When the Rochelle Hub baseball team finally takes the field to start the 2020-21 season, players and coaches will be nearly two years removed from their last varsity game. After seeing the 2019-20 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, players have been practicing over the summer and fall to stay ready for when baseball returns next summer.
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ROCHELLE — When the Rochelle Hub baseball team finally takes the field to start the 2020-21 season, players and coaches will be nearly two years removed from their last varsity game. After seeing the 2019-20 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, players have been practicing over the summer and fall to stay ready for when baseball returns next summer.
The Rochelle baseball team is one of several athletic programs at the high school that have been using their 20 fall contact days allotted by the IHSA to bring players and coaches together for in-person workouts. Head coach Jarrod Reynolds said players have been practicing hitting, fielding and throwing over the last two months to stay sharp as athletics shift indoors.
“It’s been nice to get out and do some baseball activities,” Reynolds said. “We’re focusing on the basics right now as far as improving our arm strength and our hitting. We’ve really encouraged the kids to stay active a few times a week and we feel that consistency over a long period of time will make a difference. It can be as minimal as picking up a baseball and throwing it. The biggest thing with our kids will be keeping their arms in shape and practicing their hitting.”
With traditional fall sports like football, boys soccer and girls volleyball being postponed until the spring, baseball and other traditional spring sports have been pushed back to an unconventional summer season beginning April 19, 2021. There will be several new faces when the Hub varsity team takes the field, as many of the freshmen and sophomores from the 2018-19 season are now upperclassmen who will be competing for various starting positions around the diamond.
“We’re going to see what we’ll be allowed to do over the winter,” Reynolds said. “We really emphasize that our kids get into the weight room and get stronger… Any sort of throwing our kids can do will help also, whether it’s at home or during travel baseball practices. We’ll be in good shape as a program if we can continue to develop big, strong kids with good arms.”
