TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — If you tally them up together, Florida High's four baseball seniors have spent over four decades as Seminoles, and two have been at Florida High since kindergarten.
Even though they didn't get to finish a long standing career, the bond they share isn't going anywhere.
For the Florida High baseball team's four seniors, this year was supposed to be a special one.
Will Pfeiffer. AJ Thorp. Jack Murphy. Robert McCrackin. Four friends who won't suit up in garnet and gold together again.
"We were more than just baseball," said Pfeiffer. "We were best friends, I would say."
"You play with them since you were 8, 9 years old, and then you go to college and it's just a different environment all together," Thorp said.
"It's tough," said Murphy. "It doesn't seem real. After it ended, it makes you realize you shouldn't take anything for granted."
"A little bit bittersweet I guess, and not being able to finish it off the way we wanted to," McCrackin said.
Thorpe and Murphy are moving on to play ball at the next level. Thorpe will play at Cecil College in Maryland, while Murphy is headed to Chipola.
"To go on to the next level is very humbling because I know that's not what most people can do," said Murphy.
"I knew it wasn't my last time playing baseball, so it was a lot easier to accept, in that aspect, that I will be playing again," Thorpe said.
For McCrackin and Pfeiffer, their athletic careers are over.
"I'm done," said Pfeiffer. "I'm no longer what you would call an athlete. It stings for sure, but there's bigger and better things for me."
"I think moving on is the best thing I can do with the situation," McCrackin said.
McCrackin is going to West Florida while Pfeiffer will stay in Tallahassee and attend Florida State.
"I'm definitely going to take away all the good times I had, for sure," said Pfeiffer. "The games, we ended on a win."
"Definitely the companionship I had with my friends," McCrackin said.
"All the memories and friendships you made over the years," said Thorpe.
"I'm never going to forget it," Murphy said. "That's home."
They're moving on from Florida High, but it's a place they may return to.
