Center Grove’s softball team hadn’t yet completed its first week of practice when schools were shut down because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The five seniors who were looking forward to defending the Class 4A state championship they won last year tried to remain upbeat through the two or three weeks where the spring season hung in limbo before the ax fell.
"At the beginning, we definitely thought we had a chance to play, and we even got together and tried to do team bonding right before everything got shut down," said Kennedy Bader, a senior who had been the Trojans’ designated player during the 2019 title run. "We just had high hopes that we would keep going, and when it did get cancelled, it was really hard."
The loss of the spring season was particularly difficult for seniors like Bader who won’t be continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level. The 2020 campaign was going to be their last chance to wear a uniform and play organized competitive sports for a team.
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That chance was quickly and ruthlessly taken from them by a virus that continues to linger even after robbing high school seniors nationwide of the chance to play baseball or run track or attend senior proms or graduate with their classmates.
Bader, who is headed to Purdue to study accounting and data analytics, came to grips with that reality. She says she considered playing softball in college but decided to shift her focus.
"I just felt that it was better for me personally to pursue my academics and join a sorority and do that type of college life over playing again," she said. "I’ll probably do intramurals and keep with it that way to stay involved with the sport, and obviously attend a bunch of games and get to still watch. It was just time for me to put my mitt away."
Bader is far from alone. For every 2020 graduate across Johnson County who still has four or more years of athletic competition in front of him or her, there are several others for whom this spring was going to be the last hurrah.
And for the coaches who had to deliver the news to those athletes that their farewell tour wasn’t happening, this spring has been every bit as difficult.
"It’s a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially for the kids that do all the right things, they work extremely hard, they come to everything, they do their extra work on their own, and it just doesn’t get to happen," Franklin baseball coach Ryan Feyerabend said. "They’ve handled it extremely well, but it still doesn’t make it easy."
Those seniors who missed out on the chance to create lasting memories over the past two or three months can’t get that back — but we can at least give them their flowers. Today’s Daily Journal sports section is dedicated to the spring athletes from the Class of 2020 — what might have been for them on the field, and what’s ahead for them as they transition to the next chapter of their lives.
It’s not the sendoff you expected, to be sure. But you’ve handled the situation with a class and maturity beyond your years, and for that we offer a tip of the cap.
Inside: A salute to the spring sports class of 2020Â
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A list of all the Johnson County hight school seniors who were denied a final spring sports season:
CENTER GROVE
Baseball
Isaac Barkdull
Alex Christie
Alex Devaney
Drew Dillon
Bryce Eblin
Grant Herron
Luke Piper
Anthony Smith
Adam Taylor
Nolen Wolf
Jimmy Wolff
Softball
Kennedy Bader
Lexi Fair
Addison Osborn
Jillian Ransdell
Brooke York
Girls tennis
Holyn Ackerman
Jenna Boha
Gracie Bridgewater
Abby Hoard
Meg Strickland
Rachel Zheng
Boys golf
Kyle Bachmann
Alex Heck
Peyton Short
Caleb Tidd
Jonah Tracy
Boys track
Kaleb Beisel
Evan Brooks
Jalen Goines
Archit Malik
Nick Wilson
Girls track
Averie Baker
Teagan Bixler
Jordan Casey
Allison Conkin
Paige Dwyer
Gabby Ellis
Alainna Frankel
Gabrielle Harrell
Marielle Harrell
Maggie Joseph
Jenna Parker
Claire Rake
Samantha Rasmussen
Alyssa Terrell
Kiyah Yeast
Unified track
Gracie Etter
Lillian Euller
Caleb Francis
Alli Hall
Elijah Johnson
Taylor Lambert
Pooja Patel
Liam Price
EDINBURGH
Softball
Paige Burton
Abby Schooler
Girls tennis
Emily Chappelow
Haven Link
Madison McGaha
Sophia Parmer
Katie Roberts
Girls track
Lili Ervin
FRANKLIN
Baseball
Samuel Albright
Luke Neville
Peyton Newman
Luke Torrance
Nathaniel Whetstine
Softball
Shelby Bivens
Baylee Parker
Emma Rutan
Girls tennis
Allison Bennett
Clare Genter
Emma Genter
Harsimran Kaur
Rachel Pinnick
Jillian Smock
Alexa Wilkison
Boys golf
Tanner Tomlinson
Boys track
Evan Caudle
Eli Cochrane
Nathan Crouch
Brayden Devenport
David Doan
Andrew Hargis
Kamron Hill
Aaron Loos
Wyatt McCullough
Drew McGaha
Ethan Nash
Cash Nelson
Angel Pickett
Peyton Ruble
William Tucker
Girls track
Margaret Auger
Ellie Lammert
Alyssa Lipsius
Piper Reed
Mikayla Zoellner
Unified track
Zachary Addison
Jacob Diaz
Clara Havener
Jarod Havener
Samuel Hinton
Tyson Hotopp
Shayla Jones
Mina Lin
Nathan Newton
Cynthia Oliver
Eulis York
GREENWOOD
Baseball
Cameron Crick
Nolan Denbo
Gunnar Garrison
Ryan Pruitt
Softball
Dominique Proctor
Lea Rees-Scott
Tori Stout
Girls tennis
Alexa Ashmore
Emily Chatham
Ally Hussung
Maecee Terhune
Lindsey Tevalan
Wiejeanxu Xu
Boys track
Spencer Aaron
Harry Hardin
Preston Marunde
Charlie Scott
Girls track
Julia Arruda
Mallory Watson
Riley Weber
Athletic training
Kiley Tuttle
GREENWOOD CHRISTIAN
Baseball
Cameron Paulin
Softball
Yareth Chavez
Morgan Haynes
Gracie McDaniel
Abby Warner
Danni Whitney
Boys golf
Gabe Vessely
Boys track
Cole Boyer
Jake Kleingartner
Trey McCorkle
Jackson Miller
Caleb Roge
Dominick Scellato
Peyton Slater
Wil Tearman
Luke Walters
Girls track
Cassie Bigelow
Alexis Mead
Lily Rastenburg
Zoey Schaeffer
INDIAN CREEK
Baseball
Brett Coy
Xavier Ferris
Clay Key
Andrew Long
Chris Long
Wyatt Rund
Mitchell Walls
Softball
Talea Bowling
Jozie Farris
Kayla Lemmon
Haylee Mathena
Girls tennis
Brooke Coy
Ali Harris
Alyssa Pruitt
Boys golf
Hunter Meredith
Boys track
Avery Schaub
Girls track
Tesa Alexander
Sierra Bowman
Kassie Hill
Julia Sheets
Lissy Vanette
Unified track
Gabby Aders
Payton Allison
Rachel Anderson
Brandi David
Lily DeHart
Hannah Grider
Nathan Morgan
Owen Neathery
Jeremiah Payton
Lauren Pendleton
Logan Scott
Owen Sego
Avery Whitten
WHITELAND
Baseball
Ryan Boothe
Parker Brock
Nathan Cavaleri
Lane Stephenson
Brandon Stidham
Jackson Webb
Brynn Wilson
Softball
Delanie Gourley
Bri McCoy
Abby Nacio
Girls tennis
Kyleigh Blum
Madison Darling
Dayanarah Gonzalez
Emma Harris
Toni Joyner
Lejla Mujkanovic
Lilliana Santiago
Sophie Venter
Boys golf
Walter Brady
Collin Godar
Jacob Johnson
Zach Ricketts
Boys track
Logan Beers
Jacob Brown
Geoffery Fudger
Mohammed Mubarak
Michael Nino
Travis Phillips
Vishwajyot Singh
Girls track
Paris Bawi
Lily Cain
Alex Halle
Ashley Strieb
Caitlin Taylor
Erika Walling
Lacrosse
Nick Adams
Connor Albright
Ethan Belich
Zane Burnside
Joey Fillenwarth
Trevor Moorman
Gabriel Sturm
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