Softball team starts workouts

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Softball team starts workouts

Fri, 06/12/2020 - 13:26
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Body

While Wildcat football players will begin official workouts on Monday, the Lady Cats softball team started working out at its West MIddle School field this week.

Softball Coach Daniel Wood has divided his team into two parts and is holding one session for each on a daily basis.

“We have an offensive drill and a defensive drill each day,” he said. “One day involves a session where our infielders have defensive practice and another session where our outfielders hit. Then the next day we just flip flop the two.”

He said the players gather for the first session at 9:30 a.m. and the session runs one hour. There is an hour break between the sessions and the coaches are busy cleaning and sanitizing before the next workout.

“We sanitize the dugout, screens, nets, pitching machines, equipment, anything they touch,” Wood said.

The softball team is following guidelines handed down by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association and Ponca City Public Schools. The Phase I guidelines went into effect June 8 and involve strict social distancing and intensive equipment and facilities sanitizing. Phase I runs until July 15 when unrestricted practicing will be permitted. Phase I was extended a week this week when the OSSAA board voted to eliminate the annual dead week during which no practices or workouts were allowed.

Wood said that the softball players will begin one-hour sessions in the weight room next Monday in addition to the morning offensive and defensive drills. All athletes at Po-Hi must have a physical before they can participate in any team practice sessions.

The Lady Cats also will participate in the Perry Summer League for several games, as they have done in recent years, during Phase I.

“There will be no school district transportation involved,” Wood said about the participation in Perry. “The girls will drive themselves to the games and social distancing will be in force during the games. They won’t be able to give one another high fives. They have been giving each other air high fives during practice.”

The Lady Cats’ official seaason is scheduled to begin Aug. 10 with a threeway event featuring Chandler and Blackwell.