IU freshman Jack Bailey borrows his swing from Javier Baez — the big cut, leaving nothing behind. 

Those hacks at the plate helped Bailey to second place in his division at the Intramural Sports home run derby competition. 

Even with a strange freshman year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Bailey said the home run derby provided some normalcy for him.

“I played baseball in high school and I always loved it,” Bailey said. “I didn’t get to play senior year and I haven’t been able to play here yet in club, so I just love getting out here and hitting some baseballs.”

The home run derby is just one example of a competition Intramural Sports has rolled out this year to keep students involved when they can’t play normal intramural events.

“This is a difficult situation for everyone, not only us,” Satoshi Kido, the assistant director for Intramural Sports, said. “The whole campus. The students, we understand, they’re looking for something to do.”

Intramural Sports found ways to maintain events even when it couldn’t hold normal events, things like softball and flag football, due to social distancing guidelines.

Instead, they added events like the home run derby, a bags tournament and even esports. Kido said his favorite event this year was the punt, pass and kick competition put on last fall.

IU senior Chris Fundich signed up for the bags tournament in March. Fundich played on several softball teams and a flag football team in the past.“It’s definitely better than nothing,” Fundich said. “It’s a shame we can’t play softball and flag football, but the bags tournament is great.”

With the weather getting nicer, Intramural Sports was able to pack more outside events into the last few weeks of the semester. 

The home run derby was at the Recreational Sports Field Complex and the bags tournament was outside on the Student Recreational Sports Center Terrace, despite the windy day.

Fundich said the bags tournament turned out to be fun, especially in the absence of normal sports.

For Bailey, even the home run derby provided an escape he hasn’t had much this year. 

“I pretty much sit in my room all day doing homework, studying, classes and stuff,” Bailey said. “To come out on a nice day like this, have some fun, do something I love — it’s great.”

Bailey competed in the fall home run derby and a bags competition early in the semester. He said he expects intramurals to play a large role in his four years at IU. He’s already been trying to get friends involved with him and expects them to play next year without the pandemic.

Kido said the fall home run derby was popular, so Intramural Sports decided to hold another derby in the spring.

Kido said Intramural Sports talks with students about what type of sports they would want. That’s where the idea to add esports came from, and it has brought in a new crowd of students that aren’t normally involved in intramural sports.

“We had an esports championship in the facility,” Kido said. “Students came in and said ‘This is the first time I’m in the SRSC.’ That’s something new for us.”

The esports included games like NBA 2K, MLB the Show and Mario Kart.

Each in-person event had strict safety protocols to keep students safe. Students had to wear masks at all times and stand six feet apart when possible. At the bags tournament, Intramural Sports had a Ultraviolet machine to sanitize the bags after each round.