Fairfield baseball jelled too late

FAIRFIELD - At least there was a season.

No matter how a team's win-loss record looks from the summer of 2020, it was a victorious year.

The triumph was in the fact that baseball teams were allowed to play, something the track, soccer, tennis and golf teams were not allowed.

The Fairfield baseball team appreciated that and were happy to have played but the abbreviated season did not give them enough time to reach their peak.

'The negative of the season was that it was such a short season and such an inexperienced team, it took us a while to come together as a team,” Fairfield head coach Joshua Allison said. 'We started to see better baseball in the last week of the season and if we had more time, we would have continued to see growth.”

It was still a successful campaign because the Trojans were in uniform on the field of play.

The Trojans were 2-8 in the Southeast Conference to place fifth above Keokuk and 4-17 overall. The losses were more than the two previous seasons combined when the Trojans posted records of 26-5 in 2019 and 30-9 in 2018.

'I think we have been spoiled the last couple years,” Allison said. 'But we will get better.”

The Trojans were young even though there were eight seniors. Those players did not see a lot of action the previous years.

Seniors in 2020 were Carter Ferrel, Josh Brewington, Drew Martin, Elan Ledger, Matthew Swanson, Cam Ledger, Landon Kooiker and Gage Hook.

'Our senior class came to practice with a great attitude everyday,” Allison said. 'They were a patient and dedicated group of young men. Many of them didn't get a crack at varsity until this year, but they kept working to improve their baseball skills.”

The Trojans don't hand out individuals awards at the end of the season.

'We always try to promote team first and no individual,” Allison said.

The group of seniors were aware of their responsibilities and set an example for the younger guys on the team.

'The benefits of the positives and the negatives really falls on the underclassmen,” Allison said. 'They had a chance to see what the senior leaders started doing toward the end of the season to bring the team together and will have a blueprint for next year of how to get all the guys on the same page - team first.”

'The biggest positive of the season is that we were able to play, especially important for the seniors,” Allison said. 'They were a great group of young men that will have success in life after baseball.”