The American Legion baseball season abruptly came to an end for the Roseburg Pepsi Bottlecaps on Tuesday. The team was only hours away from its scheduled departure for the Oregon “A” American Legion state tournament at North Marion High School in Aurora, when team leaders found out they’d have to withdraw from competition due to health and safety protocols.

The Bottlecaps had a player test positive for COVID-19 on Monday and another player and coach were showing symptoms on Tuesday. The team was hopeful they might be able to still travel to the state tournament without the sick individuals, but a decision from the North Marion School District shot down that idea.

Pepsi had gone 27-5 during the regular season and head coach Eric Savage said the whole team was devastated not to get a chance at the postseason.

“We saw so much growth happen, you know physically and mentally,” said Savage. “It’s just heart breaking not to see us get a culminating event where we get to show that in front of fans and the other talent in the state.”

The Bottlecaps were scheduled to face the Beaverton/Sunset Sockeyes in a first round matchup at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Savage says Pepsi was seen as one of the favorites to win the title going into the tournament.