Hunter Osborne
JRNM 151

For the second consecutive season, the Lorain County Community College’s baseball team has to take a seat on the bench.
The 2021 season has ended before it began for the Commodores, just like the 2020 season. After two off-seasons of hard work and dedication, Coach Bill Frawley is disappointed his squad won’t get the chance to take the field.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” said Frawley. “It’s a year or two now that these guys won’t get back because of the virus. I just want to coach, and let my players have some fun.”
Frawley has been coaching at LCCC for over 15 years now and has had some disappointing seasons, yet none worse than this one. “I just wish there was something I could do, but I can’t,” he said in a recent interview.
Most importantly though, Frawley feels for his players who had to miss out on two seasons due to the pandemic. “I feel terrible for them. When it’s all said and done, I get to come back and coach. Mostly all of these guys won’t come back to play because they’ll be on to bigger and better things. I’m very proud of the young men they’re becoming off the field.”
Since March 2020, recruits and college coaches have been in a constant state of uncertainty as the NCAA monitors the coronavirus pandemic and makes changes to the recruiting rules and calendar. As a result of the NCAA’s suspension of in-person recruiting, college coaches have shifted to recruiting digitally. This means coaches are relying more heavily on online recruiting networks like NCSA or Field Level to discover, communicate with, evaluate and recruit talent.
“I love using Field Level. I usually have my guys sign up for it right before the season starts so we can get colleges to look at them. Obviously, we can’t do that this year,” said Frawley. Frawley added he had players coming in from different states including Minnesota, California and North Dakota to try out for the team this year.
Frawley said he is already looking forward to the 2022 season with his team.
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