Coronavirus cut short what would have been a likely title contending season for Junction City softball, but the legacy left by their senior class will be felt far beyond 2020.
And tomatoeses sports is worth everything.
We all might have known that before all this happened but never has it been more apparent than it is right now.
We feel the loss...for many of us...like we would losing something as vital as a friend or a piece of innocence that we clung so tightly to.
Athletes around the country feel this even more than fans or those of us that have the luck and privilege to make our livelihoods talking about it.
In these moments of grief...we turn to memories....the one thing powerful enough to take moments of emptiness and replace them with joy.
To do what our mothers told us to...simply to turn a frown upside down.
We hope to accomplish that with this series.
It won't replace what we might have seen this season...but one thing no virus will ever take away...is the memories you have made on the road to where we are now.
So let's take a trip...smile where we can...and remember.
Mike campbell: softball is a sport, regardless of your level of athleticism, if you want to put the work in you can be really good.
They have worked with the young kids, they've lit a fire in the community, softball is a big deal again.
I think their legacy is not just in the wins and losses but how they've done it.
Junction city softball's class of 2020 will leave a legacy regardless of what transpired this spring.
A legacy upheld by their three senior starters: jenna kitser, abby bumcrot and lilly bauer.
So let's go back to the start.
Jenna: abby has always been the diehard, always want to be at the field kind of person and i'm kind of like that so we just connected really fast.
Lilly is also super fun.
Always outgoing and stuff.
Jenna: i did not think that we would ever make the semis or go as far as we did.
To think that we'd be a team of 4 all-staters that was impressive.
We were definitely excited and had those freshmen and just had those nerves pitching and catching.
Running the game as freshmen.
Bauer transferred her sophomore year but felt the connection immediately.
Lilly: out here everyone made me feel like a family right away and always picked me up no matter what i was doing.
These girls have basically become my family.
The program racked up wins and league titles...but the best stuff came between the games...like in the gym at mcloughlin's annual tournament.
Abby: last year the whole team, we sleep in the machi gym so we set up a tv and we'll watch movies and stuff.
But we made a tiktok our whole team and stuff.
It was funny.
None of us can sing or dance but you can imagine how that went.
Lots of games between everyone.
Just those memories that we'll never get back again.
You'll never have the same group of girls after high school obviously.
But the best memory came before during and after that quarterfinal game...defeating rival marist.
Lilly: right before that game we actually had, the day before we had written down everything we thought we did bad or thought we did wrong and we put it into a bucket, we burnt the ashes, we put it onto the pitchers mound and burned it.
Before the game we put it on the mound and after the game we threw it in the air because everything was done and we won.
The 2019 season ended in the semifinal...and now bauer heads to bushnell...formerly ncu...kitster to montana state billings and bumcrot to boise state.
But they sure won't lose touch.
Abby: we're all a big family.
I think we'll all stay in touch and i think that's the one thing i want to do is all be close still even in the future.
Which rounds things back to legacy.
And even with only three years...junction city softball means something.
Jenna: i also think that we left a legacy for the younger girls to follow in that we were really involved in the community which is something i'm most proud of is we were able to bring the softball together a little bit more than we had before and make girls excited to play for junction city.
And that is something that will stay with the three even after their college careers have concluded.
((adlib
Despite losing out on their 2020 season, the Junction City Track & Field senior class will look back fondly on their memories..