Lately it feels as if we are living in a sci-fi movie.
Sheltered-in-place by stay-at-home orders has been a bit surreal to say the least. But to see our beloved Brady & Gronk reunited – – on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – – it truly feels like the world has been turned upside down.
It got me thinking. What would make things a little better?
How about the Westfield High School boys volleyball team embarking on a quest to capture its sixth consecutive Western Massachusetts Division 1 championship trophy, and record fourth straight state title?
That would make me happy.
What about one of our area’s most successful coaches, Kyle Dulude, taking over the reigns as the head coach of the Westfield High School softball team? Another thrilling moment.
For several years, Dulude maintained a competitive softball and girls soccer program at Westfield Tech, got the most out of his boys basketball teams and took the boys soccer team to another level. He was expected to return the Westfield Bombers’ softball program to prominence.
Down the road at St. Mary’s, school officials, student-athletes, and parents were more than thrilled to resurrect a softball program’s varsity status after a lengthy hiatus. And that Saints’ team boasts a boatload of promising young talent.
The Whip City’s high school baseball teams were each set up for success in 2020 with coach Mike Kennedy (WHS), coach Bob Eak (WTA), and Joe Hepworth (STM) ready to take on all Western Mass. challengers.
Promising reports surrounding Westfield High’s lacrosse teams was fueling excitement.
A new co-operative agreement allowing St. Mary’s and Westfield Technical Academy track and field athletes to compete for Southwick was expected to rejuvenate a program once led by revered head coach Dick Atkinson for which their track and field are named.
St. Mary’s girls tennis head coach Frank Crosby was set to coach his senior daughter Jessica Crosby in her farewell season prior to graduation.
On Friday, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association did what most everyone had assumed after Gov. Charlie Baker recently announced the closure of schools for the remainder of the school year, cancelling the high school spring season.
The success stories in local sports likely would have been endless this spring but now, thanks to the coronavirus, will likely be but a flicker in the dark, or more accurately, a flutter in our hearts.
That’s OK though, because all of our hearts ache for you.
