Ryan Lemmon Foundation changes format but plans on high school baseball series this month

The Great Park Baseball Stadium will be the host for the championship game on Wednesday, March 31. (File photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

The Ryan Lemmon Foundation will present a high school baseball series of games featuring a 26-team event beginning Saturday, March 27, according to event director Dick Owens.

The event replaces the Ryan Lemmon Invitational this season due to conditions from the coronavirus pandemic. The series will continue with games on Monday, March 29; Tuesday, March 30 and Wednesday, March 31.

The traditional Ryan Lemmon Invitational is expected to return in its usual format in the spring of 2022. President Guy Lemmon and Owens have run the highly-popular spring high school baseball tournament for years. Last year’s tournament, scheduled for 32 teams, was cancelled due to the pandemic.

“This has been a challenging time for everyone,” Owens said. “It’s great we can provide an opportunity for these student athletes to be back on the field.”

The event will take a new look last year. In past years, it has been held at mainly one location.

“This year most games will be played at high schools throughout the county,” Owens said. “We have a 26-team field. We have some of the best High school teams in Southern California competing this year.”

It will be up to each host school to determine who can attend the games. Guidelines from the California Department of Public Health have said that only immediate family members can attend, but coronavirus case numbers have steadily declined and Orange County moved into the less restrictive red tier last week. Owens said he expects the county could be in the orange tier by the time the tournament starts.

At games at the Great Park Stadium, officials have been told there can be a capacity of 35 percent at the games which would be about 300 fans, Owens said.

“We have protocols in place such as everyone will get temperature checks and wear a mask,” Owens said. “The (host) schools will be on their own on how to handle fans.”

Coaches will be required to wear masks along with those players not competing, Owens said.

No admission will be charged for the games. Media will not be allowed to work inside the press box, Owens added. The press box will be limited to the public address announcer and the scoreboard operator.

There will be three games on Saturday, March 27 at the Great Park Stadium. At 10 a.m., El Dorado will meet Arlington of Riverside, at 1 p.m. Yucaipa will face Notre Dame Sherman Oaks and at 4 p.m., Foothill will meet South Hills.

There will also be two games on Tuesday, March 30 at the Great Park: Notre Dame Sherman Oaks vs. Dana Hills at 6 p.m., in the stadium and at field number eight, Pacifica vs. Calvary Chapel at 3:30 p.m.

The championship game will be on Wednesday, March 30, at the Great Park Stadium. The teams in the finals will be determined based on the first three games, Owens said.

Teams in the tournament are Aliso Niguel, Arlington, Brea Olinda, Calvary Chapel, Canyon, Capistrano Valley, Centennial, Corona del Mar, Dana Hills, El Dorado, El Modena, Foothill, La Mirada, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Harbor, Notre Dame Sherman Oaks, Pacifica, San Juan Hills, Segerstrom, South Hills, Trabuco Hills, Tustin, Yorba Linda and Yucaipa.

Tournament organizers have been planning for different scenarios based on the status of the pandemic. Earlier, all the Irvine teams, including the host school Woodbridge which had been scheduled to play had to drop out because they will be playing a 24-game Pacific Coast League schedule this season.

Those games begin on Friday, March 19. The coaches of those teams say they intend to have their teams return for the 2022 event.

More information and up to date schedule:  www.ryanlemmonfoundation.com

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com