FOND DU LAC, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) — In a recently sanitized dugout at Herr-Baker Field, Marty Paulsen pulled his jersey over his head Tuesday for the first and only time in 2020.

“I’m gonna title it, ‘The longest rain delay in history,’ Paulsen said.

Tuesday night, Fond du Lac’s varsity baseball program honored the state’s second-winningest coach for his 600th career win more than a year after he earned it during the team’s run to the 2019 state tournament. The program organized one last game to honor the eight seniors who lost their entire final season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fletcher Haus took the mound for the Cardinals against St. Mary’s Springs. The senior said he didn’t touch a baseball for more than a month after the WIAA canceled spring sports, but looked forward to taking the field one last time in Cardinal red.

“It’s pretty special to be able to play with all these seniors that haven’t been playing baseball this year,” Haus said. “We all get the opportunity this year to play together one last time.” 

Fletcher’s father Ryan helped organize Senior Night. His mother held back tears watching her son take the field.

“It’s a struggle. I’ve been kind of weepy here off and on,” Robin Haus said. “Watching my oldest son play the sport he loves for the last time as a senior - as a graduate - is pretty emotional.”

Fletcher, who plans to start a pre-med program this fall at UW-Madison, did it all in his final appearance with Fond du Lac. He held the Ledgers scoreless while on the mound, hit two singles, stole two bases and scored the Cardinals’ only run.

With Haus on deck in the bottom of the seventh inning, Fond du Lac had the bases loaded with one out and the game tied at 1. Eli Schipper lined a pitch to the shortstop, who caught it and quickly flipped to third base for an inning-ending double play.

Coaches agreed before the game not to extend their exhibition into extra innings, so the only game of the season ended in a tie. That’s about as 2020 as it gets.