Highland Ball COVID-19 Update

Following the guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health, Highland Ball is  suspending all league-sponsored activities through April 13, including Spring Training, and Umpire Training.  In-House Baseball Evals have been postponed indefinitely. As an organization we are making plans to resume programming in April but will continue to monitor the evolving public health situation and adjust plans accordingly. As any changes occur we will send updates.

For more information and updates on the official state policies and guidelines, please monitor the Minnesota Department of Health website.

While all league-sponsored activities are paused for the next few weeks, catch is not. Hop into your front yards and play catch! Oh yeah, and keep washing your hands so hopefully we can all Play Ball soon!

In lieu of being able to get together to practice, perhaps showing your Highland Ball spirit by looking at our new spirit wear stores will get you in the mood for a game of catch!  

Highland Ball has a new vendor this year (CA Gear), and we've curated an expansive selection of apparel and gear for players and fans. Working from input over the years, we tried to find items that would be appropriate for a game or practice and just as comfortable on Saturday afternoon at the grocery store. We have also created separate online stores for softball and baseball to better suit the preferences of the two great programs that make up Highland Ball.  For instance, the Highland logos contain a baseball or softball depending on which store you are in.  The move to CA Gear also provides value to the League, as we will receive 10% of the proceeds from all sales.

Another benefit of our new partnership is that the online stores will be open throughout the season.  However, there are specific ordering windows that will allow free delivery in bulk by early May.  For the baseball store, orders placed by March 30 will be delivered to the League for distribution by May 3rd.  For the softball store, orders placed by April 7 will be delivered to the League for distribution by May 3rd.  Or, you can choose to have the products delivered to your home at an additional cost.  Please keep in mind that we may have to allow for some flexibility in light of the current circumstances.   

The links are below.  Happy shopping!

https://www.cagear.com/product-category/school-gear/highland-baseball/

https://www.cagear.com/product-category/school-gear/highland-softball/

While the League and our community are locked down, Highland Ball wants to be a resource for our players and parents.  The boys and girls still need to get outside and it's a great time to work on agility and skill development to get ready for the season (whenever it might start).  Each week, we will post drills that can be done alone or with a partner, and we will have Highland ballplayers demonstrating some of those drills.  

To help keep our Highland Ball community connected in this time of social distancing, we encourage players to submit photos of themselves doing the drills that have been posted.  We will do our best to post all of the photos to our website, and the League will award a prize for the best photo each week.  The photos can be submitted to the League email at highlandball@gmail.com.

Here is a brief introduction from Vice President of Softball, Steve Penz:   https://youtu.be/rUGHWEzThw8

Here are the drills for the week of March 23, with select demonstrations by Nolan Andresen (11U Baseball) and Anna Penz (U12 Softball):