LAC BACKGROUND – The coronavirus pandemic has been fatal for Wisconsin but as tragic as the states that many Lake Dock Spiders players call home.
Before coming to Fond du Lac in June to play baseball in the Northwoods League, players saw first-hand how some of the country’s darkest conditions and fitness systems felt on the field.
The pandemic affected First Baseman University of Illinois Taylor Jackson twice. Jackson, from Chicago, is black.
WBEZ Chicago reported that black citizens of Chicago accounted for 70% of coronavirus deaths in April, when the United States arrived on its peak day showed daily deaths. Black citizens, however, make up only 29% of Chicago’s population.
The numbers invited jackson, who had some friends who had the virus, one “sick as a dog” and others wasted their sense of smell and taste for a day.
He said many other people were not dressed in a mask at the beginning of the pandemic, but that other people are now taking many more precautions.
“My first initial reaction was that I didn’t go home,” Jackson said. “I didn’t think it would happen to hit so hard, but it hit hard.”
To make matters worse for many Chicago black reactors, which come with most of the southern aspect of the city, few COVID-19 checkpoints were in their neighborhoods at the start of the pandemic, Jackson said.
He added that reviewing the sites lasted almost an hour under certain circumstances, a huge obstacle.
“I think the only control site that happens in Lincoln Park, and it’s north,” Jackson said. “Lincoln Park probably lasts 30 or forty-five minutes depending on the intensity on the south side. You had to move into the suburbs or something, which is pretty messy. They ended up putting control sites on the south side of Chicapass later, after posting statistics and things like that.”
While the cases shown with coronavirus began to increase in the United States in mid-June, the southern regions of the country experienced the highest increases.
The pitcher Ole Miss Tim Elko left her home state of Florida in early June to return to campus, just before the case curve intensified and Florida was the new epicenter of the pandemic. Florida reported a record one-day instances in the United States with 15,300 on July 12.
Elko said he probably wouldn’t be back in Florida until Thanksgiving, depending on decisions made about his categories and sports program.
“I’m happy to be here because it turns out he’s not that hectic here,” Elko said.
After about a week back at Ole Miss, Elko became quarantined because he was in close contact with a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
The result of Elko’s check came back negative, but he quarantined his late arrival for the Dock Spiders season. All Of Ole Miss’s baseball players passed a check once back on campus, and there were no plans to recheck them until their teammate got the virus, unlike regular checks in professional leagues.
When Dock Spiders players arrived at Fond du Lac before the season, they moved in with host families.
Elko lives with the same circle of relatives that he lived in the 2019 season and said this familiarity made him more comfortable than moving into a stranger’s space in a pandemic.
“I felt safe and knew everything would be blank and they were looking to do everything they could not to introduce the virus,” Elko said.
Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt’s hometown of Tate Kolwyck, was left off guard at the start of the pandemic. Memphis was still watching the extensive care rooms in his county nearly at full capacity the summer increase.
The mother of one of her friends the virus.
“She was coughing all day, she couldn’t catch her breath, so they took her to the emergency room,” Kolwyck said. “It’s come positive, but now it’s fine.”
Kolwyck recalls the moment he knew the coronavirus would be dramatic and disappointed the year.
“I think the day before (of our scheduled game) Kentucky, we were in our bedroom,” he said. “And that’s when Vanderbilt announced that the rest of the semester would be completely online, that academics could leave and everything.
“And at that time, we were 10 years old in my room. Everyone called their moms, their parents said, ‘Hey, we want to get through to this.’ I think from that moment on we knew that the season was also going to be driven to the point. Terrifying.”
The wave of cancellations and postponements of sporting events in March was a series of days that will be remembered.
“I only saw the tweets coming out of nowhere on game day,” Kolwyck said. “Simply”, the University World Series was cancelled, “this league was canceled.” We thought, “What’s going on?” Everybody’s confused. Then our coach (Tim) Corbin called us for a team assembly and gave us the news (our season cancelled). He came here out of nowhere. Everyone is very surprised.”
Kolwyck also said he felt that the citizens of his hometown wear his mask and take the pandemic much more seriously after not doing so early.
He is lucky enough to meet a single user who has the virus and is still aware of the pain he has caused in his hometown.
“It was a hot spot for a minute, you know, ” said Kolwyck. “The instances were booming. I think it gives me a broader concept of how we take it a little more seriously.”
Since then, Jackson has returned to Illinois because quarantine is required before returning to campus for the fall semester. Since late June, Chicago has forced others entering Wisconsin to be quarantined for 14 days due to the accumulation of cases.
Wisconsin exceeded the threshold of 1,000 deaths and set a record with 1,165 cases Saturday.
The national hot spot in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois reports 2,000 new 3 consecutive days for the first time since Saturday, May.
This occurs at a time when the NCAA’s peak meetings have cancelled or postponed their fall seasons due to the increased spread of the virus. Most Division I Power Five meetings have not canceled their season, however, student-athletes have expressed discontent with protocols instead.
Elko said other people needed to do the little things to prevent spread and contract the coronavirus.
“We just have to check to do our thing to escape, wear our mask and be courteous to others and do our best not to spread the virus,” Elko said. “We’ll check to cut it.”
Contact Jerell Rushin at 920-279-4974 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @jerellrushin_.