High school baseball and softball resume in Iowa

High school baseball and softball returned to Iowa on Monday, the first sanctioned high school sports to return since the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports in March.

Details: Practices have resumed with a long list of safety guidelines, including temperature checks, no use of the dugout and the required sanitizing of shared equipment after use.

• The backdrop: As of 11 p.m. ET Monday evening, Iowa had over 19,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 555 deaths.
• What's next: Games can start June 15.

What they're saying:

• "Think about how many times a ballplayer touches their face," Jean Berger, executive director of the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union, told ESPN. "They spit. They chew seed. ... We have to retrain. This is the summer of being a mom for us — Don't touch your face, go wash your hands."
• "We're happy to be back, especially for our seniors," Hoover softball coach Melissa Helm told the Des Moines Register. "Honestly, I was a little bit surprised that they made the decision to do this, just with everything else going on and the fact that we didn't even finish the school year."

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