It certainly was a treat talking softball the other day with St. Laurence junior Angelina Seropian.

We discussed the game, her college recruiting process and the history she recently made at St. Laurence.

Just a few days earlier, Seropian became the first St. Laurence softball player to commit to an NCAA Division I program.

She chose Bucknell.

“It was a rush of excitement and joy,” Seropian said. “I’m the type of person that if I walk into somewhere, especially St. Laurence, I want to leave a legacy behind me.

“The fact that I would be the first Division I commit for softball is really big for me.”

You could feel it through the phone line.

You also could feel the sincerity in Vikings coach Teagan Walsh’s voice when she described what makes Seropian tick as a softball player — and as a person.

Seropian hopes to catch in college. She’ll do her fair share for the Vikings this season and next. But St. Laurence also has another excellent catcher, Fiona Sjostrom.

Walsh has used Seropian’s versatility to the max, often putting her at first or third. The kid seemingly can play anywhere.

“It takes a special athlete to do that,” Walsh said. “It takes a selfless athlete to do that. It takes the proper fundamentals and the confidence to get on the field and perform, both mentally and physically.

“Ange has those qualities. She’s that kid who says, ‘I’m there, wherever you need me.’ I trust her wherever I put her on the field.”

Seropian’s family has history at St. Laurence and its former neighbor, Queen of Peace. Her mother, Sabrina, attended Peace. Her father, Donald, graduated from St. Laurence, as did her brother, Chris.

In 2019, Chris Seropian pitched a complete game for St. Laurence in a 3-2 victory over De La Salle in the Class 3A Crestwood Supersectional. He is a freshman at Fairleigh Dickinson.

When Queen of Peace closed in 2017, Angelina Seropian followed the family tradition to St. Laurence — for a couple of reasons.

“We were always wrapped around St. Laurence, so I felt this was the most comfortable,” Seropian said. “This was also where I knew I could play three sports because they encourage it.

“St. Laurence was definitely my comfort place.”

Seropian played volleyball, basketball and softball during her freshman year, with an accent on softball.

As a freshman, she hit .316, with an on-base percentage of .395 and a slugging percentage of .421. She had a .990 fielding percentage, with one error in 100 chances.

The 2020 season was canceled by the Illinois High School Association due to the coronavirus pandemic. Seropian started to make college connections. In September, she heard from Bucknell, and on the second weekend of December she made a visit.

Sold.

“When I went to Bucknell, I felt, ‘This is where I’m supposed to be,’ ” Seropian said. “It brought a closure. So I called up and told them I would take the offer.”

One of her next contacts was her brother.

“Chris and I are very competitive,” Seropian said, laughing. “We were raised to compete against each other. When I committed, he texted me this long paragraph, and I assumed that, ‘Oh, he’ll be telling me all these nice things.’

“Instead, he told me, ‘All right. You’ve got to start eating this and doing that. This is going to be difficult, and this is going to help.’ Basically, he was giving me advice like, ‘You’ve got to get your butt to work.’ ”

This, I’m sure, will not be a problem.

If you want to know about Seropian’s work ethic, just ask her about catching.

“I started out when I was 8 years old,” she said. “My coach at the time was asking us, ‘Who wants to catch? Who wants to put themselves in front of the ball?’ I was like, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ So I started catching. I’ve loved it ever since.

“Some kids say, ‘I don’t want to get hit by a pitch in the dirt.’ I’m like, ‘Who cares? A bruise is a bruise.’ I always say, if you don’t leave a game with scratches, you didn’t play.”

Bucknell is getting a gamer, through and through.