THE TIMES 1992 BASEBALL TEAM / ALL COUNTY : Trip to 4-A Title Game Highlights Flint’s Year : Coach of the Year: In his 13th season at Irvine, his Vaqueros overcame unproven pitching for a surprising finish.

Irvine High School baseball Coach Bob Flint says that advancing to the Southern Section 4-A championship game “wasn’t anything that we planned on.”

Sure, Irvine had an outstanding infield led by shortstop Chad Baker, plus a top power-hitter in outfielder Scott Seal and a proven leader in catcher Jason Minici. But Flint was the first to admit his pitching staff was suspect at best.

“The pitching was shaky, but the rest of the team was really good,” Flint said. “Fortunately, we had an outstanding catcher who understood proper pitch selection. It (calling pitches) generally would work for a while, and then the opposition would catch up.”

West Covina South Hills finally figured out Irvine’s pitching pattern in the late innings of the title game at Anaheim Stadium last Saturday and rallied for a 6-5 victory. Flint said the loss had a devastating effect on his team, but one game could not erase the memories of an outstanding 1992 season that earned Flint coach of the year honors from The Times Orange County.

“I’ve never had a team play better in my 13 years here than this team did in its last eight games,” Flint said. “We had a wonderful run. We only made three errors in those eight games.

“There was some great chemistry on this team. The players had a very strong feeling for each other. I think that’s why they took the loss at Anaheim so hard. There were a lot of tears in that locker room.

“I’ll always remember walking up the tunnel to the clubhouse at Anaheim and seeing the look on the faces of the sportswriters who covered the game. They looked as emotionally drained as the team. Everyone took the loss hard.”

Flint, who concluded his 13th season with a 192-126-1 record, will have one of the top teams in the county next season with seven returning starters. But he acknowledged that seniors Minici and Baker will be difficult to replace.

“It was a thrill to coach this season,” Flint said. “The run we went on was great.”