Season Interrupted: Moorpark’s John Peck has come a long way

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

Name: John Peck

School: Moorpark

Sport: Baseball, shortstop

Key stats: Was hitting .457 with zero errors in 39 chances for the Musketeers; 4.0 GPA.

Fall plans: He will attend Pepperdine.

High School Sports

Season Interrupted: Snapshots of high school seasons cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic

A look at the high school sport standouts whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.

April 11, 2020

On the sudden cancellation of the season:
“It was tough this year because it was unexpected to just stop playing. I felt our team was built different because we started off well.”

On the lessons he learned from coach Scott Fullerton:
“One big one is never fearing failure. I felt that is one thing I struggled with my junior and sophomore years. I was hesitant on the bases and that got me into trouble. By senior year, I didn’t fear failure. Another is understanding with failure comes growth. I embraced that. If I’m going to fail, I might as well get a reward and learn from it. The biggest one, especially this year, is never take anything for granted. I felt I didn’t know what that term meant until this season.”

On life without sports:
“It’s boring, man. I’m bored out of my mind without playing baseball. I’m going crazy. I’m doing everything I can to get better. I have a little batting cage in my backyard and a little gym in my garage.”

Where he sees himself in 10 years:
“My big dream is to play in MLB.”

On the new things he’s discovered in quarantine life:
“I started cooking more. I’ve been cooking my breakfast, making scrambled eggs.”

What he misses most:
“My teammates 100%. I enjoy making memories on the field with my teammates, but I enjoy more off the field because that’s where you are bonding and are like brothers.”

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