Schools around the country are honoring their seniors every week with Friday Night Lights on their campuses.
The Helias baseball program wanted to do something special for its eight seniors. So it hosted its seniors Friday night at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"When I heard people were doing it, I knew we would have something out here," Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. "It means more when you do it at the place you play.
"If you stick with our baseball program for four years, that's quite a sacrifice. I wanted to make sure they were recognized for that, for their hard work and dedication."
Coming off their first Final Four appearance in more than a decade, the Crusaders had high hopes entering the season. Helias finished in a tie for third in Class 4 last year.
"We probably would have taken some bumps and bruises early as we got our pitching into shape," Wyrick said. "But if we worked hard and improved, which I believe we would have, it would have been nice to see how far we could have gone.
"But we know it's a bad deal for everybody this spring."
Helias' seniors - Trevor Austin, Griffin Buschjost, Kaleb Haley, Jason Haselhorst, Peyton Huddleston, Dawson Meyer, Zach Paschal and James Schaefer - would have been the backbone of the effort.
"We had a legit chance to go back to the Final Four and once you get there, anything goes," Wyrick said.
Austin, a shortstop who has signed to play at Missouri, leaves the Helias program in the top 10 in several all-time stat categories - including walks (second), hits (fourth), runs scored (sixth) and at-bats (ninth) despite missing his final season,
"He was on pace to set a lot of career records," Wyrick said. "He might be the best we've ever had here, it would have been fun to watch him play another 30 games."
Helias normally plays in a summer league with bigger schools around the area. The Crusaders will do that again this season, but with a twist.
"It won't be different than what we've done in the past, except we're going to play our seniors," Wyrick said. "I don't know how many teams are going to play their seniors, but we are.
"They want to play, they want to play together. This is a tight-knit group that likes being around each other."
The Crusaders will have a second team playing a varsity schedule to make sure the players get the same opportunity they would have when the squad did not play its graduating seniors.
Wyrick said he misses practice more than the games.
"There's more interaction with everybody," he said. "In games, you're more worried about the winning and losing. In practice, you work with everybody.
"Being with your teammates, playing and having coach yell at you and maybe a little cussing while you're running, those are bonding things. I hear that all the time from guys who come back."
It's the first time in more than 40 years Wyrick has not played or coached baseball during the spring.
"Now that I have had some time off, I realize I need to coach baseball," he said.
It's just been a strange spring for almost everyone.
"The kids miss playing, the parents miss watching, the coaches miss being around everybody," Wyrick said.