TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn University baseball team began practice on Jan. 10th. This year’s team is hopeful they will be able to complete a full schedule of games, unlike 2020 when the season was cut short because of COVID-19.
“I think last year was a shock to everyone. We were hoping since baseball was an outdoor sport things would have been different, but that didn’t happen,” said Washburn University head baseball coach Harley Douglas. “This year we are feeling comfortable with the way things are going.”
Coach Douglas said the team is very experienced with 12 seniors on the team. He also boasted about freshman and Hayden High School product Andrew Schmidtlein.
“Arguably the top hitter in the fall,” Douglas said. “To be able to come in as a freshman and exhibit those type of skills is a testament to him and his competition at Hayden.”
Because of the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 baseball season was shortened to 40 games from the usual 50 games. The first home game for the Ichabods is set for 2 p.m. on March 5th against Missouri Southern University on Falley Field.
“It’s been an entire year since we have played competition baseball,” Douglas said. “We are looking forward to being able to put on a Washburn uniform and go out and play and have that Washburn pride.”
