The lines are blurred between sports and reality when house fire displaces seven members of Wagner College baseball team.

By William Chase

Sports, for most of us, are a way to get away from the everyday. The doldrums of reality, the sometimes negative aspects that might be occurring in one another’s lives off the field, court and ice.

Then there’s those moments where the unthinkable crosses over and blurs unto the sports scene.

That happened to the Wagner College Seahawks, a small college located on Staten Island in New York, when tragedy struck seven members of the baseball team.

On a current 10-day road trip through Virginia during spring break—facing Longwood University Lancers, defending national champion and No. 10 ranked University of Virginia Cavaliers, Norfolk State Spartans and Virginia Commonwealth University Rams—their house was set on fire, burning everything. The only possessions the players have to their name are what were taken on the road trip with them.

As investigators still seek answers for everything that happened, several have shown their support via Twitter over the last few days:

We’ve seen tragedies rise up in the sports world in the past. It’s situations like this where teams, players, coaches and everyone, a part of the team on the field and off, fight to steer forward and fight through the adversity.

At 3-5 on the young season, that is exactly what the Wagner baseball team will do.

A gofundme has been created by junior pitcher Danny Marsh, for anyone who would like to donate contributions to the cause.

William Chase is editor at Elite Sports NY, and has been featured on such prominent websites including Bleacher Report. William is also currently the Marketing & Media Relations Intern for the Augusta GreenJackets.