BRYAN, Texas The Texas Collegiate League intends to raise the level of competition this summer and start its 2020 season as scheduled.
The TCL issued a press release Friday stating that, "we expect to begin the 2020 season as scheduled almost 3 months away from now. The safety and security of our fans, players, staff members and families are the priority concern for all decision making for the TCL. The League will continue to take any and all precautionary measures recommended by state and local health authorities prior to our baseball season."
The COVID-19 precautions have ended the 2020 college baseball season, and Major League Baseball has postponed Opening Day for all teams.
TCL, in its headquarters in Bryan, is "monitoring all advisories and updates from state and local health authorities, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will continue to provide updates as they are made available," according to the release.
The Texarkana Twins, entering its fourth season as a member of the TCL, is set to play the Victoria Generals on May 28 at George Dobson Field.
Uri Geva, the president of TCL, expects the level of talent to rise since so many college players will miss their collegiate season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The level of competition will be raised across the entire league because the Friday night starters, who we typically don't get, need the innings," Geva said. "College coaches are calling to see if we can take these guys, just so they can get repetitions.
"Not that the talent wasn't already good in the TCL, but we'll see another step up in the talent this summer."
The Twins also have changes in store for the fans during the entertainment portions of the games.
"As far as the Twins, we're going to step up the entertainment with more fun activities on the field, for the kids, with some of contests we'll be doing, and then with some of these travelling acts we're negotiating with," Geva said. "We're going to step up the game everywhere.
"This is a terrible situation we face today; it's unfortunate we're having to go through this. But as soon as it's over, we want to give people the opportunity to go outside, be together, be united as a community and be excited about sports, entertainment and the Twins."