She tried her best to prolong an inevitable premature ending to the season.

Loren LaPorte already knew the verdict that evening last month in Jacksonville and she said her James Madison softball team realized change to their everyday routine was lingering, too.

“They knew that I knew something,” LaPorte, the third-year Dukes coach, said. “I just wanted to get through it one last time and stay normal for one more day.”

JMU had arrived in northern Florida on March 11 for a weekend slate of games at Jacksonville University as the sports world started its screeching halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That same day the NBA suspended its season, and the next day cancellations to college basketball league tournaments all across the country followed one after the other. The Colonial Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament was scrapped, too, and it was during LaPorte’s practice on March 12 that she said she received a call notifying her of the conference’s decision to suspend all spring sports.

“So hitting ground balls and seeing them practice for the last time,” LaPorte said, “I wish I could go back to that moment again because I miss it already.”

Senior left fielder Kate Gordon recalled: “We did a bunch of infield, outfield and we were hitting like a normal team practice. We were excited because we were about to play that weekend and then afterward the coaches were like, ‘Just go over there and huddle behind the fence,’ and that’s when they told us.”

The following morning the Dukes departed for a return to Harrisonburg, and about five hours into their 12-hour trek, according to LaPorte, they found out their season was officially canceled.

“For me, it was more disbelief,” junior shortstop Sara Jubas said. “I don’t follow the news very closely, but I had heard of the virus and everything that was going on. So I guess I hadn’t realized until then just how serious it was and then finding out your season was ending, it’s sad.

“So that was the last team practice of the season and we didn’t get to play some of the games that we were going to get to play. So it’s definitely sad because we weren’t going to get to be together for as much as we were expecting to.”

The abrupt conclusion left JMU with a 13-6 mark for the year, and many questions about what could’ve been had the season went on as scheduled. After all, the Dukes were the six-time defending CAA regular-season champion having won the conference tournament in four of those six seasons and played in the NCAA tournament on seven straight occasions.

In 2020, JMU had wins over Top 25 foes Texas Tech, Missouri and North Carolina, and earned a victory at Virginia in the Cavaliers’ unveiling of their brand new Palmer Park.

Gordon and Jubas were thriving at the plate – Gordon leading the country in hitting with a .557 mark to go along with 10 homers and 21 RBIs, and Jubas boasting a .439 average to go along with five homers and seven doubles – while Madison Naujokas, Hannah File and Logan Newton proved to be the reliable veterans LaPorte said she knew she could count on.

“When you look at our record and look at some of the games we lost, I know some people are probably like ‘What in the world?’” Gordon said. “But they’re not with us training every day and I’m just proud with how our team bounces back.

“I think if you watch us from the start to the abrupt finish, we fought. We were gritty. It didn’t matter. In that Missouri game, [senior pitcher] Odicci Alexander was fighting through so much pain and she pulled it out for us.”

LaPorte said Alexander, who missed the last 14 games of the year, was one of a few pitchers dealing with injuries through the first month of the campaign.

“And [Alexander’s] first bullpen back was actually on that Thursday down in Jacksonville,” LaPorte said. “So we were hoping to see her that weekend, but for her probably more rest is better. … So it was starting to come all together. Yes, we were nursing some injuries in the circle, but I was happy with our offense and we were figuring some things out defensively that I wanted to see come along.”

Said Jubas: “I think we definitely had a shot at winning the CAA and heading to the postseason and doing as well as we could to go as far as we can.”