Music plays between innings. Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” player while the Mules took their pregame infield.

People laugh. People cheer. It all looks normal. It all feels normal.

What an illusion.

It’s not normal at all. Nothing is normal right now. It appears nothing is going to be normal for a while.

Colby is one of the many colleges and universities around the nation sending students home for the spring break with plans to finish the semester remotely.

This game is played shortly after all of North American sports went on hiatus while we try to knock down the coronavirus and Covid-19. One of the best ways to keep people from getting sick is to prevent large crowds. By nature, teams are in close quarters constantly. Take that away. Take a vector from the virus. For athletes who worked hard to get to this point, either the end of a winter season or the start of the spring one, this is a tough but necessary development.

The only March Madness this year will be watching classic games. If you never saw NC State beat Houston in 1983, now’s your chance.

This is the first game of the season for the Mules. Colby is scheduled to host crosstown rival Thomas for a doubleheader Saturday. Then it’s over. Three games in three days. That’s it. The 2020 college baseball season in Maine is over before players in the dugout can put away their hand warmers.

Thomas College baseball coach Greg King stood near the bleachers to the right of home plate, with members of his team. King’s Terriers will be allowed to play other teams from Maine this spring, but that’s it. No travel out of state.

Saturday’s games will be huge, King said. If they’re played.

“Fingers crossed,” King said.