Coronavirus In Sports: Villanova Softball Player Paige Rauch Focusing On Next Year After Outbreak Put Breaks On Dream Season
VILLANOVA, Pa. (CBS) -- When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of all college sports, it also brought the end of a great season for one of the best softball players in the country. When the Villanova softball season abruptly ended, so did Paige Rauch's dream season.
"It's obviously necessary but at the same time, it's kind of a bummer just because we were having such a great season, beginning of the season. Then just coming home and not being able to do anything, I know in New York we're kind of stuck in our houses," she said.
Her numbers are some of the best in the nation, leading the country in home runs with 12, and as a pitcher, she was fourth with 12 wins. She's a true do-everything player.
"I've coached over 20 years and really hadn't had quite the player like her," Villanova head softball coach Bridget Orchard said. "Both on the field and off the field, personality-wise, leadership wise and obviously athleticism, just the total package. It's rare. It's been so much fun, which is why I think it's even more devastating that we may come to not being able to finish the season."
Rauch already can't wait to be back on the field next year.
"My parents are already planning out trips they're going to. I've already started working out, I go to the field where no one is and I start hitting, so just putting the work in for next year," she said. "It's kind of a bummer that the season ended but at the same time I can't dwell on that, so just focusing on the remaining year or years I have left."
So don't close those record books just yet.