Baylor ace Gia Rodoni is one of four Lady Bears' seniors who opted to return to the program for an extra year of eligibility this spring.
With COVID-19 shutting down the season on March 10, 2020, Baylor couldn’t wait to play softball again for the first time in almost a year.
The No. 18 Lady Bears have a lot of reasons to be excited.
Since the NCAA didn’t count last year’s shortened season against player eligibility, Baylor senior pitcher Gia Rodoni, first baseman Goose McGlaun, infielder Taylor Ellis and utility player Nicky Dawson all opted to come back for extra college seasons.
Glenn Moore’s squad has the makings of a powerhouse that hopes to return to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2017.
“I feel like I’ve been here forever, but it’s been the biggest blessing and I knew that once we got that year back that I wanted to come back,” said Rodoni at the start of practice in January. “So I’m just taking every minute in and soaking it in, knowing that this is going to be my last year.”
Now Rodoni and her teammates will have to wait another two weeks to start their softball season. But COVID-19 isn’t to blame.
A once-in-a-lifetime winter storm led to the cancellation of two season-opening tournaments, including the Louisiana Tournament last weekend in Lafayette and this weekend’s Getterman Classic. That’s eight games they won’t get back.
It was tough to be an athlete in 2020, and 2021 isn’t off to a great start either.
The spread of COVID-19 shut down college and high school seasons across the country last spring, and fall sports were hit or miss in 2020. The college basketball season is limping along, but a COVID outbreak can easily halt operations for two or three weeks.
It seems cruel to pile a catastrophic winter storm on top of COVID-related issues. Not since World War II stopped colleges from playing have athletes had such a tough time getting a chance to play the sports they love.
When we start getting upset about a canceled game we’ve been anxious to see, we need to first think of what the athletes are sacrificing.
Their time in the spotlight is brief: four years in high school for most, four or five years in college for some, and pro careers for a relatively tiny minority.
When Baylor guards Jared Butler and MaCio Teague decided to return to school after exploring the NBA Draft, the Bears were assured of being one of the top-ranked college basketball teams in the country.
The Bears have been as good as advertised, ranked No. 2 in the country with a 17-0 overall record and 9-0 in the Big 12. The hot debate in college basketball all season has been whether No. 1 Gonzaga or Baylor is the best team in the country.
So imagine the disappointment of players from both teams when their Dec. 5 showdown in Indianapolis was called off due to COVID issues with the Zags.
Imagine the frustration the Bears are going through now. When they return to action Tuesday against Iowa State at the Ferrell Center, it will be three weeks since their impressive 83-69 win over then-No. 6 Texas on Feb. 2 in Austin.
Baylor’s COVID-19 outbreak has forced the postponement of six games. Though the Big 12 will attempt to reschedule some of those games in the final two weeks of the regular season, there’s no way Baylor can squeeze in all of them.
After facing Iowa State, West Virginia and Kansas next week, rescheduling three postponed games in the final week of the season appears to be Baylor’s best-case scenario. The Bears will likely play no more than 15 of 18 Big 12 games.
Baylor’s goals of winning the Big 12 regular season, the conference tournament and ultimately the NCAA tournament are still attainable. The Bears are that good and that driven.
But the Bears, like their peers throughout different sports across the country, have sacrificed more just to get the chance to play than many generations before them. That’s something none of us should forget.
February 19, 2021 at 04:48AM
https://wacotrib.com/sports/college/baylor/john-werner-dont-forget-sacrifices-athletes-are-making/article_09726f1e-7233-11eb-92a0-5337bfb12263.html
John Werner: Don't forget sacrifices athletes are making - Waco Tribune-Herald
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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