KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)- The Christian Academy of Knoxville Warriors would be in the thick of their season right now but instead, they’ve struck out–facing their toughest opponent to-date: COVID-19.

Like all spring sport student-athletes across the state, the Warriors are stripped of their season. The team only got in two games, both shutouts, before COVID-19 took the mound.

The TSSAA’s difficult decision to call the season is tough for everyone involved, but it’s especially difficult for the seniors who were stripped of their last season ever playing for their school.

“We kind of held onto hope here to the end,” CAK head coach Tommy Pharr echoing what a lot of sports fans held onto this year, hope. “You kind of knew in the back of your mind that you might not have an opportunity, but ya know when it finally happened it was sad.”

For senior Connor Jurek, who has been playing for CAK since 6th grade, dealing with the realization that he will never play in a royal blue and gold Warrior jersey again is tough.

“It’s weird to think I’ll never wear a CAK jersey again and play on that field again.”

His now former teammate Austen Jaslove compares the abrupt end to his high school baseball career to a “punch in the gut.”

CAK’s seniors (Jaslove, Jurek and Brandt Hensley) were a part of the three consecutive state titles, and were aiming for their fourth and final title this season.

“I was still holding out a little bit of hope that we were going to come back sometime in May, and we would have playoffs, and we were going to have a chance to defend the title,” Jurek says, “I mean it’s pretty devastating not to have the chance.”

For Pharr, defending their title would have been great, but it’s the lost time with his team that hits home.

“We haven’t seen each other in five weeks now. The time we would’ve gotten to share, to me, that’s the biggest lost. The wins, losses, all that stuff that’s great and fun but the time together, to me, that’s the biggest loss.”

Devastated after receiving the news his team would officially have no season, the only thing Pharr could express to his guys was that he was sad for them, and that he loved them.

While it was not the ending anyone wanted, the three seniors leave their mark on CAK’s baseball program as achieving the great feat of not one, not two, but three state titles in 2017, ’18, and ’19.

For both Jaslove and Jurek, this is not the end of their baseball careers. Jaslove is trading in the Royal Blue and Gold for Orange and White, playing for Tony Vitello as a Tennessee Vol. Jurek will continue his career as a Spartan, playing for the University of South Carolina Upstate.

From the hard work and preparation they put in for each season, to the three state titles, fond memories created on the road, and everything in between–the “brotherhood” they created as a Warrior is a bond that transcends high school.

CAK joined the #BetheLight movement, lighting up their stadiums and fields last night, to honor the senior student-athletes.

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