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Lunenburg County Youth Baseball League (LCYBL) President David Clark made it clear during a Monday, March 23, live Facebook video that the league still plans to have a local season — it will just have to start in May this year.

“We intend to have a season,” he said. “We will have a ball season somehow, some way possible. After the governor did everything he did today and shut everything down ‘til April the 30th, we are officially shut down — no organized practicing, no team activities.”

Virginia Gov. Ralph S. Northam announced measures that shut down youth leagues in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Clark said LCYBL will officially start back May 1.

He noted he is not sure what Dixie Youth Baseball is going to do, but he gave his perspective on the likelihood of there being an all-star season in the summer.

“I would imagine that everything will be canceled, all-star-wise,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s canceled. I’m just guessing, educated guess, so don’t go canceling your vacations or anything like that.”

He said if LCYBL starts in May, teams might have a week or two of practice, and then games will begin.

Clark noted he has spoken with representatives of the leagues in Blackstone and Crewe, and they are talking about having a round-robin tournament or possibly a double-or single-elimination tournament for each age group at the end of the local season.

“And that would be for all participants, not any all-stars,” he said. “So that’s what we’re looking at doing.”

He said LCYBL will hold off on offering refunds until the point in time in which the local season were to be officially canceled.

“For some reason, if it does continue and we get shut down for the entire summer — (I) do not hope that happens, (I) do not anticipate that happening, but if it does — then we will have a couple options out there,” he said. “You can use your fee that you paid for 2020, (it) will roll over for 2021. The people that are aging out will definitely get a refund back.”

Clark also highlighted the league’s reverse raffle, which was scheduled to culminate in a May 9 event, with dinner and dancing, where someone would win the $8,000 grand prize.

“I have no idea that we’ll be able to have it live, but that is our way of making money, our fundraising,” he said. “That’s the way for the league to survive, to keep the power going and everything. Everybody will still be pushing the sale of the reverse raffle tickets.”

He said if the league is not able to hold the May 9 event, league officials will revert to a live drawing.

In the meantime, groups fewer than 10 people at a time are welcome to practice at the LCYBL facility on Neblett Field Road in Victoria, provided that they pick up after themselves, Clark said.

“Just follow the governor’s guidelines,” he said. “That’s above my pay grade there.”

Clark urged people watching his video broadcast to share it with others in the community who may not have seen it live.

“Please let them know we want to play baseball,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can to play baseball.”

For more information about the league and the reverse raffle, contact Clark at (434) 917-9106.