LEXINGTON, Ky. — Professional baseball in the bluegrass is back on, sort of.

Wednesday, the Lexington Legends and Florence Y'alls hosted open tryouts to fill roster spots that will field two teams.

Those teams will then start competing against one another, later this month.

“It's a great concept I think. You know we have some tryouts and everything going on and get four teams to two fields very close, it's not a long drive at all. And again, I think we would drive hours just to play baseball. I don't think that's even an issue, but you know it's awesome. I think we get to play, especially the same guys will make a bunch of new friends and create a bunch of relationships and I think it'll be an awesome opportunity,” says Kole Cottam, former University of Kentucky baseball standout.

About 50 former major and minor league baseball players participated in the tryouts with hopes to keep their baseball careers in full swing, after both the frontier league and minor league baseball season were canceled earlier this summer, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“People want to get out and they want to watch baseball, you know they want to get outside and bring their family. So I think it's a huge bonus for both places in Northern Kentucky up in Florence and here in Lexington. I think the community is welcoming it and they're gonna be a point to where if you don't get your tickets early, they're gonna be turned around because of the limited capacities that were set forth for protocols of the pandemic,“ adds Eddie Brooks, Manager of the Lexington Legends

Both teams plan to finalize their rosters by the end of this week.

Then, the Florence Y’alls and Lexington Legends will play each other Wednesday through Sunday starting July 31.