It’s been six days since the announcement was made that the Illinois baseball spring 2020 season along with all Big Ten spring sports, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To be sure, this has hit the team, the parents and the baseball program hard. Beyond just canceling games, all recruitment and in-person team activities have been suspended.
As time goes by, the prevalence of the virus and its effects at the University not to mention the country as a whole, has increased. COVID-19 is not going away and it will probably get worse before it gets better.
The University has suspended all in-person classes for the rest of the semester as well as canceled commencement ceremonies at the end of the academic year.
From my perspective as a IT person at the University, we are busy preparing faculty and staff to work remotely. All employees are encouraged to not work at the office if possible. I’m sure this will affect the Division Intercollegiate Athletics work policy.
In that light, Coach Hartleb gave a remote teleconference on Wednesday and hit on a lot of topics including his bittersweet support of the suspension of the season.
Hartleb touched on the uncertainty of the MLB Draft and the eligibility extension.
I will say that I am impressed how the player seem to be handling this difficult situation… especially from the seniors. Both Garrett Acton and Ty Weber had a chance to remotely speak to the press as well.
Garrett who now holds the Illini record for saves, strongly supported the Athletic Director Josh Whitman.
He also spoke about the personal growth of those on the team.
Ty Weber says the situation hasn’t fully hit him yet. A lot of it is day to day, right now. That said, he is physically and mentally preparing himself for what may come.
Ty did speak on the option of the extended eligibility which could add one more year to his eligibility to play for the Illini. In his interview, Coach Hartleb likened it to a redshirt for every team member.
Very impressed with both Garrett and Ty and their mindful approach!
Finally just to end on a slightly positive note, take a look at this article that the Illinois Baseball had prepared for the game against Dayton which is near Coach Hartleb’s hometown. It’s worth a look just to see a photo of Coach Dan as a kid!