They lost their final season, but South Florida’s spring sport seniors still left an impact
Ryan Delcorro was hoping for a big senior year. The Hialeah Gardens catcher-turned-outfielder was down to his last chance to make enough of an impression to receive an elusive college offer.
His season got off to a strong start. The Gladiators were 7-2 under new coach Julio Vinas. Delcorro led the team with seven runs batted in.
“I was playing great,” Delcorro said. “... Until it ended.”
Delcorro’s season, and the seasons for all spring sport athletes in Florida, first stopped on March 18 and was ultimately canceled for good on April 20 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
This meant an unceremonious end to the high school careers for players such as Delcorro, and he’s certainly not alone.
There are more than 2,500 high school seniors who participated in spring sports in Miami-Dade and Broward counties this academic year, according to rosters submitted to the Miami Herald by coaches and athletic directors from 122 schools in the two counties. This includes at least 75 players who participated in sports not sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association including badminton, beach volleyball, rowing, rugby and sailing.
Baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, lacrosse, water polo, boys’ volleyball, flag football and boys’ weightlifting are the spring sports overseen by the FHSAA in spring.
“The safety of our student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans is our top priority,” the FHSAA said in its April 20 statement. “With the evolving threat of the CORONAVIRUS [COVID-19], we must ensure that we do not contribute to the spread of this illness. We are deeply saddened for our student-athletes who have seen their seasons and/or high school careers end so abruptly. Our Association knows the impact and role high school athletics play in the lives of so many and will continue to work towards the betterment of high school sports. We know this is a trying time, but the health and safety of all is of utmost importance to this Association.”
The decision, while understandable, was nevertheless tough on those seniors who didn’t have the chance to end their final season on their terms.
From the state champions to the first-time athletes, from those who will continue playing their sport collegiately to those whose organized athletic careers have come to an end, there was a resonating theme in how their high school careers played out without a senior season.
Successful but unfinished.
Waiting for answers
When the FHSAA first postponed seasons on March 18, most senior student-athletes from the area were simply looking for answers.
Instead, they spent just more than a month waiting before being told their time was up.
“At first there was hope,” said Somerset Academy hurdler Johannie Beauvais, “and then defeat.”
The hope was warranted, even if it seemed inevitable that the season wouldn’t continue. The FHSAA said on March 31 there was a possibility to extend seasons as late as June 30 and that it would look into “creative solutions” if the situation presented itself.
Many stayed up to date by checking the news or by communicating with coaches and teammates through group chats. Others prayed. Others, while wanting to stay optimistic, became resigned to the fact that they weren’t going to play again.
“Every scheduled game day that passed by as I stay home was as a reminder of how this is over without an official cancellation,” Miami Palmetto lacrosse attacker Sofia Aguirre said.
But they kept practicing, kept working out, kept their regiments as consistent as they could despite not being around their teammates or coaches. If the season were to return, they wanted to be ready even if some had to improvise.
Plantation American Heritage utility softball player Kelly Torres, for example, has been hitting into a net in her backyard to simulate batting practice.
“But nothing compares to hitting live in a game,” Torres said. “I remained hopeful that the crisis would pass, but it became clear as time went on that not only spring sports but many people were going to be effected.’
By mid-April, the hope, just like their seasons, was gone.
“A mix of emotions,” Westminster Christian softball’s Lindsey Arana said. “I’ve felt on edge, I felt like there was a chapter missing that we never got to finish.”
The decision left teams around South Florida thinking about what could have been.
Miami-Dade and Broward counties last season combined to win 14 team state titles during the spring cycle: one in baseball (Miami Christian, 2A), one in softball (Coral Springs Charter, 4A), five in track and field (Miami Columbus, 4A boys; Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, 4A girls; Miami Northwestern, 3A boys and 3A girls; Hallandale, 2A girls), five in tennis (Miami Palmetto, 4A boys; Krop, 4A girls; Doral Academy, 3A girls; Miami Gulliver Prep, 2A boys and girls) and two in water polo (Gulliver Prep boys, Ransom Everglades girls). Another 10 teams were state runners-up.
The two counties also brought home 36 event titles in track and field and won eight of 16 individual tennis titles (singles and doubles) at the state championships.
And more success was likely on the way.
Thirteen baseball teams were ranked among the top 10 in their classifications. Three softball teams ranked among the top 25 in the state.
The Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop McCarthy and Miami Southwest boys’ volleyball were all poised for deep playoff runs.
The FHSAA split lacrosse into two classifications this year, which opened the door for more teams in the area to make deep playoff runs. St. Thomas Aquinas, Gulliver Prep, Pine Crest, and Ransom Everglades are the annual contenders.
‘A tough pill to swallow’
For some seniors, such as Cardinal Gibbons pitcher Timmy Manning, the cancellation of the season is just a hurdle to the bigger goal. Manning is signed to play for the Florida Gators and could possibly be selected in the shortened, five-round Major League Baseball draft next month.
Players such as Manning know they’re fortunate in this aspect. Their athletic careers aren’t over.
But for so many, their senior year of high school marks the end of their organized athletic career.
“Many kids are never going to be able to play the game they grew up loving again,” Manning said. “I’ll never get to play with my best friends again. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Which is why so many look forward to those senior moments, the ones the Class of 2020’s spring sports didn’t get to experience.
They didn’t get their senior night, which comes with the emotions of leaving their home field, track, court or pool for the final time. They didn’t get that full season to be a team captain, to play at the top spot in the lineup, to be the ace of the pitching staff or the anchor of the relay team.
“I knew playing in my last game would be bittersweet. It’s a moment that I was so excited for,” said Maura Pinder, a defender for the Coral Reef girls’ lacrosse team. “I am even more disappointed that I didn’t even know that our last game would be the last game.”
And then there were the individual milestones that were left incomplete.
Kirra Magana, a five-sport athlete at Miami Krop, had already won district titles in bowling, girls’ basketball and soccer. She wanted to complete the five-peat with flag football and softball this year.
Cooper City boys’ volleyball outside hitter Ethan Frankel was ready for his true breakout season. He started playing the sport as a freshman and joined a travel team the past two years to hone his skills. He helped Cooper City get start the season with a perfect 7-0 record.
“I feel as if I got cheated out of all the hard work I’ve put in throughout high school,” Frankel said, “because the one year I became the superstar, I couldn’t play.”
Coaches and athletic directors did what they could to create as much normalcy as possible since sports stopped.
End-of-the-year banquets and ceremonies took place over Zoom or other teleconference technology.
Gulliver Prep boys’ lacrosse teamed up with Ponte Vedra to play a virtual lacrosse game, which provided Gulliver’s three seniors with a sense of closure they might not have gotten otherwise.
“It just showed that they really care about our senior class and they didn’t want it to go unnoticed that we gave all we gave for the past four years,” Gulliver captain Marcelo Arteaga said. “They wanted to give us closure.”
Thanks for the memories
While the ending was abrupt, there were still highlights to take away from the three-plus years leading up to it.
For Miami Scheck Hillel’s Myles Gilbert, it was playing against Ransom Everglades at Crandon Park, the former site of the Miami Open, during the Class 1A regional tennis tournament in 2018.
“We didn’t win,” Gilbert said, “but I watched my favorite players play on those courts for years and it was cool to play there myself.”
For Davie University School girls’ lacrosse attacker Nicole Steiner, it was scoring her first goal this season after missing all of her junior year with a torn ACL. But she didn’t stop at just one goal in the Sharks’ 17-3 drubbing of Miami Country Day on Feb. 27. Steiner found the back of the net eight times and added three assists for good measure.
For Miami Carrollton’s Isabella Leano, it was her 2019 regional final tennis match against Miami Country Day. She battled the flu leading up to the tournament and was pulled from the semifinal a couple days earlier after her team had already clinched the win. Despite multiple medical timeouts and falling behind 2-4 in the second set, Leano won her match 6-4, 6-4, on the top court.
“The second I won, I let out the biggest scream,” said Leano, who helped the Cyclones reach the Class 1A state semifinals. “I did not believe I could have pulled it off all things considered.”
For Pembroke Pines Flanagan pitcher Nicholas Esposito, it was stepping to the plate for his first-ever at-bat for the Falcons during the Class 9A regional semifinal against Parkland Stoneman Douglas. He came up clutch with a two-RBI hit to give Flanagan a pair of insurance runs in their eventual 10-3 win.
For Cooper City’s Ethan Silverman, it was the game-winning block in a five-set thriller against Archbishop McCarthy last season. It sealed the Cowboys’ first win over McCarthy in five years.
For Doral Academy’s Nicole Gutierrez, it was the home run she hit in the final game of the season.
Diane Dohler set Flanagan’s girls’ lacrosse all-time scoring record.
Becky Bergnes broke three school track and field records at Miami Braddock, running the mile in 5:05, the 3,200 meters in 10:47 and was part of the school’s top 4x800 meter relay. Vincent Guerrero also broke Braddock’s school record in the 300-meter hurdles.
South Broward water polo goalkeeper Melody Wood scored two goals in the Bulldogs’ 2018 district final. The first tied the game late in regulation to force overtime. The second won the game and advanced South Broward into the state series. They ultimately reached the state semifinals.
For others, the highlights came from the routine.
The team dinners. The pregame pep talks. The trash talking on the sidelines or in the dugout. The post-practice runs to Chili’s. The bonding on bus rides for cross-state road trips.
For TERRA softball’s Vivian Vazquez, it was the laughter that came when teammates would slip running bases on wet turf (“Everyone was laughing,” she said.)
Who knows what other memories could have been made?
“As a senior, you want to keep playing until the last game,” South Miami tennis senior Dayrin Alvarado said. “Not being able to achieve all of our goals for the season makes us sad and anxious of not knowing what to expect.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 1:24 PM.
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