By Jake Mendel, The Berkshire Eagle

There are similarities between having success in both life and athletics. A special work ethic, featuring detailed communication, along with a high standard of accountability, was taken to the next level across the Berkshires in the form of a successful summer of athletics — all while dealing with the unknowns of a pandemic.

“We were in contact with a lot of folks across the state relative to what the guidelines would be [for summer sports],” said Bryon Sherman, District 1 administrator for Little League in Massachusetts. “The guys on the ground like Daren Lee and Greg Coscia (presidents of the National and American Leagues in Pittsfield), put together good plans from guidelines the state and Little League provided.

“From the beginning, safety was our number one priority.”

The hope for a spring sports season came crashing down in late April, but the potential of a summer season began to unfold shortly after.

“Early on, there was the question everyone faced of who wanted to play baseball?” Sherman said. “Would it be too restrictive? Would it be fun for kids and parents?”

After months of remaining inside to flatten the curve, athletes around the county didn’t have to spend too much time thinking about their answer.

“I knew our team would be willing to do anything we had to in order to play baseball,” said Jack Carpenter, a Mount Everett senior who played for South County Navy in the Babe Ruth 16-18 Division. “I know there would be some safe options and we were extremely excited. We were going to do anything we could to get together and play this summer.”

While there was plenty of risk in organizing a league in the middle of a pandemic, and many towns decided to cancel for the summer, the leagues that did form made sure everyone willing to play had the opportunity. Kids from Sheffield and Adams signed up to participate in leagues throughout Williamstown, Dalton, Lee and Pittsfield. But even as schedules started to come together in June, playing ball in early July was still up in the air.

“There were so many unknowns,” said Dustin Belcher, the director of recreation for the Dalton Community Recreation Association. “We took our time and the staff at the CRA did a good job of making sure we were prepared for any situation that would arrive.”

Inboxes began to fill with questions regarding player safety and social distancing, but leagues remained confident that a summer season was something they could pull off — together.

“Even the umpires are people in the community that volunteer,” he said. “Everyone did whatever it took to run this program uninterrupted. It was cool to see everyone rally around one another.”

Belcher, who, in addition to organizing youth leagues is also the softball and boy’s basketball coach at Wahconah Regional High School, gets to know plenty of people in the community. But, they also get to know him, too.

In those first few weeks spent organizing the summer league, parents weren’t the only ones reaching out to him. Belcher was also hearing from current and former Wahconah athletes wanting to help out, including Allie Borowski, a recent graduate now majoring in sports management with a minor in coaching at Lasell University.

“Dustin is a great coach and had a huge impact on me wanting to be a coach,” Borowski said. “I think a lot of others felt like they want to support and help because he helped us so much”

With coaches, volunteers and players holding each league to a high level of accountability, Massachusetts entered Phase 3 of the Baker Administration’s reopening plan on July 6 and leagues were ready to play ball — with guidelines in place.

“We did some good visual things like ribbons on the fence and buckets to sit on,” Belcher said.

“We got rid of all the shared equipment and even received donations for helmets and bats.”

Coaches would arrive at each game with a bucket of balls because teams didn’t share game balls. There was also no huddling or high fives and each player needed to wear a mask whenever possible.

“It wasn’t perfect all the time, but everyone involved made it work,” Sherman said. “I didn’t receive one complaint of things being done inappropriately. We faced an uptick of guidelines in August and asked everyone to be a bit more stringent. Batters had to start wearing masks, but we got through it and the kids did a great job.”

For some, sports might seem like an unnecessary risk during a pandemic. For others, it was an important to ensure kids were able to participate in sports, as soon as it became safe to do so.

“I thought it was important socially and emotionally to do this in a safe way,” Belcher said. “Safety is obviously number one, but getting kids out there and competing is very important to me.”

And across Berkshire County, coaches worked hard to establish a safe haven for athletes. Social distancing and masks were mandatory, but until the final whistle or out, athletes lived in a COVID-19-free world.

“I was in my last season of softball as an athlete [and to lose that] was tough,” Borowski said. “I could relate to those athletes who lost their spring season, as well. I was very confident in our ability; people wanted to play and I made it clear what the rules were and what we had to follow. It shows how much people want to play sports and follow the rules.”

Although the summer season arrived with fear and doubt, those involved believe it will be looked back on as a success story for years to come.

“These kids had been on ‘lockdown’ for months with no athletics or school,” Sherman said. “If you talk to parents, they are happy that their kids are active. There was no blueprint to this and we took a risk. There will always be a risk moving forward in a pandemic, but we did the best we could and feel that it was an overwhelming success.”

With leadership and accountability on all levels, fall sports are falling into place around the county.

“It was worth jumping through all those hoops,” Sherman said. “There are a lot of good discussions going on and other cities are jumping in after seeing how well it can work.”

Those involved acknowledge that a season can only work if everyone is on board, and that will remain true this fall. And things are looking up for local athletes. Not only has high school golf and cross country been approved by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, but local soccer, baseball and softball house leagues also have seasons that are about to get underway.

“No one was getting together or doing anything [early in the pandemic],” Carpenter said. “My family would take batting practice in the cornfield outside of my house, just anticipating the start of summer ball. Once we got out there, I was pretty comfortable because we all followed the rules. Our coaching staff took every rule very seriously.”

Leagues plan to squeeze in as much as they can before snow hits the ground, leading administrators, athletes, coaches and parents to have a new-found level of confidence and hope when it comes to sports continuing on despite the ongoing pandemic.

“Sports are such a great experience,” Carpenter explained. “Missing out [in the spring] was tough news, but getting to play [something in the summer and fall] is great. It added some sense of normalcy and being with my team makes up for what was lost in the spring.”