Chico State was ranked No. 2 in the nation before COVID-19 pandemic canceled season
CHICO » The Chico State softball team was preparing for its weekend series against Sonoma State when it received the shocking news.
A season where the Wildcats had achieved so much including two nine-game win streaks and being ranked No. 2 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll had abruptly ended.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which had already halted sports at the professional level, forced the NCAA and then the California Collegiate Athletic Association to cancel the remainder of spring sports. The decision was made official on March 12.
The Wildcats’ dominant season ended with an overall record of 19-2 and a 14-2 mark in the CCAA. Chico State’s final game was a 5-3 win over San Francisco State on March 8.
“Initially we were very emotional, we were in shock, and we were devastated. At the time we didn’t understand the gravity of the coronavirus and how it was all going to affect us,” said Chico State head coach Angel Shamblin. “We were in shock like ‘Oh my God, our season just ended.’ We’re still sad, but we have perspective, and we get it.”
The Wildcats had all the elements that were leading up to a successful year. Junior infielder Reilani Peleti led the team by hitting .415 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. Freshman Drew Rodriguez led the team with 20 RBIs for sixth most in the CCAA. In the circle, the Wildcats relied on two shutdown pitchers, Brooke Larsen and Sam Mulock.
“Everyone was super emotional for our seniors and didn’t really know how to react. Everyone was kind of in shock,” Larsen said. “I’ve never been part of such a special team than what we had this season.”
Larsen was on a tear of her own in her junior year. She posted a 9-2 record with a 0.99 ERA. She led the CCAA with five shutouts and tossed backto-back no-hitters against Cal State East Bay on Feb. 28-29.
Larsen was nearly unhittable, tossing 30 straight scoreless innings along with 18 straight shutdown innings.
Larsen, who’s been playing softball since she was 5 years old, is back in her hometown of Sacramento. Her daily routine is no longer based on the softball field and she doesn’t have a catcher to throw to.
“I am a pitcher — it’s hard to find things to do softball wise. My parents are too scared to catch me,” Larsen said. “I’ve been getting into running. I usually don’t run but now I have to, that’s my only option.”
The season’s sudden halt was especially a shock for the team’s two seniors, Mulock and Kristin Worley.
Along with Larsen, Mulock was another shutdown pitcher in the circle for the Wildcats.
Mulock didn’t drop a decision, recording a 10- 0 record on the year with a 0.79 ERA. She had the lowest ERA in the CCAA and was ranked 11th in the nation.
Mulock had just received her athletics sash for graduation the same day she learned the season was over.
“I feel like when the season ended and I wasn’t ready for it to end. We didn’t get a senior day, I realized you really can’t take anything for granted,” Mulock said. “They say play each game like it’s your last, and I’m actually happy to say that in every game I played in, I feel like I gave all I could. I feel like I did that.”
Worley, the senior shortstop and outfielder, was having her best year yet. She was hitting. 407, which raised her career batting average to .378, the highest of any player in program history. She’s also the all-time leader in runs scored with 148 and stolen bases with 110.
“I was really saddened by it because me and Sam (Mulock) had been at Chico State the whole time and we were waiting for this moment
and for it to end all of a sudden took our opportunity away,” Worley said.
Both Worley and Mulock were on the 2018 Wildcats squad that earned a trip to the NCAA Championship Tournament and also set a program record of 55 wins in a season. The two teams were comparable, and both players admitted the same kind of magic that had fueled the team in 2018 was present in the current team.
“We have a lot of versatile players who can play multiple positions,” Worley said. “I feel like this year’s team had a special kind of chemistry that made playing the game so easy. We probably could have won it all. I truly feel that and I believed in this team.”
Off the field, the players had close-knit relationships with one another and are genuinely friends, a quality that translated to strong
play on the field.
“For us, it was the bond that we had. We created a strong sisterhood with one another,” Worley said. “That’s what makes teams successful — the relationships you have off the field is what makes your team successful. Knowing that your sisters have your back no matter what.”
Now that each player is spread out across the state back in their respective hometowns, Shamblin is still trying to maintain that togetherness within the team. They hold weekly webcam meetings or Zoom meetings and the players contribute to their group chat every day.
“We’re in contact as coaches with them almost on a daily basis,” Shamblin said. “Our goal for the rest of the spring is to stay engaged and stay connected.”
Shamblin, who’s been coaching softball for 19 years — 11 at Chico State — is also still adjusting to life without softball.
“I miss them all so much. I miss the team, I miss softball, I miss competing with them,” Shamblin said. “It’s been really difficult. They’re my second family too.”
Shamblin has already started working on scheduling and looking into different tournaments to play in next year. But the hardest part about the season ending is wondering what could have happened, Shamblin said.
“The unknown in that is the most difficult part for us. Absolutely we had the potential (to win it all), unfortunately, we’ll never know the answer to that,” Shamblin said. “Hopefully our seniors come back next year, and we’ll have an opportunity to take care of some unfinished business.”
“Right now, I would take the most difficult day in coaching over sitting in my house. I’d give anything to be back with them.”
With the cancellation of spring sports, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility for senior athletes. Mulock, who is scheduled to graduate on time, is still unsure if she’ll take the extra year. She’s already been applying to graduate school.
Worley, however, said she will be returning to play one more season.
“I think that would be really cool to finish my senior year how it should have been,” Worley said.
A nearly identical lineup will be returning in 2021 with the hope of possibly making another deep run to the NCAA playoffs.
“I honestly think this team could have made it to the World Series. I had the feeling this season was the season, that we would have made it the farthest,” Larsen said. “We only had two seniors. I think next year we have a good chance to have a similar outcome to our season. I’m pretty motivated. I’m motivated to get into the same place we were when the season had to end — regain the momentum we had.”