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Teams
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& S L O L F A T B B E S
Back! ARE
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by Steve Gamel
arcus baseball coach Jeff Sherman didn’t just think he had a good team heading into the 2020 high school season. He knew that he had a state champion ball club in the making, and you couldn’t convince him otherwise.
are eager to make up for lost time. Both the baseball and softball seasons are officially underway, with many teams
planning to win big as district play starts in
“Man, I had six [pitchers] deep — all
“It was just so numbing because of how
any time, and, offensively, no one could
“I remember us coming back from a
“I have guys who are now in college at
It was gut-wrenching to see all of that get
said. “They are excited for us.”
throwing 90 plus. I could put anyone in at hold us down. We were 11-2 and had
already faced 11 or 12 Division I pitchers. So, we had faced everyone’s best up to
that point,” he said. “We were primed and ready — all seniors and juniors. They were ready to beat everyone.”
Sadly, the Marauders never got a chance to prove their coach was right. After just
13 games, both the baseball and softball seasons were shockingly canceled
because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There’d be no chance to play the
game they loved. There’d be no district championships or deep playoff runs.
More importantly, no champion would be crowned.
44 | LANTANA LIVING | MARCH 2021
great we were playing,” Sherman said.
mid-March.
tournament in California, and it was over.
Rice, etc., sending me texts,” Sherman
taken away.”
Guyer softball coach Keith
Marcus wasn’t the only program affected by the pandemic. No one played,
including other teams right here in Denton County. Teams in the Murray Media
coverage area include Flower Mound,
Guyer, Argyle, The Colony, Hebron, Liberty Christian, Lake Dallas, Justin Northwest,
and Byron Nelson. Overall, that’s 20 teams between baseball and softball.
No one can go back and fix the past. But as everyone turns the page to the 2021
season, several area coaches are speaking on behalf of their players — all of whom
Medford agreed.
“I’d be lying if I said we didn’t get knocked to our knees by this last year,” he said.
“Not getting to complete a full season
makes us very appreciative for this season. We are thrilled to death to be competing again.”
Argyle baseball coach Ricky Griffin added his own take. And rightfully so. His team was coming off an unbeaten run to the
Class 4A state title in 2019 and had many
of the same pieces in place to defend that title before the season was ended.
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