May 2021 Newsletter

How COVID protocols will affect college baseball's postseason

In the grand scheme of things, the 2021 college baseball season has been about as normal as it could be in a world that has been anything but normal for more than a year.

Yes, there have been a multitude of cancellations and postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some teams have not played as many games as others. Some national powers have struggled, and upstarts have risen, just as happens in every season.

But as normal as the games have looked on the field, the NCAA baseball postseason will look anything but normal. Not only has the process changed to select host sites, but those teams lucky enough to be selected as hosts will have to deal with capacity limits recommended by the NCAA.

Instead of packed stadiums for the home team, only half the stadium will be full, and that’s not guaranteed to be completely full of home fans. Homefield advantage may not be as big for some teams as it has been in the past, and a handful of teams will have to deal with reduced capacity for the postseason after opening their stadium up 100 percent for part or most of the regular season, causing those athletic department and ticket office staffs some logistical nightmares.

Which leads to the next question — what, exactly, will the postseason look like? Let’s take a deeper look.

Selection process

While there will be postseason baseball to finish the 2021 season, it will look a bit different. The NCAA has mandated 50 percent capacity limitations on all stadiums for all postseason games, including the College World Series. That means for many schools used to drawing sellout crowds during regionals and Super Regionals, like Mississippi State — seen here during the 2019 Starkville Regional, the stands will look somewhat empty. Credit: Mississippi State Athletics.

The NCAA announced in early April that the selection process for the 2021 NCAA tournament would go a bit differently, and the biggest effect it had was that schools had to not only submit their bids early, but that teams needed to build their resumes as much as possible before the month ended.

In April, the NCAA announced that the 16 regional host sites would be decided the week of May 10, a full three weeks before selection day and more than two weeks before sites are normally announced. The reasoning behind this early announcement date, the NCAA said, was to ensure each school that submitted a bid could be thoroughly vetted and certified in terms of providing a COVID-19-free environment.

But not only will the regional round occur at predetermined sites, so will the Super Regional round, which is normally determined by the highest seed between two regional site winners who are paired together when the full 64-team bracket is announced. And the 16 Super Regional sites will be the 16 regional host sites named, so, theoretically, a host school eliminated in the regional round could host a Super Regional as a neutral site.

This essentially nullifies the prestige of being a Top 16 seed, which more often than not plays as a huge homefield advantage.

In a memo sent to NCAA coaches and administrators, the logistics of the selection process were laid out. The Miami Hurricane website obtained a copy of that memo:

“Part of the health and safety protocols for NCAA championships this year was to change to predetermined sites for all sports,” the memo said. “In order to fully prepare for COVID-19 testing procedures and protocols, more than a week is needed to prepare the site including certification as a testing site and also to confirm testing personnel from the testing provider. A minimum of three weeks is necessary to ensure that the site will be functioning efficiently. For the 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball and Softball Championships, preliminary-round sites (regionals and super regionals) will be predetermined.”

According to Kendall Rogers at D1Baseball, the selection committee decided in late April to announce the top 20 host sites the week of May 10 instead of the actual 16 regional/Super Regional host sites. The committee will cut that number to 16 on the night before the NCAA selection show, scheduled for Monday, May 31, allowing more teams to compete for host sites.

This also allows teams to continue to build their resumes through the end of the regular season and into conference postseason tournaments. At least that part of the season remains somewhat normal, now.

Those 20 schools – Arizona, Arkansas, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida, Gonzaga, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Southern Mississippi, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt – were announced on May 14. Four of those schools will be eliminated when the 16 final sites are announced in a little over a week.

COVID protocols

On April 30, the NCAA COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group issued its recommendations regarding testing, vaccinations, quarantining, masking and social distancing for the NCAA spring championships. The policy went into effect on May 1.

Tier 1 individuals – those at the highest risk for exposure, including student-athletes, team travel parties and officials, who are fully vaccinated – may be exempt from routine testing during championships. The Centers for Disease Control considers someone fully vaccinated if he or she is two weeks removed from having received the single-dose vaccine or the second of two doses of the two-dose vaccine.

Fully vaccinated student-athletes and other Tier 1 individuals with no COVID-19-like symptoms will not be required to quarantine, be restricted from work or get tested after exposure to someone with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.

However, the NCAA will continue to enforce its policy on masking and physical distancing at championships, except for student-athletes or officials during competition or practice.

Seating capacity

The NCAA also announced in April it is recommending that all sites selected to host a regional or Super Regional limit fan capacity for games to 50 percent, which will cause consternation for some programs.

On April 28, LSU announced it would allow 100 percent capacity at Alex Box Stadium after Gov. John Bel Edwards lifted the state’s mask mandate later that day. In March, Texas Tech followed suit after Gov. Greg Abbott announced, in Lubbock, that the state’s mask mandate would be lifted, and businesses could return to 100 percent capacity. Mississippi State and Ole Miss have been near full capacity for most of the season as well.

The NCAA, however, recommends that schools still limit capacity for fans, which could lead to some stadiums that are normally packed to the gills for postseason games looking relatively empty.

“The NCAA will allow up to 50 percent fan capacity for its 2021 outdoor spring championships and Division I fall championships being held in the spring, based on recommendations from the NCAA COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group,” the NCAA said in a news release posted on its website. “Exact capacity percentages will vary by site, depending on state and local health mandates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Championships hosted in cities and states that do not allow spectators or where the site is deemed to lack the capacity for spectators from a health and safety standpoint will allow only essential personnel within the competition venue.”

The 50 percent capacity limit would exist not only for the regionals and Super Regionals but would extend to the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. That means roughly only 12,000 fans would be able to attend an event that packs the park every night, regardless of the teams playing, and draws hundreds of thousands of fans to the epicenter of the Midwest for 10 days every year.

“My assumption is unless something goes dramatically south, there will be fans in the stands,” Roger Dixon, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority of Omaha told the Omaha World-Herald. “To what percentage would be a guess on my part. Since it’s outdoors, it could be 50 percent. If it was our call, it would be something (more).”

So, while a regular season that, on the surface at least, has looked as normal as possible comes to a close, the postseason will be anything but. But it could be worse.

It could be 2020 with no baseball at all. This, at least, is progress.

Artifact of the Month

Florida Atlantic catcher Caleb Pendleton started his freshman season with quite a bang on Feb. 20, hitting two grand slam home runs in one inning in his collegiate debut. Not only that, he hit those grand slams in his first two plate appearances of the season, according to USAToday.com.

Pendleton’s grand slams were part of a 12-run second inning for the Owls. FAU went on to defeat Central Florida, 20-15.

FAU head coach John McCormack said Pendleton’s debut was an amazing way for the freshman to start his season.

"Unbelievable, I've never seen it. You'd have to look at some record books,” McCormack said in an FAU news release. “He hit the first one, then it lines up and the guys were talking about. (Outfielder) Bobby Morgensen was sitting next to me and says, 'this is not really gonna happen again,' and sure enough it happened. And it turns out that we needed (the runs)."

Where Are They Now

Jedd Gyorko, shortstop, West Virginia

Gyorko, who won the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award in 2010 after a stellar junior season at West Virginia, recently was named the manager for the West Virginia Black Bears, which begin their inaugural season in the MLB Draft League on Monday, May 24.

He will be the fifth manager since the team began in 2015, according to The Dominion Post of Charleston, West Virginia.

“It’s only fitting to have someone who has meant so much to baseball in our region lead our hometown team in our first year in the MLB Draft League,” said Matt Drayer, general manager of the Black Bears, according to the Post. “From his record-breaking performances at WVU to his great success at the game’s highest stage, Jedd played the game the right way and will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to lead our young squad of MLB hopefuls.”

Gyorko was selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2010 draft. He finished sixth in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2013. He also played parts of four seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and spent the COVID-shortened 2020 season with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Gyorko said he’s looking forward to this opportunity to help young players.

“I am hoping to provide our young players with experiences and give them knowledge on what the next level will look like and hopefully prepare them for successful careers,” Gyorko said, according to the Post. “I am thankful for the opportunity and look forward to gaining managerial experience, especially in my hometown, where I’ll be able to spend more time with my family.”

Inductee Spotlight

Ralph Garr, second base, Grambling State, 1964-67, Inducted 2013

Career Highlights:

As a freshman in 1964, Garr made only 21 plate appearances for the Tigers. However, in his final three years in school, he was the team’s leading hitter each year.
In 1967, his .582 average not only led Grambling by a wide margin, but also topped the entire NAIA and NCAA Division II. Going into the 2013 college season, Garr still held the Division II record for highest batting average in a season.
Also set a record with his 11 triples in 1967
During Garr’s career at Grambling, teams went 103-11
In 1967, Grambling won 33 of its 34 regular season games and finished third at the annual NAIA baseball championship.
Compiled a career .418 batting average
Named a first-team NAIA All-American in 1967
Selected by the Atlanta Braves in the third round of that year’s Major League Baseball draft (the 52nd player overall)

Did you know:

After being drafted by the Braves in 1967, he played with the team for seven season and won a National League batting title in 1974. That year also saw Garr’s teammate and longtime friend, Hank Aaron, set the home-run record.

“Give him credit for me winning the batting title,” Garr said in a January interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “(Pitchers) were thinking about him and weren’t paying any attention to me.”

Garr spoke to the publication about his friend of 50 years following Aaron’s death.

“Hank Aaron was a great baseball player, but he was an even better human being,” Garr, now 75, told the publication. “If you notice, he never did talk bitter toward anybody. Now, I think he had a right to say some things, but he never did talk negative about anybody that ever played before or after him. He has always been a guy who was positive about everything. That’s what he taught (former teammate) Dusty (Baker) and me: If you can’t help somebody, don’t hurt nobody.”

Garr was first called up to the Braves in September 1968. He split time during the next two seasons between the Braves and the minor leagues, according to AJC.com.

In 1974, he hit .353 with 11 home runs, 54 RBI and 26 stolen bases. He also had 214 hits and 17 triples. Those numbers secured him the 1974 league batting title.

“I came up (nicknamed) as the ‘Road Runner,’ and the Braves advertised that for a while,” Garr told AJC.com. “But when Mr. Aaron was batting third, you didn’t need (a lot of stolen bases) because he could drive you in from first base pretty good, too.”

The Braves traded Garr in 1975. He went on to play for the Chicago White Sox and California Angels before ending his career in 1980.

Garr has worked as a scout for the Braves organization for 37 years. He told the Journal-Constitution he owes that to Aaron as well.

“I have enjoyed every minute of it,” Garr told AJC.com. “I was able to watch (Tom) Glavine and (John) Smoltz and Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones and all those wonderful ballplayers come up through the Braves organization. It has been a wonderful experience for me and my family. It all started because Hank Aaron called me, and I went down there to the winter meetings as a friend and ended up being hired.”

News and Notes

May 8 was a notable day for college baseball pitchers across the country with three of them throwing no-hitters.

Oklahoma State second-year freshman right-hander Justin Campbell, who is on the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award watch and Pitcher of the Year semifinalist lists, threw a complete-game, no-hitter in a 19-0 victory against the Kansas Jayhawks at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kans. Campbell walked only one batter – in the eighth inning – and struck out 11.

Campbell became only the third Cowboys pitcher in school history to throw a nine-inning no-hitter, and the first since Bob Richardson in 1968, according to Oklahoma State Athletics.

Hartford senior Nicholas Dombrowski threw a nine-inning no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against Albany. The Hawks beat the Great Danes, 4-0, after falling 3-2 in the first game of the twin bill. It was the school’s second no-hitter in its Division I era, according to Hartford Athletics, and the first in nine innings.

Dombrowski struck out nine on his way to the victory.

Walker Powell, a senior right-hander at Southern Mississippi, threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the first game of a double-header against Middle Tennessee. The Golden Eagles won the game 6-0 and swept the Saturday twin bill. It was also Senior Day for the Powell, who struck out 12 batters, and the Golden Eagles.

According to Southern Miss Athletics, it was the first complete-game no-hitter for a single pitcher since 2004.