NCAA declares NC State out of College World Series because of covid-19 issues

OMAHA, Neb .– Vanderbilt will advance to the College World Series final after the state of North Carolina is forced to abandon due to Covid-19 protocols, the NCAA announced early Saturday.

NC State only had 13 players to play during their 3-1 loss to the Commodores on Friday. The teams should meet again on Saturday afternoon in a winner-take-all final in bracket 1.

The NCAA Division I baseball committee declared this game a no-contest.

“This decision was made based on the recommendation of the Championship Medical Team and the Douglas County Health Department,” the NCAA said in a statement. “As a result, Vanderbilt will make it to the CWS finals.

“The NCAA and the committee regret that the NC State student athletes and coaching team will not be able to compete in the championship in which they have earned the right to participate. Due to privacy concerns, we cannot provide further details . “

Vanderbilt returns to the finals for the second year in a row. The Commodores won the CWS 2019. Because of the pandemic, there was no tournament last year.

The Commodores will face Mississippi State or Texas in the best-of-three final from Monday.

NC State players and coaches gathered on home plate early Saturday to snap photos surrounding the CWS logo after the delayed Texas-Mississippi game ended.

NC State were four short of starting positions and only 13 of their 27 players were available for their Friday game, which was delayed an hour after the NCAA said it needed time to complete “health and safety protocols.” NC State said “multiple players” had entered the Covid-19 protocol.

After the game, North Carolina state coach Elliott Avent was frustrated and didn’t respond directly when asked if he or the baseball program encouraged players to vaccinate.

“My job is to teach them baseball, make sure they get an education and keep them on track,” he said. “But I’m not trying to indoctrinate my children with my values ​​or my opinion. Of course we talk about a lot of things. But these are young men who can make their own decisions and they have.”

Avent rolled his eyes when asked if he was vaccinated.

“If you want to talk about baseball, we can talk about baseball,” he said. “If you want to talk about politics or anything like that, you can speak to my sports medicine director, Rob Murphy.”

NC State did not immediately respond to a request for an interview with Murphy.

The NCAA does not require that athletes, coaches, and other staff working closely with a team be tested for Covid-19 if they are fully vaccinated and showing no symptoms. Those who are not vaccinated must be tested at NCAA championships. Tests are carried out every other day at the CWS.

Avent said he found out there was a problem 45 minutes to an hour before the game. He told ESPN during an in-game interview that non-team players were tested on Friday afternoon and, if negative, would have a chance to play in rematch on Saturday.

The regular players in the line-up were Austin Murr, who moved from first to left field; Jonny Butler, who switched from left to center; Luca Tresh at his usual fishing spot; Devonte Brown in his usual place in the right field; and Vojtech Mensik, who moved from third base to shortstop.

Carson Falksken played second in place of JT Jarrett, Eddie Eisert was named a hitter in place of Terrell Tatum, DeAngelo Giles moved up to third from Vojtech, and Sam Highfill, the No. 2 starting pitcher, played first base.

Avent said he gave his available players the choice of playing or surrendering on Friday. They all wanted to play, he said.

Avent told reporters on Monday that a disease was going through the team but didn’t mention it might be Covid-19. He said assistant head coach Chris Hart had been sick for five or six days and second baseman JT Jarrett and pitcher Cameron Cotter weren’t feeling well.

The pandemic severely disrupted college sports over the past year, and three teams dropped out of an NCAA championship event because of Covid-19: the VCU men’s basketball team, the men’s Michigan ice hockey team, and the Rice women’s volleyball team .

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/ncaa-declares-nc-state-out-of-college-world-series-because-of-covid-19-issues/