And they’re wasting no time hitting the field.
The provincial government announced that outdoor sports could return to playing games as part of Phase 1 of the current re-opening plan on May 30, and with that in mind, many MJDMGF teams will be seeing actual competition beginning Monday evening.
The youngest age groups will be the first to hit the field as part of the official schedule -- teams had been practicing in the approved groups of eight prior to the announcement -- with the Learn to Play (Under-6) Vipers practicing on Diamond 5 at Optimist Park, the Mini-Mites (U8) seeing the Purple Martins practice at 6 p.m. and Angels at 7 p.m. on Diamond 6 and the Mites (U10) playing the first game of the season between the Slammers and Galaxy at 6 p.m. on Diamond 4.
The older divisions will get to work later in the evening, as the Squirt (U12) division will see the Blue Jays take on the Renegades at 6:30 p.m. on Diamond 3 along with the Davidson Red Sox facing the Comets at the same time at the Western Development Museum Diamond 2. That game comes with a special warning for parking in the area, as field conditions surrounding the diamonds aren’t suitable for vehicles and could lead to cars getting stuck.
Back at Optimist, the Pee Wee (U14) division will open with the Blazers facing the Warriors at 6:30 p.m. on Diamond 2 and the Bantam Midget (U16/19) division will see the Firecrackers play the Shadow at 6:30 p.m. on Diamond 1 as well the Invaders duelling the Havoc at 8:30 p.m.
As was the case last season, teams are asked to review and follow COVID-19 protocols in order to keep everyone safe as possible.
For a look at the full schedule for each division, click on their respective links right here: Learn to Play, Mini-Mites, Mites, Squirt, Pee Wee, Bantam/Midget.
