Season Interrupted: Aly Kaneshiro gets the college she wants, not the finish

Columnist

April 26, 2020 6 AM PT

Throughout the spring, The Times will interview high school seniors whose athletic careers were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.

Name: Aly Kaneshiro

School: Santa Clarita Hart

Sport: Softball, catcher

Key stats: Batted .514 with three home runs and 10 RBIs for 9-2 Hart

Summer plans: Will play travel ball

Fall plans: Will attend Stanford

On dealing with a canceled season:
“It’s not easy. I love my team. I think we would have had a special year. There’s a 1,000 ways our season could have been cut short but we never expected it to be this. It was shocking. It was upsetting.”

On changing her college choice:
“I was originally committed to UC Davis as a sophomore. I continued to work hard to see where it took me. Everything happens for a reason. Stanford came around, and it’s always been my dream school.”

How she practices:
“You got to work with what you got. Fortunately I have both my brothers home. Both played baseball. I play catch with them or my dad.”

Are her brothers throwing hard enough:
“Surprisingly they’re able to keep up.”

The creative things she’s doing with her free time:
“I’m trying to do a 2,000-piece puzzle. It’s a very slow pace. I’ve also discovered I can somewhat draw. I’ve been binge-watching my Netflix.”

What she misses most:
“The atmosphere, the camaraderie, the competition. It’s all what makes the sport so great.”

The lessons she’s learned:
“I learned never take anything for granted. You don’t realize exactly what you have until it’s gone. I took a lot of things for granted.”

Where she sees herself in 10 years:
“I hope to have a family, having a job where I can help other people. I want to go into the medical field.”

Video interviews of each athlete can be found at latimes.com/sports/highschool.