By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team split a doubleheader last Sunday to finish a 12-game trip to Clermont, Florida.
The Bears then boarded a plane that night and headed home, their season on hold because the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference had already indefinitely suspended spring sports because of the coronavirus.
On Monday, though, that indefinite suspension of games by the MASCAC was changed to the cancellation of all spring sports seasons by the conference, meaning BSU’s twinbill in central Florida was the last athletic activity of the 2019-20 academic year for area colleges.
Stonehill College’s baseball, softball, men’s tennis, men’s and women’s track & field, women’s lacrosse, women’s golf and equestrian teams had their seasons come to a halt when the Northeast-10 Conference called off all remaining games last Monday.
BSU teams affected by the MASCAC’s cancellation include baseball, men’s tennis, men’s and women’s track & field, softball, equestrian and women’s lacrosse.
Also on Monday, the National Junior College Athletic Association stopped all of its spring sports, affecting the Massasoit Community College baseball, golf and men’s and women’s track & field teams.
The coronavirus has also resulted in the cancellation of spring football practices for Stonehill and Bridgewater State.
The BSU softball team had spent seven days in Florida, going 4-8 during the spring break week.
But during their stay in the Sunshine State, the Bears learned that the school had extended spring break and then that the MASCAC was putting a pause on sports before it would ultimately cancel the rest of the spring seasons.
“We were meeting daily with them in Florida and I was telling them as it happened, as I heard about it,” said BSU softball coach Lindsey Couturier, in her third season. “But after we got home late Sunday night, they had to vacate the campus. They all found out (Monday that the season was over) before I could meet with them at the same time and tell them.
“We are unable to meet as a team to talk about moving forward and how this awful situation is going to affect us as a team. We can still chat over the phone and do a team meeting on a conference call or a Skype session, but that’s it.”
The Bears baseball team went 1-7 while in Port Charlotte, Florida from March 8-13 and was scheduled to host Gordon College in Bridgewater last Monday.
“We were kind of holding on to hope, but we kind of knew it was happening,” said second-year coach Greg Zackrison. “I’ve been calling and sending text messages, but I haven’t been able to see the guys since we got home from Florida.”
Stonehill’s baseball team had already played 13 games going 8-5. The Skyhawks were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for four games in February, went to Florida for a weekend and then had six games on the spring break trip March 6-12.
Originally, the NE-10 was eyeing a return to sports activity in the middle of April, but as the threat of coronavirus increased, the conference called everything off on Monday.
“It’s just something that’s really unique and disappointing to everyone,” said Skyhawks coach Pat Boen. “It’s understandable that the precautions and safety and health come first, but obviously there’s disappointment that you’re not able to do the activity you’ve worked so hard for with these kids.
“You plan your whole year around those last six weeks of your senior year. That’s what college baseball is. You work so hard six days a week on the field, in the weight room, and not to be able to do what you’ve trained to do is difficult.”
Massasoit baseball coach Kraig Kupiec is in his second year with the Warriors and was looking forward to taking another step with his program.
Massasoit went 2-1 while playing three games against Mohawk Valley CC March 7-8 in Watertown, but the NJCAA stopped everything on Monday.
“It was really tough,” said Kupiec. “I think we all knew it was coming. I wanted to make sure the news came from me and I was in constant contact with our athletic director hoping to get a jump on the news so I could inform the guys. I had to do it electronically, which was tough. I wanted to do it in person.
“The one theme I tried to impress on the guys is the one thing I’ve said in 10-plus years as a head coach in college: you just never know when your last game is going to be. If you practice and you play like it’s your last game, you’re not going to be displeased. In this case, it held true.”
BSU men’s and women’s track & field coach Connor Foley said he thought about the seniors when the cancellation became official.
Jayci Andrews of Plymouth, who had one semester of eligibility to go, was looking to return this spring and bid for a third NCAA championship. Andrews won the 60-meter hurdles national title in March 2019 and the 100-meter hurdles crown in May 2019.
“She was one of the ones who weighed heavily on my mind,” said Foley. “I called as many of our seniors as I could. Those were some of the toughest conversations I’ve ever had to have with athletes. She was one of the hardest ones, for sure.”
The BSU lacrosse team had a 2-3 record and played two games in San Juan March 10-11 while the Stonehill lacrosse team was off to a 2-2 start with two games being played in Florida. The Skyhawks softball team went 7-5 playing in Auburndale, Florida.
The six sophomores on the Massasoit baseball team could return in 2021 to play another season, but Kupiec said two of them are headed elsewhere.
The NCAA is allowing student-athletes at four-year schools to receive another year of eligibility if they missed a spring season.
“For the seniors, it’s so late in the year and it’s tough,” said Boen, who has eight seniors on his roster. “Usually you talk to somebody who’s coming back and they’ve already made arrangements to come back for a fifth year. With a month left in school, it’s really challenging to change your life and school and you’ve got to do it quick.”
The BSU softball team has four seniors, including one who is in graduate school.
“Each of those four have completely different situations,” said Couturier. “One already in grad school, one is applying to grad school, one is graduating now, one in the winter. A lot of things are going to have to be taken into consideration for them.”
Zackrison said that of the six seniors on the BSU baseball team, at least two have decided to return for a final season.
The spring teams have gone their separate ways, perhaps until school opens again in September, wondering what might have been.
“We had a really good feeling about this season with this team,” said Couturier. “Last year, making it all the way to the conference finals and losing twice on our own field on championship Sunday (to Framingham State) was motivation for this year.
“Since I’ve been here, I have not seen a group of girls work as hard in the offseason and preseason. We were ready, for sure.”
Said Zackrison: “We were going to be alright. We played a brutal schedule in Florida against teams that were all almost nationally ranked. We didn’t get a pitch here or the hit when we were needed, but we were competitive.”