‘By senior year, I didn’t fear failure’
BY ERIC SONDHEIMER >>> Interviews with senior athletes whose athletic careers were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.
Sport: Baseball, shortstop
Key stats: Was hitting .457 with zero errors in 39 chances for the Musketeers; 4.0 GPA.
Fall plans: He will attend Pepperdine.
On the sudden cancellation of the season: “It was tough this year because it was unexpected to just stop playing. I felt our team was built different because we started off well.”
On the lessons he learned from coach Scott Fullerton: “One big one is never fearing failure. I felt that is one thing I struggled with my junior and sophomore years. I was hesitant on the bases and that got me into trouble. By senior year, I didn’t fear failure. Another is understanding with failure comes growth. I embraced that. If I’m going to fail, I might as well get a reward and learn from it. The biggest one, especially this year, is never take anything for granted. I felt I didn’t know
what that term meant until this season.”
On life without sports: “It’s boring, man. I’m bored out of my mind without playing baseball. I’m going crazy. I’m doing everything I can to get better. I have a little batting cage in my backyard and a little gym in my garage.”
Where he sees himself in 10 years: “My big dream is to play in MLB.”
On the new things he’s discovered in quarantine life: “I started cooking more. I’ve been cooking my breakfast, making scrambled eggs.”
What he misses most: “My teammates 100%. I enjoy making memories on the field with my teammates, but I enjoy more off the field because that’s where you are bonding and are like brothers.”
Video interviews of each athlete can be found at latimes.com/sports/ highschool.