Not only did high school athletes have their spring seasons cut short due to the closure of school districts throughout the United States caused by a worldwide pandemic, but college athletes also lost a season.
Among those college athletes suffering from a lost season are several former McDonald County High School athletes, including three freshman baseball players, a freshman football player and a sophomore trackster.
The three baseball players were just getting into their first season at the college level. Two had settled in with solid starts to their collegiate career, while the final one was biding his time.
Boston Dowd and Joe Brown found success in their year of baseball at the collegiate level.
Dowd was 1-0 in seven relief appearances with nine strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched at Cowley County in Arkansas City, Kan.
His win came against Iowa Western, the number two team in the nation at the time.
Dowd said the main difference in college hitters versus high school batters was the adjustments college hitters are able to make.
"High school hitters don't really make adjustments during an at-bat," Dowd said. "College hitters make adjustments on every pitch."
Dowd said he was in shock when the season was canceled, but he will get a third year at Cowley if he wants to use it.
"I honestly didn't know what to think when our season was canceled," Dowd said. "It was hard to believe."
Brown is a catcher at North Arkansas Community College in Harrison, Ark. He was hitting .321 in 15 starts out of the school's 26 games.
He said control of the pitchers was the big difference he has seen.
"More pitchers were able to hit their spots and control what they threw," Brown said. "They also had more velocity, of course. Most were at 89 to 90 m.p.h. or higher."
He said it definitely was a big loss with the season being canceled.
"I wasn't sure how moving forward would go after the season was canceled," Brown said. "It kind of felt depressing because out of all my years playing baseball, I've never not finished a season. It really hurt not being able to finish my freshman year in college on the diamond."
Brown also said he was unsure of how he will use the additional year allowed.
Izak Johnson is a third baseman and pitcher at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo.
He hasn't made an appearance in a game, although he said he was throwing and fielding well.
"The one thing I noticed in fall ball is that college hitters are a lot harder to fool," Johnson said. "They don't chase much out of the zone."
He said though he is disappointed, he really feels bad for the high school seniors.
"This is a crazy time," Johnson said. "I'm more upset for the high school seniors who didn't get their senior year. I know I would have been devastated if that happened to me."
Elliott Wolfe is a football player at Concordia University St. Paul, in St. Paul, Minn.
Wolfe red-shirted this past fall, but practiced every day and was looking forward to earning a starting spot at center during the spring.
"Spring practice was supposed to be when we prove ourselves," Wolfe said. "Now we have to do that ourselves and hopefully we can do it over the summer when we can go back."
Wolfe said the team had started workouts and drill work but had not had any spring practices when school was canceled.
"I was upset we had to leave school, but I'm glad the transition to online classes was not that hard due to the technology that we were already using," Wolfe said. "I hope to earn a starting spot at center next season."
Peyton Barton is a sophomore at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.
As a sophomore, Barton is naturally more established in his college career than the others. He is a thrower on the Southern track and field team. Barton never took up any throwing event until his senior year in high school when he threw the discus, but now throws discus and hammer during the outdoor season and the weight during the indoor season. He has increased his weight from 185 when he graduated to 220.
"I have excelled to the level I'm at right now by having a passion for sports and have a drive to be the best I can be all the time," Barton said.
He took fifth in the weight throw at the indoor conference meet which helped the Lions earn a conference championship.
The indoor title was to be a glimpse of things to come for the team.
"The men's team was supposed to win the triple crown this year (conference titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor) which has never been done in MSSU history," Barton said. "We were going to make a statement to the rest of D2 track and field that we are at the top and here to stay. I am disappointed the season was canceled, but I feel more for the seniors who had already planned ahead of this year to begin their future and won't have the chance to redo the season."
Sports on 04/30/2020