As we continue this special San Pedro News Pilot Class Of 2020 Spotlight feature series on student athletes at the San Pedro-based high schools whose senior years were cut short due to the coronavirus, here is our feature on Mary Star Of The Sea High School softball pitcher Alessandra Samperio.

The prep career of Samperio began on February 28, 2017 against Firebaugh of Downey, hurling a no-hitter striking out all 16 batters faced in a five-inning victory. Why no perfect game you asked? Samperio's 15th strikeout which would have ended the game was a dropped third strike and a passed ball. Samperio's sophomore year of 2018 was highlighted by three Camino Real League victories over high-powered St. Anthony of Long Beach, including hitting a home run in the third meeting.

Samperio's defining moment came on May 29, 2018 when she pitched her…

As we continue this special San Pedro News Pilot Class Of 2020 Spotlight feature series on student athletes at the San Pedro-based high schools whose senior years were cut short due to the coronavirus, here is our feature on San Pedro High baseball pitcher & first baseman Travis Connelly.

Having a wonderful 2020 season before the outbreak of COVID-19 forced the abrupt cancellation of Spring Sports, Connellly's performance in a short time spoke volumes to how great he was for the Pirates in his four years with the program: a two-time Marine League Co-Player Of The Year, three-time SPNP Prep Baseball Player Of The Year, two-time CIF-Los Angeles City Section All-City Open Division, and a member of three straight Marine League championship teams.

Connelly produced a 3-0 record, a squeaky clean 0.00 ERA…

As we continue this special San Pedro News Pilot Class Of 2020 Spotlight feature series on student athletes at the San Pedro-based high schools whose senior years were cut short due to the coronavirus, here is our feature on Port Of Los Angeles High softball outfielder Briana Vigil.

A member of back-to-back Coliseum League championship teams her first two years (2017 & 2018), Vigil established herself as a solid defensive center fielder that covered a lot of ground for the Polar Bears, as she threw out five wold-be runs from her position at home plate without the need for a cut-off throw. Vigil was also a solid contact hitter with speed on the bases who can hit anywhere in the lineup, with her preferred spot at POLA being in the middle of the order.

Vigil has signed on to play at Westcliff University in Irvine, as a hip injury…

As we continue this special San Pedro News Pilot Class Of 2020 spotlight feature series on student athletes at the San Pedro-based high schools whose senior years were cut short due to the coronavirus, here is our feature on Mary Star Of The Sea High baseball utility player Marco Ibarra.

A two-sport athlete who's father Rick is a former baseball coach and current athletic director at Mary Star, Ibarra has left his own mark at the school as a talented pitcher and catcher for the baseball team, who posted an 8-3 record in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, with all three losses sandwiched in between an eight-game winning streak.

Ibarra was an all-league selection a combined five times in both baseball and football, and in his senior year with the football team, he was the starting quarterback and a…

As we continue on this special San Pedro News Pilot Class Of 2020 spotlight feature series on student athletes at the San Pedro-based high schools whose senior years were cut short due to the coronavirus, here is our feature on San Pedro High softball pitcher & shortstop Briana Velazquez.

Few have had a storybook kind of high school career as Velazquez was able to accomplish. In her freshman year at San Pedro in 2017, she was a vital member of the Pirates' Marine League and CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 1 championship runs.

Afterwards, Velazquez worked harder than most would in and in doing so, made some incredible, and in some cases, impossible to believe memories, such as hitting a walk-off grand slam to defeat Banning of Wilmington on May 2, 2018, and throwing a perfect game against Cerritos on March 13, 2019 in which…

As we continue on this special San Pedro News Pilot Class Of 2020 Spotlight feature series on student athletes at the San Pedro-based high schools whose senior year was cut short due to the coronavirus, here is our feature on Port Of Los Angeles High baseball catcher Anthony D'Anna.

The Marymount California-bound D'Anna was a man of many hats for the Polar Bears. Even though catcher is his main position, he's also seen time at outfield and at pitcher. In his four years with POLA, he helped lead them to a perfect Imperial League championship and the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 3 semifinals in 2019, his junior year in which the Polar Bears won a school-record 24 games during a 24-3 season.

POLA was 2-8 in 2020 going up against a tough schedule against top notch schools from both the CIF-Los Angeles City & Southern…

In three and a half years due to the coronavirus cutting her senior season short, Mary Star High softball shortstop Ashley Rico put together a solid prep career for herself, with her biggest achievement coming on November 12, 2019 when she signed her national letter of intent to play Division 1 softball at San Jose State University.

In this first installment of San Pedro News Pilot's Class Of 2020 Senior Spotlight honoring those who had remarkable prep careers in spring sports that had their seasons unexpectedly end early due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we take a look back at the high school career of Rico and hear from her own words in a short interview session.

At Mary Star, Rico helped the softball program win two straight Camino Real League titles in 2018 & 2019, where the Stars posted a 23-1 record in those two seasons, with…

Just like every other Spring sport in high school, the 2020 San Pedro Prep Softball season was short circuited by the coronavirus pandemic, which wiped out tremendous aspirations for the teams of San Pedro, Port Of Los Angeles and Mary Star Of The Sea High Schools, all of which had at least one college bound player on their roster.

It also wiped out a potential nonleague showdown between the Pirates and the Stars which was set for May 1 at Mary Star High. 

Still, it did not discourage the efforts of two incredible talents that still managed productive seasons.

Over at Mary Star, Loyola Marymount-bound pitcher Alessandra Samperio was her usual self in the circle, posting a 5-2 record, a 0.85 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 41 innings pitched, and both of her losses to Woodcrest Christian and Schurr of Montebello were by…

It was a short, but still productive 2020 San Pedro Prep Baseball season, as the coronavirus outbreak put a premature close to the seasons of San Pedro, Port Of Los Angeles and Mary Star Of The Sea High Schools. However, one player stood out from the pack more than anyone.

San Pedro High baseball senior pitcher Travis Connelly got off to a dominant start on February 21 when the Pirates visited Bellflower for their 2020 season opener, as he would face one batter over the minimum in throwing a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts out of 16 batters faced on 53 pitches during the Pirates' 14-0, five-inning victory. Connelly also belted an RBI-double as the Pirates scored nine runs in the top of the second inning.

Connelly also threw a complete game 3-1 victory over Palisades Charter on March 11, in what would be the final game of the season, and…

Wednesday, March 11, 2020. A day all San Pedro Prep Sports Spring Semester teams will remember for a long time.

On this day, San Pedro High baseball would ride a solid performance on the mound from senior pitcher Travis Connelly, and two huge home runs, first by senior infielder Joshua Duarte on the first pitch of the game, and a two-run homer from senior catcher Waldier Perez in the sixth, all the way to a 3-1 road victory at Palisades Charter.

Also on the same day, Mary Star Of The Sea High softball would come through with one of their biggest victories in program history when they won 4-1 over visiting Banning of Wilmington in a Torrance National Tournament pool play game, thanks to a brilliant outing in the circle by Loyola Marymount-bound pitcher Alessandra Samperio, who struck out ten and also brought in a run with a…