Season Interrupted: Alessandra Samperio, an artist in the pitcher’s circle
Throughout the spring, The Times will interview high school seniors whose athletic careers were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.
Name: Alessandra Samperio
School: San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea
Sport: Softball, pitcher
Key stats: Was 17-5 with a 1.05 ERA in 2019; 5-2, 0.85 ERA in shortened ’20 season
Fall plans: Will attend Loyola Marymount
A look at the high school sport standouts whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.
On the sudden end to the season:
“We were definitely upset. These past years we’ve been working hard and our last season we couldn’t play. My parents told me at dinner and I was devastated.”
Her high school highlight:
“Beating Carnegie. They were 27-0. We beat them 5-2 and I had 13 strikeouts.”
On life without sports:
“It’s definitely different. There’s a lot of free time. I try to fill the time going to the pool, hanging out with my siblings, drawing, painting, cooking. My specialty is peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.”
On the pressure of pitching:
“Honestly, when I pitch, I don’t really feel a lot of pressure. I’m very relaxed. At times, the pressure does help a little bit. It pushes me.”
The San Pedro softball player says she has learned from the pandemic “definitely to not take life for granted.” She’s headed to Bethune-Cookman University.
On how the sports stoppage changed her:
“I’ve become closer to my family. As a player, it’s opened my eyes. You never know when it’s going to end. Always practice hard, play hard.”
Where she sees herself in 10 years:
“I’m going into studio arts at LMU.”
Video interviews of each athlete can be found at latimes.com/sports/highschool.
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