In a year riddled with misfortune, sadness, grief and disease, 2020 has been hard for many athletes. COVID-19 took many athletes’ senior sports seasons away from them. For most, it was their last season before college, and for others, it was their last chance to get a scholarship. These moments were athletes’ final moments playing together with their teams.
One team that struggled with the loss of their season was the Antioch Community High School baseball team. The athletes believed they had great potential to start the year successfully but sadly did not get the chance. The freshmen baseball coach, Francis Fracek, was very disappointed the season came to an end, and he felt for the seniors.
“Like all of us, the seniors were very upset with not being able to enjoy their final year of high school baseball,” Fracek said. “I am happy that a few guys will have the opportunity to continue their playing careers in college; I am sad for those that weren’t able to get closure with the game.”
The class of 2020 believes that no one can truly feel what they felt when their seasons were cut short. Not finishing a career after putting in years of hard work was heartbreaking for many seniors. ACHS Alum Anthony Wiley was devastated over the loss of his senior baseball season and could not stand the fact that he would not be able to play on the field.
“It felt like I went through years of hard work just to be disappointed and miss my last game with my friends,” Wiley said.
Wiley was one of the athletes who could continue his career at the collegiate level at Finlandia University. Although he is continuing his baseball career, he still has an emptiness of not having his senior season lingering with him.
ACHS Alum Andrew Deboer was sad that his baseball career came to an end. He will not be furthering his baseball career in college but is furthering his football career, so luckily for him, his sports career did not end.
“Missing out on my last season of baseball was really hard on me,” Deboer said. “But it just shapes us to who we are today.”
The 2020 spring athletes will never get their final season back, but most of them will always carry the memories of their high school careers and their teams’ bonds.
