Summer Practices Begin for Hermantown Baseball Players

The VFW team hopes to be playing games when the next phase of restrictions is lifted on June 15th.

HERMANTOWN, Minn. – After months of waiting and wondering if we’ll ever see sports again, organized youth activities return this week for local baseball teams in the Northland.

Members of the Hermantown VFW and American Legion baseball teams jump on the diamond for the first time this season. Players say after what happened with the spring season, they are overjoyed to be back out.

“We want to play so bad. We look forward to it every year. As soon as the season is over, we look forward to playing again. It was kind of a bummer to not be able to play in the spring. And now, we have summer baseball and we are so ready to play,” said third baseman Brayden Frey.

“We kind of knew that there was something kind of getting going. We didn’t know when it was going to come or how things were going to play out. Just being able to be out on the field right now and practice so far, it’s huge for us and we’re having fun with it,” pitcher Nolan Ruprecht said.

The teams received approval from the city to be able to hold practices, as long as they followed strict guidelines on social distancing, including having masks in their pocket to put on when they get into large groups.

“We hand-sanitize before we get here and before we leave. We disinfect the balls after every practice. And most importantly, we keep them out of the dugout. That’s where you can get a lot of people in a small area. Keeping them outside of the dugout and keeping them in the field and spread out. That allows us to maintain social distancing while keeping the kids safe,” said VFW coach Tate Hansen.

If all goes well, the VFW team hopes to be playing games when the next phase of restrictions is lifted on June 15th.