Seniors Alexa Romero and Toni Martin looked at each other, worried. It was March 12, and Syracuse was scheduled to play in the Tiger Invitational in Memphis the next day. But their plane was still sitting on the tarmac at Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport.

“All Syracuse softball players, please leave the plane,” a flight attendant said over the intercom.

The announcement was surprising, Romero said. Yet, it was also inevitable. Earlier that day, the Atlantic Coast Conference suspended the men’s basketball tournament. That afternoon, Syracuse University suspended on-campus instruction. As the softball team arrived at the airport, there was still no word on the status of its season.

“We were getting ready to go to Memphis and everything had been starting to get canceled,” Romero said. “I’m like, ‘Are we getting on this plane? Are we not getting on this plane? What’s happening?’”

Just before the plane took off, head coach Shannon Doepking made the decision not to attend the Tiger Classic. She told her players that being stuck in Syracuse is better than in Memphis, if anything were to happen while the team was there. At the time, the state of Tennessee had only 18 cases of COVID-19, but the Orange’s 10-10 season — which included back-to-back wins on the road against North Carolina the previous weekend — came to a standstill.

“I didn’t really know what to think,” Romero said. “I was like ‘this can’t be it, this is not how my senior year is going to end.’”

Doepking knew the decision was especially hard for Martin and Romero, her two seniors. During Syracuse’s team meeting in the middle of the airport, Doepking made sure to comfort the pair who potentially had their season taken away from them.

“Toni and I were just sitting there in awe, because we’re the only two seniors, and we didn’t know what to expect,” Romero said. 

After the meeting, the team returned to Manley Field House, where they were told the rest of the season was suspended. The NCAA canceled all spring championships later that day, effectively ending Romero and Martin’s time at Syracuse. 

At the time of the cancellation, Romero was tied for third all-time with 42 wins and was just six away from second. Martin’s six career triples put her tied for seventh all-time — two more would give her sole possession of fifth place. Both had their last 32 collegiate games and a chance at making history taken away from them.

“[Romero] has had some really great years for us,” said Doepking. “You know she is still a very great pitcher and is going to be an important piece of the puzzle.”

The two seniors took to Twitter to reminisce with their teammates, and they both retweeted a petition to reverse the cancelation of championships. At that point in the Orange’s season, they’d defeated then-No. 20 Texas Tech in the Houston Challenge, won three out of five games to claim the USF Tournament title and won their first conference series against North Carolina. They still had 21 regular season ACC games and several non-conference games remaining.

The petition didn’t work, but the NCAA announced March 30 that it would grant a fifth year of eligibility to spring athletes whose seasons were cut short. On April 15 and 16, respectively, Romero and Martin announced they will both return to Syracuse in 2021 for their final year of eligibility — ensuring the Orange has their ace and one of their top outfielders next season.

“I’ve wanted this dream and I’m finishing it the way I want to finish it,” Romero said. “So I’m gonna go back to Syracuse.”

Published on April 30, 2020 at 4:44 pm

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie