announce that we have cleared all necessary hurdles and are officially moving forward with a summer 2020 rec season! There are many unique particulars to outline as you make you decision to finalize your registration.
Registration:
All existing registrations have had a balance added to their account. Please log in and make payment to complete registration. IMPORTANT - Click on my Accounti n the top right, scroll to the bottom and find the "pay now" button to make payment. Do NOT go into edit registration as that will double the cost.
We appreciate those who pre-registered to allow us to plan and gauge interest, and were given the early bird rate. Any registrations still to come will pay a slightly higher rate.
We plan to close registration at the end of the day Monday 6/15. We hope to have payments by then as well. We do not plan on accepting late registrations.
If you pre-registered and do NOT intend to play, please let your appropriate commissioner know to delete the registration
At some point TBD shortly after 6/15, we will have to delete unpaid registrations so we can get our final participant list and move forward with season plans.
Estimated Timing of Season:
We anticipate the regular season will run 7/6 thru 8/9.
End of season tournaments (CP, Minors & Majors) will be held 8/10 thru 8/16.
Allstars is not yet determined and may vary by league.
Coaches meetings will likely be late next week or early the following, 6/17-23 range. Coaches meeting may be held by zoom and will be mandatory this year.
Preseason practices will likely be 6/22 thru 7/2.
Total number of games will be comparable to a normal season.
Because of the uncertainty of access to school fields, in-season practices may be less than usual.
Equipment:
In order to be able to play this year, we had to almost completely eliminate any shared equipment.
This means each player is required to have their own helmet. Helmets are available at many different places online or at local sporting goods stores ranging from $10-30.
For this year, we will implement the Tee ball model for the 7-8 coach pitch league and not use catcher’s equipment and instead have a player with helmet standing to the side in the backstop.
For Minors & Majors, each team will be given a full set of catcher’s gear to use throughout the season. Each game, shuffling of players in and out of the catcher position should be limited or eliminated. In times where a catcher change is necessary within a game and no 2nd set is available, the equipment will need to be wiped down and/or sprayed before the new catcher puts on the gear.
Umpires:
For Minors & Majors, we will have just one umpire per game.
The umpire will be standing 6 feet behind the pitcher to umpire the game. Base coaches will assist with fair/foul calls. No shared protective equipment will be needed.
Social Distancing:
All spectators are expected to maintain 6 feet of social distance, except among family members of the same household. Families are encouraged to limit the number of attendees and are asked to bring their own chairs.
Spectators should stay 6 feet from the backstop and benches and never enter the dugout or field of play.
When not on the field of play, players are also expected to maintain 6 feet of social distance and some players will have to be outside the dugout.
A full “no touch” rule among all coaches and players - No high fives, handshakes and other physical contact other than any natural contact that may occur in the field of play.
We have more detailed protocols outlined that will be provided and discussed as we ready for the season, but the above summarized protocols should provide an idea of what things will look like this season. As you can see, some things will be different off the field. The good news is the product on the field will largely be business as usual. While we intend to communicate and implement these protocols with all of our coaches and take them seriously, it is important for all participants to understand that some things are difficult to control when kids are involved and the implementation can not and will not be perfect.
Thank you all for your patience and interest. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the baseball field!
We have been working with the WYB board, Worthington Parks & Rec, and the Worthington School District to set a plan in place for the 2020 season. We had previously held off opening registrations, then chose to open without payment but did not openly advertise and solicit registrations.
While we can normally predict our registration levels in traditional years, the unique circumstances surrounding COVID-19 make that much more unpredictable. As we are working thru plans and protocols, we have determined it would be helpful to get a good idea of the interest level in playing this summer so we can use that information in outlining a plan. Having a closer estimate of registration levels will help us determine equipment needs, field needs, range of dates needed, and so on.
We are asking all those interested to go ahead and register for the 2020 season. Because we still cannot guarantee a season will be held, we are still not collecting any fees. We would like to have an estimate by Monday to be able to finalize plans. Registering does not bind you to eventually playing, and we will add the fee owed if and when a season plan is finalized and approved by all parties.
As protocols and details are still being developed, we cannot give you some of the details that may help determine if you are interested in playing. We can tell you that our plan will follow the Governor’s guidelines for baseball. In summary, game play on the field will look mostly normal, but things off the field will look different. Cost is not yet finalized but will likely be comparable to previous seasons. If interested in playing, please click on Register Online and register for the appropriate program.
As many of you heard, the Governor's office announced re-opening of parks and non-contact sports on May 26th. We are very excited for this development. However, we want to caution you that this is the first step of many that need addressed. We will be working with both the city park & rec department and the schools regarding when we can access fields. We also need to review the forthcoming guidelines from the Governor's office and discuss many particulars.
We hope to work thru these items as quickly as possible and have details on our plans in the coming days. In the meantime, we will be opening registration up without payment initially, and then adding payment if and when all the hurdles are cleared and season plans are finalized. We will keep you posted along the way.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, WYB will hold off on accepting registrations for the 2020 summer season until we gain some clarity on the timeline of public gatherings being acceptable and appropriate.
Currently, following the lead of Worthington Schools, it appears no WYB activities will occur before May 1st. The best case scenario would be to return shortly after that date and the baseball season would not be disrupted. If and when the date gets pushed back, we will adjust and respond accordingly. Until then, please stay safe and play lots of catch in the backyard!
For many years, WYB has only allowed bats with barrels no larger than 2 ¼ inches, regardless of their certification. In 2018, USA Baseball (the prevailing organization over baseball in the US) came out with new bat standards and in the 2 years since, many leagues have adopted their standards. As a result, 2 ¼” bats are getting harder and harder to find. The USA baseball standards are centered around making metal bats behave like wooden bats.
Adding to the confusion, there is still a separate set of bat standards referred to as USSSA or 1.15 BPF. These bats are still allowed in many travel leagues including the league which the Worthington Nationals play in. These bats are designed for optimum performance and provide more power than the USA bats. There is also something called “BBCOR .5” but that relates to High School & College standards.
Beginning this upcoming 2020 season, WYB will allow USA Baseball “big barrel” bats to be used in our rec leagues. For at least 2020, we will continue to allow USSSA 2 ¼” bats, however the larger USSSA big barrel bats will continue to not be allowed in WYB. These standards will apply to all divisions within WYB.
To summarize the main takeaway, we will now allow big barrels with the USA Baseball stamp, however it is important everyone understands you may NOT use big barrels with the USSSA 1.15 BPF stamp. You will see a lot of these bats at stores or available used from friends and neighbors who played travel. All 2 ¼” barrel bats will continue to be allowed as in the past.
WYB is currently not planning to have a Pony 13-15 league for spring/summer 2020. The numbers for this league have been low and integrated with NCIL Pony League. We plan to allow 13 year olds to play in WYB Majors making it a 11-13 league. This will ensure everyone has a place to play baseball thru 7th grade, after which school sponsored teams begin in 8th grade. We are currently investigating options for referring any 14-15 year olds looking for a rec league and hope to provide a nearby option.
For the fall league, we are hoping to run 2 separate kid pitch divisions next fall, a Minors 9-10 and Majors 11-13. We have previously had one combined kid pitch league for 9-12, which was born out of necessity with lower numbers in the fall. Our numbers are up enough that we think this breakout is possible in 2020, especially with adding 13 year olds to give them a fall ball opportunity.
Through the link at the top of this page (Documents) you can access several key documents: WYB Coaching Principles, an umpire application, information about umpire training, three codes of conduct, one each for parents, players and coaches, and a list of approved composite bats. Please familiarize yourself with the documents that are relevant to you. WYB expects all coaches, players and family members to conduct themselves appropriately at all WYB events. We are all role models for every child we encounter.
Please visit each division for specific information about that division. Various documents relevant to each division will be available there.
The WYB Baseball Program is looking for dedicated volunteers to help us enhance our program. Please contact us at
if you can help and thank you in advance!
