Dreher’s baseball field sits empty after the 2020 high school spring sports season was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic Photo by Josh Cruse
The first week in May is usually an exciting time for high school baseball, soccer, and softball teams, fans, and even sports writers as the new month brings on the beginning of the postseason.
While some teams may be packing away their uniforms and gear, others are beginning the journey to their championship dreams.
As May 2020 gets underway, there is a much different feeling. On April 22, Governor Henry McMaster declared school would stay closed in the state of South Carolina for the remainder of the school year, effectively ending the 2019-2020 sports season.
Four teams that were poised for memorable postseason runs were the A.C. Flora boys’ soccer and baseball teams, the Cardinal Newman boys’ soccer team, and the Airport baseball team.
The A.C. Flora and Cardinal Newman soccer teams came into the season with high expectations. The Falcons were the No. 1 team in 4A. With six seniors leading the way, head coach David Schroer’s Falcons would have been a factor in the postseason.
“I guess in a word I’m saddened,” Schroer said about the cancellation of the spring sports season. “Once everything started to close I felt it was only a matter of time. Up until the final cancellation, I was trying to stay hopeful we may be able to get something in before the end of the year. That being said, I understand the decision. These are very difficult times and public health must come first. I think that’s something our players understand as well.”
While coming into the season as the defending SCISA 3A State Champions, the 2020 Cardinals’ boys soccer team was led by ten seniors ready for their turn to try to get Cardinal Newman back to another state championship.
“They’ve really been good about dealing with all that is going on,” Eudy said. “This year’s team was really low key. They didn’t need all the hype; they just wanted to play. They played with heart. We talk on Zoom a good bit, and when I ask them what they want, they say they just want to go play. I asked them what they wanted to do for senior night. They wanted a cookout. I told them that would have to wait, and they were fine with that. They just want to be around one another.”
For A.C. Flora’s Andy Hallett and Airport’s Tim Perry, the feelings are very similar to their soccer counterparts. The sadness and disappointment weren’t just about losing a baseball season and the dream of what could have been, but also missing out on the time with their teams.
“Thats been one of the toughest things,” Perry said. “Early on I tried to reach out and communicate a good bit. As time went on, it got harder and harder because you knew the end was near. We tried to celebrate our seniors virtually. My staff, my family, and I went around this Saturday to visit all of them, give them a senior momento, and spend a little time with them. While we’re still trying to observe some of the social distancing rules, we still want to see those guys. I’m used to seeing them every day. It’s really hard to communicate with them through text messages and things like that. They want to come to the field and practice, and there is very little we can do. That’s been very difficult.”
Schroer and Hallett have also done things to recognize their seniors.
“We’ve highlighted each senior and their contributions to the program on social media and the athletic department’s website,” Schroer said. “I have also reached out to each of them personally. We don’t have too many seniors this year, but the ones we are losing have played a very significant role in our success over the last four years. So I need them to know how important they are.
“They are all going on to bigger and better things after this and have everything sorted on that end. Hopefully, when this is all over we can recognize them in person.
“The day before the shutdown, we played Crestwood at home. I had a weird feeling something was about to happen as NC schools closed and others around the country. I played the seniors as much as I could in that game and made sure each one of them finished on the field. I didn’t think it would end this way, and I’m sure that’s not the lasting memory they’d hope to have, but I hope they take that positive experience away from all of this.”
“We had senior day recognition on our website, and I used a GIF of each senior,” Hallett said.
Despite the disappointment for the seniors, coaches have to deal with their own feelings of cutting a season short.
“It’s tough. For me personally, I’ll get over it,” Schroer said. “I’ll coach again and am already looking forward to next season. I try to not dwell on what could have been this season and just take away the positives that we were able to graduate six guys who turned into great young men and great players, and we have an excellent returning group next year that could be better than the team we had this year.”
For both Perry and Eudy, getting to spend extra time with their families has helped ease the disappointment of losing out on a season.
“ When I was younger, before I had a family, I think this would have driven me insane,” Eudy said. “Now I have a family, I’m the athletic director at Cardinal Newman. Most of this time I’ve been in a basketball coaching search. I have two kids at home. Things like that take my mind off the pandemic. But weeks like this, the weather is really nice, and I think about what we could be doing. I feel bad.”
Perry said the time away from school has given him time to spend with his children and an opportunity to celebrate his wife’s birthday away from the baseball diamond.
Most of the coaches said despite the time away from the field and losing out on opportunities to visit college campuses, the quarantine didn’t have any significant impact on the recruiting processes for their seniors.
“Luckily, our seniors had their plans sorted out before the season started,” Schroer said. “Griggs Vinsant signed with Newberry, and I am thrilled that he’ll be so close to home. I think he’s going to be an electric collegiate player, so I’ll enjoy watching him next season. For the others, I’m sure this will be a setback. My main hope is that they’re staying active, healthy, and getting their school work done. We have a bunch of very talented underclassmen who will go on to play collegiate soccer. I’ve encouraged them to work on their highlight reels and watch over their film. They’ll need to narrow down their college search and research where exactly they think they’d like to go to school AND play soccer. Club season should be here before they know it, so they’ll need to focus on staying in shape and getting as much individual work on the ball as they can. Hopefully, this will be a somewhat of a blessing in disguise. It’s the one-on-one time between player and ball that really makes a difference. I’ve always tried to get that across to my guys; everyone practices two-three times a week. The ones that succeed in the game are the ones that work on their own without a coach.”
Eudy said most of his seniors are going to college to be students only. Perry said Parker Whittle is going to Winthrop University, Sam LaFrage is going to The Citadel, and Cam Beckham is going to Francis Marion University.
There is an adage that sports teaches people about life. While it may be tough at times during the crisis to pick out some positives, but these four coaches always look on the bright side.
“Never take anything for granted,” Schroer said. “Never take being able to play for granted. I’ve always told my players that because injuries, etc. happen, and you never want your last experience to be one that’s sour because you failed to give it your very best. Never in my worst nightmare could I have foreseen something like this happening, but I think this will be the lasting lesson for my guys during this time. We had such promise and were poised for a great season. It has to be incredibly disappointing. I hope that they find it within themselves to rise above this, especially, the returning players. I hope they use this to realize that there is a finite end to all of this, and you better maximize the time you have on the field with the game. Always give your best in everything you do.”
“You must realize the end can come at any moment,” Hallett said. “Tomorrow is never given and don’t wake up one day full of regrets.”
Perry said two lessons players can learn is patience and handling adversity. Eudy said the two lessons he has taken away from this experience is never knowing when it’s over and always play like it’s your last chance.
While there may be plenty of sports seasons ahead and more championships to chase, there is little doubt this season will leave a lasting impression on everyone.
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