If high school baseball does make its return to the sports scene this season, Noxapater head coach Zach Kemp said teams will need at least a week to get ready.
“You are going to have some kids who haven’t touched a baseball,” he said. With the earliest public schools in the state can possibly resumé’s being Monday, April 20, that would likely mean games would not resume until at least Saturday, April 25.
When and if games do resume it will be imperative to play mostly region games in order to determine the qualifiers for the MHSAA Class 1A State Baseball playoffs. Usually the schools play a round-robin format, playing each school in the region at home and away. With five teams in Noxapater’s region — Nanih Waiya, Ethel, French Camp and McAdams — that would mean at least eight games would need to be played.
Without athletes being able to practice as a team, or on campus, it has limited some in their ability to prepare to return should the season resume. The lack of practice highlights one of Kemp’s biggest concerns with his team — defensive play. “We have really improved hitting the ball and the pitching has been good, but we just haven’t fielded the ball well,” he said. “And that requires a lot of practice.”
One of the players that has really stood out early in the season for the 0-4 Tigers is junior left fielder Landon Bailey.
“Over the spring break he was 5-for-6 at the plate,” Kemp said. “He was really starting to figure it out.”
