By CARLOS OLIVARES & DENNIS ERTURK
Staff Writers
The 2020 baseball season has been canceled for the Broncos, in accordance with the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) president’s and chancellor’s boards.
The decision to officially cancel all competition, non-conference and conference sport competitions, as well as CCAA Championships through the end of the 2019-20 academic calendar, was made due to continuing developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The CCAA additionally prohibited all countable athletic-related activities for all sports as well as both on- and off-campus in-person recruiting until May 31.
The decision to terminate the season for intercollegiate athletics came as no surprise after essentially all professional sports postponed their seasons or canceled them.
For the seniors on the baseball team, the end of their college careers, as well as some of their baseball careers, ended in a way that nobody could have ever predicted. However, with the health and safety of the public as a number one priority, seniors sadly understood the complications that the virus has had on their season.
Senior infielder Matt Manskar was disappointed with how his senior season ended, but understands the decision made to cancel.
“It’s an uncanny feeling to have your senior season canceled,” Manskar said. “It’s very upsetting to have something that you’ve worked for tirelessly be suddenly taken away from you. The way we had been performing, I can’t help but wonder what could’ve been if we had played.”
The Broncos had eight seniors on the roster for the 2020 season, and now that it has been canceled, senior pitcher Gavin Velasquez shared his teammate’s sentiment.
“There are still some things that our coaches are trying to figure out as far as what the ruling on eligibility from the (National Collegiate Athletics Association) is going to be,” Velasquez said. “We truly believe that we had something special with this group of guys. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about this situation, so we have to move on.”
The Broncos only played 21 games out of their 50-game season, not including both the CCAA and NCAA tournaments.
For senior infielder Ryon Knowles, not being able to have his talents recognized this season has him questioning his future and appreciating baseball substantially more.
“I felt good and the team felt good, so from going 100% to just nothing was kind of a shock,” Knowles said. “I know a lot of the guys were depressed about it for a few days. It was tough knowing all the hard work that you just put in kind of doesn’t mean anything, so it was hard one to swallow.”
“If baseball is not in my future, I’m going into the real world, so it has given me that aspect of life and to not take the game for granted since it can all be over in the blink of an eye,” Knowles said.
To be a senior athlete fully capable to play in your last season of the sport you love, but be unable to due to a virus outbreak, is a detrimental situation for these seniors and others across the world. One could only imagine the pain these seniors feel and the speculations going through their minds.
