Season Interrupted: San Pedro ace Travis Connelly is riding the wave
Throughout the spring, The Times has interviewed high school seniors whose athletic careers were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak. Today’s athlete is the last of 64 to be featured.
Name: Travis Connelly
School: San Pedro
Sport: Baseball, pitcher
Key stats: All-City pitcher was Marine League co-MVP in 2019 with 7-1 record and 2.56 ERA; was 3-0 with a no-hitter and had yielded no earned runs in abbreviated ’20 season.
Fall plans: Will attend El Camino College.
A look at the high school sport standouts whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.
On the season being canceled:
“When we heard the news, everyone was heartbroken. When we got the full news the season was over, there was a lot of sobs. It was very hard.”
On moving forward:
“We all have our goals. Winning the championship this year was our biggest goal. All the seniors still want the juniors to come back and do whatever they have to do to make it happen.”
On life without sports:
“I’ve been working out trying to stay in shape. I like cooking. I have been surfing whenever the waves are good. Not being able to watch sports on TV or go to a Dodger game, it’s weird. It’s like a part of my life is gone. It will come back.”
On the support of the San Pedro community:
“They send letters or text me. Everyone is there for me. Sometimes when I’m down, my mom tells some of them and they text me. It’s hard but I try to stay positive.”
The Compton RBI program, which is run by the ESPY-nominated Dodgers Foundation, launched the baseball career of Davis, who in turn helped turn around a winless high school program
On the lessons he’s learned:
“Never take anything for granted. You never know when your last workout or last practice will be. Always put in 110%.”
Where he sees himself in 10 years:
“I still want to be playing baseball but I’m going to school to be an engineer.”
Video interviews of each athlete can be found at latimes.com/sports/highschool.
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