With the closures of both LBCC campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all LBCC sports have been forced to end their seasons abruptly.
With the majority of the world now operating from home and only leaving for essential purposes, the cancelation of the season has caused disappointment for LBCC baseball head coach Casey Crook and his players.
“It was certainly devastating that the season got cancelled,” Coach Crook said.
“It sucks because some of these athletes didn’t get the proper exposure, but thankfully they’re able to come back next season,” Crook said.
The baseball coach said that though the season ended abruptly, “We’ll still be sending two or three players to division one schools.”
Moises Guzman, a right-hand pitcher for the LBCC baseball team, doubled down on the coach’s disappointment.
“It’s definitely unfortunate,” Guzman said. “We had a great team with great chemistry and I feel like we had a good shot at winning the entire thing.”
Said infielder Kamau Neighbors, “At first, I was really upset our season got canceled, but as time went on, I realized that the situation at hand, was far bigger than the sport of baseball.”
The LBCC baseball team ended their season with a 17-5, and were 8-2 in their last 10 games, which included an eight-game win streak.
Said Guzman, “Losing the last two games that we played, especially knowing now that we wouldn’t be playing the rest of the season is hard because I felt that we could’ve played better.”
“Losing is always difficult, but it’s from these games that we look back on and reflect on our performance individually and as a team,” Guzman said.
“Now that I have more free time, I have more time to lift and improve my mechanics for both hitting and pitching,” Guzman said.
While disappointed by the impact the coronavirus has had on their season, Guzman, Casey and Neighbors agreed that the proper precautions were being taken to combat the virus.
“For the most part, I think that everyone is taking the necessary steps needed to make this whole process go as smoothly as possible,” Neighbors said.
Guzman said, “Proper steps have been taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We have to continue to practice social distancing and limit contact with others to prevent the spreading.”
Reaffirming his players’ beliefs, Coach Crook said, “We’re doing everything we can and we’re taking the correct step to control this pandemic.”
For updates concerning the COVID-19 and its effects on LBCC, please visit lbcc.edu/coronavirus.