{"id":1320103,"date":"2020-05-19T16:45:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T22:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996336"},"modified":"2020-05-19T16:45:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T22:45:51","slug":"pandemic-shifts-the-view-of-glenwood-springs-senior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/pandemic-shifts-the-view-of-glenwood-springs-senior\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic shifts the view of Glenwood Springs\u2019 senior"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_1896-768x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_1896-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_1896-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_1896-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_1896-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/05\/IMG_1896-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Sam Fitzwilliams pauses during a workout before CHSAA canceled the 2020 high school baseball season.<\/strong><br \/><em>Sam Fitzwilliams<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Sometimes in life, unforeseen events grant a dose of perspective.<\/p>\n<p>After a torn MCL, meniscus and dislocated kneecap in his final football game, senior Sam Fitzwilliams went through three months of physical therapy. Once that was done, he worked out and put on nearly 25 pounds in preparation for his real love: baseball.<\/p>\n<p>The season was made up of a single preseason game before it was canceled altogether. But his story isn\u2019t one of anger toward an unpredictable problem.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it\u2019s about a shift in view.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen there was still a chance they were going to play, he was pretty focused still,\u201d Fitzwilliams\u2019 father Scott said. \u201cNow that it\u2019s over and it\u2019s been completely canceled, he\u2019s looking forward to other things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nights of thought and discussion made the <em>other<\/em> thing clear: law school.<\/p>\n<p>Sam\u2019s been accepted and intends to head to the University of Colorado in the fall where he\u2019ll take on the Leeds School of Business and minor in environmental science.<\/p>\n<p>A 3.8 weighted grade point average at Glenwood Springs High School has allowed Sam to enter CU without having to deal with the burden of full tuition \u2013&nbsp;another key reason to bypass a career in baseball, though he plans to play club at the university.<\/p>\n<p>After his four years at CU, he plans to take the Law School Admission Test. If successful, he wants to go to either the University of Denver or continue at CU for his law degree.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always been fascinated with law and the way our country is run,\u201d Sam said. \u201cI also am pretty outdoorsy and love the environment, so I want to focus on environmental law, rather than civil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through the decision process, Fitzwilliams spoke with his father who was once a Division III baseball standout at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, a program which at the time was towards the top of the nation.<\/p>\n<p>Scott made clear to his son the physical and mental difficulties of competing past high school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven back then, it took a lot of time \u2013&nbsp;now it\u2019s a whole different ballgame,\u201d Scott said. \u201cThey start with a fall schedule; we didn\u2019t have to do anything in the fall. We just showed up and figured out who was on the team and that was pretty much it until January.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKids have to be really committed because it\u2019s a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A year off from baseball made attending a school strictly for sports even more difficult. Joining new teammates and getting back into peak baseball shape \u2013&nbsp;all without the luxury of live at-bats \u2013&nbsp;wasn\u2019t going to be worth it given Sam\u2019s other interests.<\/p>\n<p>Many players have had their chances for offers all but taken away during the virus\u2019s reign. The one thing Sam\u2019s lost which sticks above it in his mind was the loss of a team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll remember the people,\u201d Sam said. \u201cMy friends have kind of turned into brothers almost because I\u2019ve been playing with them since I (started) baseball. We\u2019ve always had such a great group of guys. That\u2019s definitely what I\u2019ll remember the most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given the players around him, the team\u2019s clear upward direction and a chance to once again play the role of cleanup hitter, a season could\u2019ve made even more memories.<\/p>\n<p>It likely would\u2019ve also changed the final decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love baseball, it\u2019s definitely my No. 1 sport,\u201d Sam said. \u201cDepending on how I did \u2013&nbsp;I think I would\u2019ve done plenty well since I trained harder than I ever have \u2013&nbsp;I think that would\u2019ve made a huge difference in my decision to go pursue that Division II career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:lzahlmann@postindependent.com\">lzahlmann@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/pandemic-shifts-the-view-of-glenwood-springs-senior\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sam Fitzwilliams pauses during a workout before CHSAA canceled the 2020 high school baseball season.Sam Fitzwilliams Sometimes in life, unforeseen events grant a dose of perspective. After a torn MCL, meniscus and dislocated kneecap in his final football game, senior Sam Fitzwilliams went through three months of physical therapy. Once that was done, he worked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-03 22:02:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}