Little league baseball returns

Published 7:45 am Thursday, June 25, 2020

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Baseball is back in Chambers County.

After delaying the season for more than three months, little league baseball will start at the Valley Sportsplex on Thursday.

“I’m just glad to have something going on,” Valley Parks and Recreation Athletic Director Mark Hudman said.

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Teams started practicing on June 16, holding practice two days a week.

This summer there are three total teams, one in the 10 through 12-year-old age group, and two in the 7 through 9-year-old age group.

“It just seems like most people in the Valley are past this. Getting the late start, they made up their minds that they had other things to do,” Hudman said. “A lot of our kids here locally play travel ball, so that took a little interest over rec ball. We reached out to everybody just to find interest. We found enough to do what we’re going to do.”

The 10 to 12-year-old age will play a team from Beulah on Thursday and the 7 to 9-year-old age group will play one another.

Both games will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, opening the season that will finish at the end of July.

On May 28, the Sportsplex released information on the different health regulations, which include spectators and participants must wear masks when not participating in the game.  Players must also bring their own drinks and everyone will be screened before entering the facility. The full list of guidelines is on the Valley Sportsplex Facebook.

The Sportsplex will also have a baseball tournament sanctioned by the Baseball Player’s Association. Roughly 80 teams will participate in the tournament.

The tournament will be split between the Valley Sportsplex and fields in the Opelika and Auburn areas.

“We should have a park full both Saturday and Sunday,” Hudman said.

Saturday will be pool play, where every team will play two games to get seeding in order for Sunday. The seeding will determine which bracket the teams will be placed in for Sunday’s single-elimination games. There will be four championship games in Valley.

Teams from Georgia, Valley, Opelika and Auburn will participate in the tournament.