ThunderRidge senior baseball pitcher Kyle Kahn wasn't surprised when he heard on April 21 that the Colorado High School Activities Association had canceled the 2020 spring season because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I've been keeping up with the news and what is going on so I kind of figured we weren't going to have a season and it's just something that we can't control,” said Kahn, who will be heading to play baseball at Central Missouri this fall. “It is something we are going to have to deal with in a positive way. That's my way of looking at the whole situation.”

Kahn has been completing his school work, trying to stay in baseball shape and hanging out with his family to fill the void created by the absence of baseball practices and games.

“I've been throwing long toss like every other day and working out to stay in baseball shape just in case,” he said. “That's a good way for me to cope with it, just going out and throwing ball with my dad.

“I do a bunch of throwing, working out and hanging out with my family, doing movie nights and still getting all my school work done. It's frustrating but it (COVID-19) is also something I can't control or do anything about. So it is just figuring out how to deal with it in a positive way.”

Coach's take:

`Kyle is a great pitcher, but more importantly he is an amazing young man. He is the sort of young man that people gravitate to, he has tremendous leadership skills and genuinely cares about his community. I've never heard Kyle speak a negative word about his classmates on the team.'

Brad Johnson,

ThunderRidge head baseball coach

Q&A with Kahn

What is the hardest thing about missing your senior season?

The hardest thing for me was just not going out to practices with all of my best friends and being able to spend every day after school with them. It's a big deal for me and a kind of relaxing place for me to be on the baseball field with all my friends.

What would have been your goals if you had played this season?

To lead the league in ERA. My goal every time I got out to pitch is give it my all and give 110 percent every time I touch the field.

How does missing the season affect your college plans, if at all?

My coach (at Central Missouri) reached out to me when he found out we weren't playing, so I asked him if there was anything I needed to be doing. The answer I got was to do long toss to strengthen my arm and be able to do whatever workouts I could to stay in shape. And over the summer to figure out mechanical stuff and not worry about games or anything.