300th win on hold, Gendreau feels far worse for his seniors
3rd-year Notre Dame Prep coach laments ‘heartbreaking’ reality
Coach Jason Gendreau will not hit the 300-win mark in high school baseball this spring, but his concern is more for the seniors who will miss their final season.
Gendreau, who is in his third year at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, has 292 wins on his resume as head coach and was certainly poised to hit that 300win mark after 23 and 27 wins in the two previous seasons.
All Michigan high school sports were shut down in March due to an executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s kind of a weird thing, I’m bummed out about it but at the same time it’s hard for me to be bummed out about it, when at least I have next year to get that. I have seniors who will never get that back,’’ Gendreau said.
He had two seniors coming back — Blake Bur (Michigan State) and Joe St. Andre (Michigan). Neither will play baseball in college so this was their last shot.
“They never got to play an inning of their last chance to play. There are thousands of kids in this area, it’s heart-breaking,’’ said Gendreau who was the varsity baseball coach at Utica Eisenhower before moving to Notre Dame Prep.
The Notre Dame Prep baseball team was practicing when the MHSAA made the call to end the season.
“We were a day away from a scrimmage,’’ Gendreau said.
He had to break the news to the team when the final decision was made.
“We kept losing a little bit of hope each day until the final straw was snapped, so to speak,’’ Gendreau said.
It also means no chance for the high school all-stars to play in the annual game at Comerica Park in June.
“I still think they’re taking nominations, but the idea of them playing, I would say that situation it’s not officially canceled, but it is a long shot,’’ Gendreau said. “That rips away opportunity for a lot of deserving seniors.’’
He also runs Five Tool Baseball and Fastpitch, one of the largest such clubs in Michigan. It features 20 baseball and softball teams.
“That’s a whole other dynamic — 40 coaches under me and 300 kids and no one is getting to play,’’ Gendreau said. “It’s canceled up until this point, with the rest of the season looking more and more grim.’’
Sports has taken a big hit during the coronavirus shutdown, but Gendreau keeps it in perspective.
“It’s impacted everyone. I know sports is a big part of all our lives but you know there’s so many bigger impacts going on,’’ he said.