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In the space of a few hours, Ryan Decker went from preparing for a weekend series to parsing the end of his college baseball career. The N.C. Central pitcher was first told, along with his teammates, that Bryant would not be coming to Durham the next day but they would practice anyway. He started playing catch to warm up. Fifteen minutes later, coach Jim Koerner brought the team back together for another meeting.
“You could see it on his face right away,” Decker said. “He started tearing up, and everybody knew.”
The end of Decker’s senior season came to an abrupt end that Thursday afternoon at Durham Athletic Park, just like every other senior in a spring sport across the NCAA.