The baseball and softball programs at Bishop Heelan in Sioux City both recently had players test positive for COVID-19.
As a result, the softball team’s season is over, but the baseball team will continue playing.
“We continue to work with Siouxland District Health to ensure the safety of our players, fans and all those who attend ball games and activities,” Bishop Heelan Superintendent John Flanery said in a statement Monday.
“We are following the advice of Siouxland District Health as we work to potentially rejoin these quarantined players back to the baseball team as time progresses. Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools will continue to make safety our priority.”
When Gov. Kim Reynolds green-lit the return of high school baseball and softball, the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union both decided to defer to county health officials when dealing with positive cases.
Many teams have around the state have had to quarantine for two weeks and miss chunks of the summer season because of a positive test result within their respective programs. Doing so now eliminates teams from playing in the postseason.
In the case of Bishop Heelan, the difference between the softball team’s season ending and the baseball team continuing came down to contact tracing.
