MERIDIAN, Idaho — While many sporting events have been canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some are slowly starting to pick up again.
Gov. Brad Little recently announced Idaho is now in Stage 4 of reopening, which allows larger groups and gatherings.
Now, some Treasure Valley baseball players are once again taking the field.
The Meridian Youth Baseball & Softball hosts a tournament at Settlers Park each year and is normally part of the annual Meridian Dairy Days celebration.
But this year, the tournament has been renamed "The Colin Mathews Memorial Tournament" in honor of a former player from the league who passed away from leukemia just a few weeks ago. Mathews was 17 years old.
The name change isn't the only thing different with this year's tournament.
"We've spent a lot of time looking at how we can do our due diligence," said Jake Hines, president of Meridian Youth Baseball. "I feel like we have gone above and beyond to try to make sure that our protocols are in place and we are doing our part to make sure we're keeping the competition and giving the kids an opportunity to play baseball and get outside but also doing our best to try and protect them."
Some of those protocols include limiting the number of spectators, putting up signage encouraging social distancing, providing a lot of hand sanitizer, and making sure equipment is clean.
"I would reckon, be willing to bet, we've gone through 500 baseballs because we're replacing them every game," Hines said.
They're also taking other precautions like limiting the number of players in the dugout at one time and allowing more time between games.
"One of the things as well we tried to do is spread the games out 30 minutes to allow for teams to leave before the next team comes on the field," Hines said.
At the end of each game, rather than shaking hands, players are tipping their caps to each other.
The players, who range from 9 to 15 years old, have noticed the precautions as well.
"We have to gel before we take the field and before we go up to bat and we have to stay six feet apart and only three in the dugout at a time and we don't use each other's equipment," said 14-year-old Dylan Brown.
The tournament hosts 85 to 90 teams, including some from out-of-state, which Hines said they also took into account when planning. Plans for safety protocols and precautions for the tournament were given to the City of Meridian as well.
As for the players themselves, they're just happy to be back to playing the sport they love.
"It's amazing," Brown said. "From sitting at home all day to getting out here, it's phenomenal."
Ryan Collins, a 12-year-old player, said he's really missed being able to play.
"Yeah I feel great," he said. "It's definitely awesome to be back on the field and play baseball from this rough time.
"[It's] really fun to see all these teams coming together from the valley and Washington and Oregon," he added. "It's just a great time."
Facts not fear: More on coronavirus
See our latest updates in our YouTube playlist: