Will Kirsch-Rooney, Legion be allowed to ‘play ball’?

As Louisiana awaits the approval of Gov. John Bel Edwards to lift the stay-at-home order aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the state chairman of American Legion baseball is setting the stage for an abbreviated season during the summer.
    

“As of now, June 1 is our starting date,” said Sidney Parfait, who has been part of the summer activity for high school-aged baseball players for three decades. “Hopefully, by May 20, at the latest, players will begin to practice for seven to 10 days before we start the season.”
    

The state chairman said teams from Jesuit, Brother Martin, Holy Cross, Archbishop Rummel and Archbishop Shaw and St. Tammany Parish schools are prepared to begin the summer league. The other schools he named were Archbishop Hannan, Pope John Paul II and Lakeshore. He also included teams from the River Parish areas.
    

“I’m not worried about placing teams in districts right now,” Parfait said. “I will try to make things as even as possible, but no schedules have been made yet.”
    

Parfait added that he is talking to coaches from other area schools. As of May 4, he had not received a confirmation from De La Salle High school officials.
    

Kirsch-Rooney Stadium, adjacent to the Delgado Community College campus, is the recognized home of the First District. Delgado athletic director and head baseball coach Joe Scheuermann has maintained the field through the winter and spring months to prepare for a potential summer season. It is in pristine condition.
    

Although American Legion baseball on a national scale has been canceled for 2020, Parfait wants to have an abbreviated season.
    

“We’re waiting for the governor to tell us when or if we can play,” he said last month, noting that “the coaches in New Orleans want this, especially for the seniors who were denied a final year of high school eligibility (by the outbreak of the pandemic).”
    

Since Legion baseball is located in New Orleans – an area of the state that has been hit hardest by the COVID-19 virus – New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell may not allow athletics to continue during the current phase of mitigation. She has stated her concerns that restaurants and other places where people gather may be reopening prematurely.
    

If that’s the case for a summer baseball program, Kirsch-Rooney Stadium may have to remain shuttered, even though Parfait said plans are that the games would be played without spectators. Other area stadiums might be available to the district, including John Ryan Stadium, owned by Jesuit High School and located in Jefferson Parish. Mike Miley Stadium on West Metairie Avenue is another possible site.
    

Parfait and local high school baseball coaches are making plans for a season nonetheless.
    

New Orleans has played a historic role in the development of American Legion baseball on a national scale. Five local teams have won the Little World Series championships.
    

The first came in 1932, when the S.J. Peters-based Zatarain Papooses won the city’s first title. Jesuit teams won in 1946, 1960 and in 2012, and an Archbishop Rummel squad, sponsored by Nationwide Restoration, was the national champion in 2006.
    

This year will make just the second time that the American Legion World Series will not be played since 1927. But baseball in New Orleans hopes to play on.
    

Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].