Leadership is the Legacy that Adam Elliott Hopes To Leave for Louisville Baseball
Like everyone else on the Louisville Cardinals baseball team, the cancellation of the 2020 college baseball season as well as the annual College World Series was an emotional blow for Adam Elliott. The senior left-handed pitcher was part of a squad that had been ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation, and had very real aspirations to get to Omaha, NE.
"It was tough, I'm not going to lie," Elliott said in a teleconference with reporters on Thursday. "It hit us like a train, there was definitely tears."
While it has been a rough two weeks for both himself and the rest of the team, Elliott says the sadness he felt after having their season yanked from under them has finally started to subside. Dealing with it together as team he says has helped them all bring a sense of closure amidst an unprecedented time.
With the 2020 season in the books, he is one of many players for head coach Dan McDonnell that is unsure what the future currently holds.
As a senior, he has technically exhausted all his eligibility. However the NCAA is toying with the idea of giving spring student-athletes an additional year due to having their season prematurely ended. On top of that, he could also choose to embark on his professional career, although he is unsure how the shortened season has impacted his draft stock among scouts. It also doesn't help that the 2020 MLB Draft could be significantly shorter due to financial concerns among clubs.
"Right now we have no clue. Hopefully over the next month or two we can get more answers and figure that out."
Whether or not he comes back to don the Red & White one more time, his choice or not, he wants his leadership to be his lasting legacy on the program.
"I want to be thought as a guy who was a good leader, a really good teammate, and a guy that went out there every day and put his heart on the line and played as hard as he could," Elliott said. "I hope that's my legacy and I hope that's what I'm remembered for if it is my last time playing for Louisville."
As one of the more vocal and energetic players that Dan McDonnell has ever had the pleasure of coaching, no one has ever questioned his ability to get the team excited for even the smallest of occasions. It also helped shape the on-field leader he is today, and that quality alone will be missed once his days at Jim Patterson Stadium are done, whenever that date comes to pass.
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