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Like many collegiate student-athletes across the country, Rob Duarte had unfinished business.
The first baseman and outfielder on the Stonehill College baseball team stared at the prospect of a lost senior season last March when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sports world to a complete halt.
But when the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to spring athletes, it became decision time for the Raynham native. It was either enter the workforce for the soon-to-be 23-year-old and leave baseball behind, or return to the Skyhawks to fill the void on what he had missed out on.
Duarte concluded that the real world could wait and is back on the diamond leading the Skyhawks this spring as a fifth-year senior enjoying every ounce of this second chance.
"(Last season) ended abruptly without really knowing that it's done," Duarte said. "I was like, 'I need to come back.' With all the guys we had returning, it was a good team coming back. I was like, 'You know what, can't pass up this opportunity.'"
Before Duarte returned to Stonehill, he first needed to square a few things away. He had an accounting job at a CPA firm lined up upon graduating, but worked it out to have his start date pushed back to this summer.
Duarte also had to pick up an undergraduate class because going the postgrad route would have forced him to play at a different school, which Duarte had no intention of doing.
"There's no other place that I want to play," said Duarte of Stonehill. "I don't want to play with a bunch of new teammates. Play for a different coach other than coach (Pat) Boen. So, it was either I go back and play at Stonehill and take one more undergrad class or I just graduate and start working."
Duarte's return was a welcomed sight, and not just for on-the-field reasons, even though the Bridgewater-Raynham grad had been a productive starter during his career.
Duarte's leadership abilities as a two-year captain were also coveted for a youthful Skyhawks squad that boasts only three seniors.
"He's really a team-first guy," Boen said. "That's why I was really so excited about him coming back for another year because he has got a great way about him, about how to push guys, but he also says it in a great way that guys respond. They really look up to him and he's a terrific leader."
Even with Duarte deciding to play another season, there was no guarantee he would even make it back on the field for a game.
In the fall and throughout the winter, Duarte prepared for the baseball season even with no official start date scheduled by the Northeast-10 Conference. While uncertainty concerning the season swirled, Duarte focused on getting ready.
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"You see different things like these people aren't playing, this conference is thinking about canceling, and at first, hearing that, that's when you just start to think, did I make a bad decision about coming back?" Duarte said. "It was just block it all out and just prepare, like, 'Yes we're playing on this date and I'm going to be 200 percent ready to go.'"
That mind-set paid off when word came down in late February that Stonehill would begin a 28-game season less than a month later.
After an 0-for-4 showing at the plate against St. Anselm College to begin the season, Duarte reached base safely in 14 out of the next 15 games. He continues to produce by hitting .246 with eight RBI and is sporting a career-high .377 on-base percentage, which is third best on the team. On April 11, he helped Stonehill beat Assumption and earn a split of a four-game series by going 2 for 3 and driving in two runs.
Duarte, who received Enterprise All-Scholastic honors as a senior at B-R in 2016, credits simplifying his approach at the plate for his success this season.
For Boen, it's a good feeling knowing he can pencil in the steady Duarte in the middle of the order.
"Rob is like that calming influence to all those young guys around him," Boen said. "Even with guys throwing mid-90s that we've seen this year, he's able to not just go up there and swing, but put on a good approach and put on a good at-bat."
Having last season taken away after 13 games has given Duarte a renewed purpose whenever he takes his position or steps into the batter's box. He knows there are no more chances after this season and is trying to soak up every second he has left of it.
"It's just do everything you can, give it all," Duarte said. "Don't leave anything behind. Like coach always says, 'I don't want you coming back having any regrets.'"
Duarte certainly hasn't regretted his decision to come back and put the finishing touches on his collegiate baseball career.
A job and the paychecks that come with it didn't outweigh the opportunity for Duarte to go out on his own terms and create memories that he will cherish.
"You can't put a price on it," he said.
