Presbyterian Christian was hopeful for a strong 2020 campaign with a senior-laden roster. Sitting at seven wins on the season, the Bobcats had tied their 2019 campaign win total and had eyes on competing in the district with strong arms and solid batting. However, a postponement to the season, then this week’s announcement by the MAIS ended the hopes head coach Jarrett Hoffpauir had for the season.
“We were playing well, and that is what was so unfortunate. We had a couple of big wins with one over Gulfport and another over George County towards the end that got us going. The team was starting to gel well, unfortunately, it all got shut down before we could keep things rolling.”
“I’ve been able to text my team and seniors through this time. We plan on having a get-together with them once things get a bit more normal to honor the seniors on the team. We kind of had an idea of what was going to happen with everything else going on even though we were holding out hope. Once the MAIS made the announcement this week it hit everyone hard and things got real that it was over,” said Hoffpauir about the season.
“I had six seniors on this team and I knew after last season we had a good group coming back, and they were good leaders with good leadership qualities. They had done a good job of leading by example, doing things the right way, and getting this program to where we all wanted it to be. We expect next season for the underclassmen to have seen that and build on that foundation.”
Hoffpauir has three players who are planning on paying at the next level, with Brady Logan signing to Northwest, Harper Jordan who signed with Pearl River, and Jake-Riley Gunn who is undecided at this time.
“We are looking forward to following all three of our guys who are going to play at the next level, and we are excited about what all of our seniors are planning to do. We know they will represent PCS well no matter what they do.”
Despite Hoffpauir being around baseball most of his life, he has never witnessed a season cut short or canceled. That is why he told his team to leave it all on the diamond each time out.
“I haven’t been apart of anything like this and I hope we don’t again moving forward. You tell the guys to always play like it is your last game. You don’t feel like it will be your last game, then you look up and it is. I know it was a tough pill to swallow. I look at it as God had different plans, and you have to make the most of it. You have to understand He has a plan for all of us and we do what we need to do to fulfill those plans He has for us.”
