Umpires give outlook for summer

Since the okay has been given to return to Iowa high school summer sports, baseball and softball, what will it look for the officials who call the games?

Some area umpires weighed in on just that.

Umpires, including former Hampton-Dumont athletic director Nate Boock (currently AD at Ballard) and Mason City’s Scott Whitehill said they were not at all fearful about returning to call balls and strikes, there have been about 25 percent of officials who are in the older and at-risk category who have already said they would opt out of working in 2020.

“I don’t really have a fear of returning,” said Jason Berning of Clarion. “To some extent, we are going to have to learn to live with the virus. I think distancing has been ingrained into our heads enough that hopefully everyone will be smart about it..."

The full story appears in the May 28 print editions of the Sheffield Press and Pioneer Enterprise.