GARDINER — Baseball was back on Monday. And Nicole Harbaugh was relieved to see it.

“We were worried that we wouldn’t have a season at all,” she said.

Indeed, with the arrival of June came kids on the field throwing, hitting and catching, just like in previous springs. Gardiner Cal Ripken held evaluations for its major teams on Monday, and for many at Quimby Field, the afternoon was a long-awaited step toward normalcy.

Gardiner Cal Ripken acting president Bryan Dutton, right, directs players to move across the field during baseball evaluation night Monday at Quimby Field in Gardiner. Andy Molloy / Kennebec Journal

“We are so excited. Finally,” said Harbaugh, who had a 10-year-old son, Layden, and 12-year-old stepson, Lucas Picard, trying out. “It’s been a long couple of months without the season starting.”

“It feels good to be back. I’m ready. I hope I can hit some home runs this year,” Picard said. “I really missed it. It’s just fun, and I just missed playing baseball.”

It was a non-descript day — ground balls, fly balls and some batting practice, lasting just under an hour — but given the months that preceded it, it was an eagerly anticipated return.

The coronavirus pandemic has put sports on hold for months, at the youth and national level.

Monday marked the first day youth sports could open, provided organizations could adhere to social distancing guidelines.

“I have three boys, they all play baseball and they’ve been just itching to get out here,” said Scott Hayden, whose 12-year-old son Landen was on the field. “This is great, we’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. We’ve had this marked on our calendar for a month or so now.”

The weeks leading up to it weren’t easy, according to Bryan Dutton, the head of Gardiner Youth Baseball.

“These past couple of months, I’m not going to lie, have been quite stressful,” he said. “Trying to jump through every hoop possible, trying to keep the kids with some hope, but yet, trying to keep them safe.”

Stressful as it got, Dutton said he never thought the season was a lost cause.

“I’ve always had hope,” he said.

Parents and coaches maintain a social distance during Cal Ripken baseball evaluation night Monday at Quimby Field in Gardiner. Andy Molloy / Kennebec Journal

Dutton posted on Facebook on May 7 that the program would be back on the first day of June, and he said that the announcement led to some mounting pressure.

“After that, we kind of got put on the spotlight, which kind of made it even worse,” he said. “But, in all reality, it did kind of put some people in motion to try to get these kids back out on a field again, to try to get some normalcy back in these kids’ lives.”

They were back on the field Monday, and parents felt the time was right.

“There’s always that (concern) that’s kind of in the back of my mind,” Hayden said. “But I know they’re going to take precautions to keep everybody safe. … I probably would have been hesitant (earlier), especially when they were inside.”

Those precautions on Monday involved players having their own bat and helmet (coaches checked before the batting practice), hand sanitizer at the concession stand and distancing during fielding drills. When catching fly balls, players waiting their turn stood spaced out in lines stretching back near the fence.

“We had a good discussion on the way here. (Landen) watches the major leagues, he likes to spit, so no spitting. No seeds,” Hayden said. “He’s a people person, he likes to give high-fives and hug people. I said ‘You can’t do that.’ ”

“They understand that there are going to be different things,” Harbaugh said. “There’s going to be sanitizing between plays, everyone has to have their own equipment. … They asked on the way here, ‘Can we give each other high-fives?’ I’m like ‘Uh, let’s do air high-fives.’ ”

Picard said the restrictions were worth putting up with.

“You have to stay six feet apart, which I hate because I like to talk to my friends,” Picard said. “(But) I’m just happy that we’re out here today, playing some baseball.”

Layden Harbaugh was just as eager to play as his step-brother.

“I’m really excited. I can’t wait to have the first game,” he said. “I missed it a lot, because baseball’s my favorite sport.”

Evaluations continue Tuesday and Wednesday for the minors division.

“It’s basically get the kids out and have fun,” Dutton said. “They’ve been cooped up for too long, they’ve been out of school for too long. They need to go back to real life.”

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