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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020
Canceled: Spring sports season was to be a special one
Continued from Page A1
It was hoped that the spring season would
represent a second chance to end the sports
year on a positive note.
But Wednesday’s announcement dashed
those hopes .
“This is defi nitely not the way I pictured
ending my high school sports career,” said
Warrenton senior baseball player Jake Mor-
row, who will at least get to continue to play
at Linn-Benton Community College.
Most athletes learned of the decision
through phone calls or text messages.
“It’s devastating to all the seniors who
have to hang up their cleats as they fi nd out
through Facebook or a text,” Morrow said.
“It’s sad to think that I’ll never get to fi n-
ish off our season at our home fi eld. This is
something you will look back 40 years from
now and still get emotional from it.”
Teammate Devin Jackson felt the same
way.
“This is a very sad way to end it,” he said.
“Especially thinking this is really a one-in-a-
lifetime experience and having to be the class
to deal with it. It is not how I was hoping to
end my high school career, let’s just say that.”
For the Astoria girls, it was another blow
to an otherwise successful year in several
sports. The volleyball team fi nished the sea-
son as the fi fth-ranked team in the state; bas-
ketball was ranked fourth and had a record of
22-3; and softball had high hopes of a league
championship.
Senior Julia Norris played all three sports,
and was all set for her fourth and fi nal year of
softball, as Astoria’s No. 1 pitcher.
“For me it was sad to hear my sports sea-
son was coming to an end,” she said. “I never
would’ve thought this would happen our
senior year.”
In softball, “I believe we would’ve gotten
league champs and had a good run at the state
tournament.”
Warrenton’s Kenzie Ramsey, another
senior three-sport athlete (football, basket-
ball, softball), was pretty straightforward
about her feelings.
“It’s a super-crappy way to end it,” she
said . “I’m really bummed out. This season
was growing on me, and I have a center fi eld
to protect.”
Indeed, the Warrenton baseball team also
had big plans.
“This spring was going to be something
special,” Morrow said. “We’ve all been wait-
ing for it since our freshman year, and com-
ing off solid football and basketball seasons
we were all excited to get back out on the
fi eld. We knew what we needed to work on
to be one game better than last year, and we
were all determined to fi nish our senior sea-
son the right way.”
Senior Madelynn Weaver was the starting
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
LEFT TO RIGHT: Warrenton High School senior Mark Warren was the state champion for shot put last year. Senior Kenzie Ramsey was a three-
sport athlete at Warrenton High School. Senior Julia Norris was Astoria’s No. 1 pitcher.
pitcher for the Knappa softball team, which
had high hopes, as well.
“This was a very weird year for sure,” she
said. “Lots of sudden changes to my daily
schedule and now life.
“I felt that this year had a good look to it.
We had something going for us, and we were
getting more people interested in this season.
As a pitching staff, we went from having one
to two pitchers my freshman year, to having
fi ve this year. Our program is building, and in
the next few years the girls are going to soar.”
Return to title game
Meanwhile, Knappa baseball was seek-
ing a return to the state title game after los-
ing in the semifi nals last season. The Loggers
played in four straight championship games
from 2015 to 20 18, winning three.
In his fi rst two years of high school base-
ball, Logger senior Eli Takalo fi nished both
his freshman and sophomore seasons as the
winning pitcher in the championship game.
“After coming up short last year, me
and the boys were looking forward to get-
ting another crack at it,” Takalo said. “I am
grateful that my baseball career won’t end
here though,” as he has already signed on to
play next season at Mount Hood Community
College.
Individually, Warrenton track senior Mark
Warren — state champion in the shot put last
year — was hoping for an even bigger 2020
season.
“It was a sad way to end it, having no
choice but to give up everything I’ve worked
so hard for, for many years. I’ve been train-
ing since football season ended. My throws
are looking great,” said Warren, who got in
two weeks of practice before the OSAA shut
down the season.
Judging by his pre season marks, Warren
was hoping to set new school records in both
the shot put and discus. Now, he’d settle for
just one more track meet.
“If I only had one meet … something I
took for granted and will never see again in
my high school career.”
There are some teams that have a silver
lining, or some good news to point to —
teams that have very few or no seniors at all.
Seaside boys golf was going to be strong
this season, and the Gulls (second at state last
year) will be strong next year, seeking their
fi rst state title since winning back-to-back
championships in 2014 and 20 15.
Seaside girls golf had just two seniors, and
co-coach Mike Verhulst said, “We really had
some big goals this year. Our entire varsity
squad was back from last year. After com-
peting at the state championship last year, we
had some big goals to head back to state.”
Verhulst and co-coach Ed Arden are both
“really bummed by the season issues with
COVID, and taking that opportunity away
from the girls, and especially the seniors,”
he said. “We were really excited to see the
size of the program grow, and the number of
freshmen that came out this year. We will be
in great shape for next year.”
While there are teams like Astoria base-
ball (10 seniors on their pre season roster) that
will have to rebuild in 2021, there are oth-
ers like the Seaside softball program, with no
seniors at all.
Still, Gulls’ softball coach Jessica Garri-
gues holds a soft spot for other teams that do
have seniors.
“I cannot imagine how seniors are feeling
right now, with the remainder of their school
year and seasons being put on hold,” she said.
Last week, in previewing her team before
the season was cancel ed, Garrigues said,
“With our season on hold, I have encour-
aged the girls to stay connected with each
other, stay active, and read ‘Mind Gym,’ a
book I gave them about the mental side of the
game,” she said.
“Now that we are all settling into our rou-
tines at home and learning that we may not
get to play at all this season, we’ll be connect-
ing again soon on a team level to stay united
and remember what we can control during
this time.
“I look forward to seeing my girls again
soon, and getting out on the ball fi eld when-
ever we can.”
With the spring season over , many ath-
letes can turn their attention to summer
sports, competing for club teams, playing
j unior b aseball or softball .
Then again, those teams will need fi elds .
And school facilities are still off-limits.
“We’re all hoping that the OSAA or the
state doesn’t place a moratorium on summer
activities,” Wolfe said. “The OSAA is sup-
posed to meet again later this month, and that
will be one of the subjects. And the OSAA
has within its power to place moratoriums on
summer ball as well.
“From the optimistic point of view, I’m
hoping that we’ll be allowed to do things in
June and July, and most coaches are of the
same thinking. We just want to play ball.”
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This is a time for our community to come together and support each other.
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