Season Interrupted: Simi Valley’s Chase Aurand prepares for his next act

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

Name: Chase Aurand

School: Simi Valley

Sport: Baseball, outfielder

Key stats: Was hitting .438 for baseball team; caught 16 passes for football team

Fall plans: Undecided

On life without sports:

“It’s a lot of throwing, working out with my dad, a lot of chores, mowing the lawn. Trying to make the best out of a tough situation.”

On making videos with his father and his acting skills:

“I was mowing the lawn and my dad came up with a camera and started taking video. ‘Dude, just go with it. Act like it’s an interview after a game.’ I gave it my best shot and tried to be funny.”

On the abrupt end to the season:

“It was rough not to say bye to all my friends in person. It’s been weird. The season ended when we were at my house eating dinner. We heard school was out, ‘Oh nice.’ Then they took away the season.”

What he misses the most:

“Competing in practice, competing in games. I miss that bond. I miss hanging out with my friends.”

On the lessons he’s learned:

“Don’t take anything for granted and don’t take going to practice for granted. Once you have that taken away from you, you miss it.”

Where he sees himself in 10 years:

“I’ll study history like my father and maybe be a history teacher.”

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