Gilmer High School baseball players hit the field for voluntary summer conditioning beginning last Monday, June 22.
Baseball was the final sport to take advantage of summer conditioning, which the Georgia High School Association opened to member schools June 8 following the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Through the first two weeks of conditioning, athletes were limited to weight training and running. Once the GHSA loosened its restrictions and baseball was permitted to use balls, gloves and bats, head coach Jeff Thurman thought it was the right time.
“When GHSA opened it up to allow for specific equipment, that’s when we decided to start doing some baseball,” he said. “We could have gotten them out here earlier in the month but all we would have been able to do is run and lift.
“For this time of the year, for baseball, I didn’t think that was going to benefit us a whole lot because we could’ve lifted for three weeks then dismissed them for the summer and then it’s like, ‘What have we really accomplished?’”
Baseball players met four days last week, and Thurman said about nine attended every day. The low turnout is due to GHSA restrictions.
Athletes are not permitted to change conditioning groups, which means baseball players who play other sports and started conditioning with football, wrestling or basketball two weeks prior must remain with those sports.
“Basically, this year it’s a situation where fall athletes have taken the priority,” said Thurman, who noted athletes are normally “shared” between sports during the summer months. “If an athlete plays football and baseball, they’ll just stick with football now and not worry about baseball. We’ve got about 10 or 11 who play both baseball and football and some of them are our key guys.”
Baseball is the only spring sport at GHS that holds practices during summer break. In a typical summer, the Bobcats would be on the field throughout June. They normally spend time conditioning, playing exhibitions and attending camps.
This summer, the Bobcats are limited to drills that require social distancing. While they can take batting practice, they cannot do so with both a catcher and a batter.
“The GHSA really wants us to maintain social distancing while we’re outside using baseball equipment. They’re letting us do that, but that’s about it,” Thurman said. “It’s a great opportunity for me to work on specific skills, give them a lot of reps and some one-on-one time that I typically wouldn’t be able to do with a traditional practice setting with the entire team. So, I’ve enjoyed the week.”
Thurman has placed an emphasis on defense and the Bobcats have worked on their arm strength.
“We’re primarily working on infield stuff because all of the guys out are infielders except for one,” he said. “We’ve been working on catching short hops, on backhands and footwork, as well as how to approach specific ground balls.”
This is the GHSA’s mandated dead week and no sports are permitted to hold athletic activities. Baseball conditioning will extend into next month.
“Normally we wouldn’t do any summer baseball in July,” Thurman said. “We’re going to try to this year. I feel like we just need field time since we missed out on half the season and we’re not able to do our normal thing in June.”