Segerstrom players celebrate after a big play last season. (File photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
Segerstrom High’s baseball team was putting it all together and the Jaguars were excited about their chances in the Golden West League.
Friday afternoon, they were among the players in Orange County who found out their seasons were put on hold when the Santa Ana Unified School District board decided to shut down all schools because of concerns over coronavirus. Students will continue to study through on-line courses and athletics could resume April 13.
Segerstrom was 6-5 overall and had jumped out to a 3-1 record in Golden West League play with three straight wins over Westminster (twice) and Ocean View. They were also looking forward to competing in the Ryan Lemmon Showcase for the second year in a row. That tournament was canceled Friday.
Segerstrom players and Coach Erasmo Ramirez watched the live telecast of the Santa Ana Unified Board meeting in which the decision was made.
“We were informed there on campus,” said Ramirez, who also has three daughters who attend schools in the district. “And that letter went out to the public and we pretty much knew that the schools within our district were going to be shut down and then.
“We knew in the morning that all athletics were going to be shut down. It was pretty fluid how everything materialized. I knew with the last 24 to 48 hours with school districts and other athletics going down, it was going to be a domino affect. We didn’t have any more opponents in our league to play against besides our own school district, Godinez, so we knew it was inevitable.
“Just like we tell our players, we got to persevere and we got to stay strong and stay positive. I think it’s the right thing to do, given the uncertainty of everything going on at all levels, professional sports, collegiate, all the way down to youth leagues. It was only right to have high school athletics be postponed also. What they’re trying to do is prevent the spread of this thing and you got to shut everything down, so I think our school district did the right thing with the department of education and everyone else involved. If it’s going to help, I’m all for it.
“As heartbreaking as it is to not be able to be out there with my boys and compete, it’s the right thing to do.”
After the players watched the board meeting, they met with the coaches in a meeting on the field for about an hour, Ramirez said.
“We spoke to them both about the athletic standpoint, baseball, and the academic standpoint, because that’s more important that anything else,” he said.
Ramirez stressed how important is was the players keep their grades up so they can remain eligible and be ready when the season hopefully resumes.
“I told them that as of now we are going to be postponing until April 13 and we won’t be able to have any organized practices and we won’t be able to do anything on campus and they’re going to be expected to stay in baseball shape…. and to be ready in case they allow us to play again, which we’re hoping.”
Ramirez said the players were disappointed, but understood the decision.
“There were a couple of the seniors who walked in and you could tell by the look on their faces that it was something they weren’t expecting and they’re hopeful it will come to an end soon and they can be back on the field,” the coach said.
“Some of these kids have put in four years of hard work and dedication to our program and they want to have a chance to hang up another league championship banner, especially with the way we were beginning to gel as a team and getting a couple good wins over Ocean View and Westminster over the last week and they were motivated to keep that ball rolling.
“But they know it’s much bigger than baseball. We re-iterated to them they need to take care of their parents and their grand-parents and their young siblings and that’s the priority right now and baseball will come once this thing calms down.”
Among the top players for Segerstrom have been including four-year players Andrew Barajas, Sebastian Diaz, Anthony Patino and Nicholas Ochoa and sophomores Bruno Banuelos (who is coming off a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts) and Zander Bretza.
“Quite a few guys were starting to get it going at the right time,” Ramirez said. “It’s just unfortunate that we’re going to have to be on a little hiatus because of what’s going on globally. My coaches and I are pretty confident that these guys will be able to stay strong mentally and keep up with they got to do in order to continue the success we’ve had.”
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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