MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The pop of a glove. The crack of a bat. The music of spring returning to White Station High School after far too long of a winter.
"The sounds, and the guys and the camaraderie," White Station baseball head coach Wade Walter said. "It's all part of it."
Spring sports in Shelby County Schools can finally get back on the field this week; one year removed from the pandemic shutdown that wiped out almost all of the 2020 season.
"We got one game in, in the rain," Walter said. "And then I think COVID hit right away, like the day after."
Softball didn't even get that much.
"Being in the house for months on end all year, it's really good to be back with my team," senior softball leftfielder Amanda Matheney said.
Worries of a second cancelled season mounted as fall and winter sports fell by the wayside. Some teammates, and friends, even transferred to private or municipality schools that were playing, over recruiting concerns. Senior baseball first baseman/pitcher Gordon Brode stayed at White Station and is grateful to have one last go-around as a Spartan.
"I'm not going to play college baseball so it's really nice to have a chance to end things on a good note and to have control over it," he said. "Really to have control over anything these days is special."
After a year away, the Spartans have a lot of rust to knock off before Monday's season opener.
"It's going to be hard. But they can do it," Walter said. "They can do it."
A challenge they have never been so thrilled to take on together.