The playing fields and courts at SUNY Cortland have been eerily quiet for almost 11 months now. With the outbreak of the coronavirus, the SUNYAC cancelled both its fall and winter sports competition in 2020, leaving coaches and athletes at Cortland, and all across the state, out in the cold.

But, finally, the silence is about to be broken. Earlier this week, the league announced it's developing plans for spring sports competition in 2021, long-awaited music to the ears of baseball coach Joe Brown, who says he's spent most of the last 10 months waiting for phone calls.

"I think everybody was optimistic, but to say you saw anything coming, at this juncture, is unpredictable," said Brown during a Zoom interview Thursday. "It's getting the juices flowing, and getting the kids excited. And, it's the first step."

And Monday will mark the first baseball practice, and the first time any SUNY Cortland athlete has taken the field (or the court if the weather doesn't cooperate) since early March of last year. Yes, it will look a little different with players grouped into pods, and everyone following rigid health and safety protocols that have already been approved by the local health department. But, Brown sees only positives.

"We get to see another human," he joked. "We get to throw a ball! I mean, some of our guys, honestly, don't even know each others' names right now, because we've been doing all of this by Zoom. So, we're excited, we're anxious, and open for the challenge."

That challenge is not just to win baseball games and try to extend Cortland's streak of 27 straight NCAA tournaments (interrupted only by the virus), it's also to play through a pandemic while keeping everybody healthy. Brown, who was named the SUNYAC Coach of the Decade last September, welcomes the multitude of tests that await his Dragons, eager to prove his, and his team's, resilience.

"We can be New York tough emotionally, mentally, and physically," said the 2015 national coach of the year. "Let us show you, so we can do this right. If [last] fall does anything, it changes their behavior. And, I think we're prepared for that. I think athletes are disciplined enough to do it."

The 2021 baseball schedule is yet to be finalized, but right now Cortland's first game is slated for February 19, and the first SUNYAC game scheduled for March 26 at home against Oswego. The means a little more than two weeks after they emerge from their lair, the Dragons will be potentially playing ball for the first time since they ended last year's virus-shortened season on March 8 with a record of 4-7.

That four-win campaign can't have made the extended off-season any easier for Brown, who's won a Division III championship both as a player at Ithaca, and as a coach at Cortland. He's authored seven 40-win seasons, and has won 30 or more games 19 times in his 21-year tenure. So, whether this season will be anything close to normal or not, Brown's approach to it hasn't changed.

"Our team expectation has never changed here," he said. "We want to compete for a national championship, and whether it's COVID-19 or some uncertain times, that never changes."