Jefferson City Softball League goes on during pandemic

JEFFERSON CITY — The Jefferson City Adult Softball league went on this summer despite COVID-19, giving local athletes a chance for some normalcy.

"So much we do with work and life so to be able to come out here and get your mind off this stuff and get some leisurely activity and some exercise it’s a big deal especially right now," Terry Easley said.

"It’s kind of a blessing because a lot of leagues around the country are closed down right now and for us to have this and the community to be open to this it’s fantastic," Matt Francis said.

The league provided a good mix of fun and competition.

"It’s for fun. We are competitive, but we do have a lot of fun," Marc Webb said.

"We’re in the middle. We say we take it for fun, but it winds up being competitive," Francis said.

"If you look at the league it’s supposed to be for fun, but we’re pretty competitive. As a matter of fact we play for the championship now. If we win we’re the champions," Easley said.

His team did win the championship by the way, but because of COVID-19 how people interact has changed.

"You have to read everybody’s body language so when you’re playing the other team you know usually you might say something or high five somebody on a good hit and you have to keep your distance until you figure out what each person’s is because there’s such a wide variety on this right now," Easley said.

Marc Webb recently tested positive for COVID-19.

He’s back and healthy playing softball, but did take precautions so that it didn’t spread among the league.

"I called the softball parks and rec and said hey we can’t play this week because one of our teammates tested positive which that was me and so they’re like yeah we’ll put you off and we didn’t play until I was cleared by the Cole County Health Department," Webb said.

Softball has brought people together in these unique times.