ST. PAULS — While many teams have voiced their displeasure of getting to start the season only for it to be abruptly ended a few games in, St. Pauls softball coach Phillip Tyler just wishes his team was that lucky.
The Bulldogs were set to start the year late because both St. Pauls basketball teams ventured into the third round of the state playoffs, and inclement weather along with scheduling conflicts kept the team from getting a game in before the break from the season.
“I’ve been reading what the other coaches have been saying about getting a game or two in and stopping. I’d take just one game,” Tyler said. “Other than the scrimmages, we haven’t had an official game.”
With the lack of time on the field together, Tyler said he never got to see his team’s potential.
“The main thing is I wanted to see them play to see what we could do,” he said. “We had a lot of younger players so I wanted to see what they were capable of.”
The team had two seniors, Bessie Locklear-Kamaka and Jazlyn Washington, who had their experience with the program. Locklear-Kamaka had been with the program for four years and Washington for three.
“They were looking forward to hosting the Slugfest this year and when the word came down it was canceled, it really dampened their spirits,” Tyler said. “I hate it for them, but I really hope we could at least get to come back at least for a senior night.”
Locklear-Kamaka is a clean-up batter who also played in the outfield, and Tyler said the plan was to use Washington as a workhorse in the pitcher’s circle and some infield this season.
The team has six juniors that were expected to be key contributors this season.
“We’ve got a lot of juniors so I think they should help next year and we should be better, but then again it’s hard to say what we would’ve been,” Tyler said. “They were starting to gel. We had a lot of younger kids and they were starting to build some camaraderie.”
St. Pauls went 6-15 last season and lost four seniors from that team.
In the meantime, Tyler has been keeping in touch with the players during the trying times.
“I have a Google classroom with the team and we’ve had a chat going on there. Some of them can’t grasp it yet. All they see is that their season is gone,” Tyler said. “I’ve been trying to keep them upbeat. They wanted to play but I try to tell them the main thing they need to worry about is their families and the their health and well being right now.”
The St. Pauls baseball and girls soccer teams started the season 0-1.
The baseball team had seven seniors, most of which were underclassmen leaders in past seasons looking to close out their careers with a solid year.
“We had high hopes for them with some underclassmen and some seniors that were stepping up and ready to lead,” coach Matt Hunt said. “There was a lot of promise but we missed a whole year.”
Seniors D.J. Hinson, Jadakyss Glover-Graham and Caleb Henderson were all expected to see time on the mound this season, while players like Henderson, Tyler Baker and Erikison Emanuel would be leaders at the plate. Henderson was an all-around standout for the Bulldogs in the past and would be able to play virtually anywhere on the field.
Quamaree Smith and Kelvin Oretaga, were making their returns to the diamond this season.
“I felt like we could’ve finished third or fourth in the conference,” Hunt said. “We should’ve been able to compete and got some quality wins.”
Hunt also said that the year lost is a step in the wrong direction for his talented underclassmen
“With these kids missing a year, it’s like they are starting back from the beginning with three years to go,” he said. “We had seven seniors and I think we had six or eight starters that would be underclassmen.”
Jazmine Lorenzo was the lone senior on the girls soccer team, according to the roster on MaxPreps.
