Last Chance Pays Off for Barrett

Jack Barrett spent almost the entire season on the bench for the Irvine baseball team.

He never griped, never pouted and never played in a game, except for two at-bats as a pinch-hitter. Two hitless at-bats.

That was his resume when he came to the plate with two on and two outs Thursday in the fifth inning of the Vaqueros’ final game. Moments later, he launched a 3-2 pitch for a home run that gave Irvine a 3-0 victory over Woodbridge.

“He had just fouled off a pitch and everyone was saying, ‘Way to go Jack, way to stay alive,’ ” Irvine Coach Bob Flint said. “I was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great for Jack to get on and get a chance to run the bases.’

“He hit the next pitch a ton. It was gone when it left the bat. The kids went nuts. The coaches were all looking at each other.”

It gave the Vaqueros an upbeat finish to a 10-16 season.

“We had a rough year, but now we all get to walk away happy,” Flint said.

Barrett, a senior, has been in the Irvine program for four years, playing on the junior varsity the last two seasons.

“At our banquet after his freshman year, his mother and stepfather told me they might be moving to Redlands, but they wanted to know if Jack would be cut if they stayed,” Flint said. “I told them we never cut a kid once he’s in the program.”

A policy that paid off.

Flint used all his seniors in the second game of a Thursday doubleheader--an Irvine tradition for the last game of the season. The starters were pulled after two at-bats. Barrett entered in the fourth inning at first base.

His momentous at-bat came an inning later.

With two outs, Irvine’s Jordan Blen walked and Greg Zachan was hit by a pitch, bringing Barrett to the plate.

“He hadn’t hit anything remotely close to a home run in practice,” Flint said. “He had never hit one to the warning track. When he hit that ball, I looked at the other coaches and there were tears in their eyes. It was such an emotional thing.

“He was always a kid who filled in where we needed him in practice. We’d say, ‘Jack, go play there,’ and he would. He never made a peep, he just did what we asked.

“You know, those parents who send their kids off to camps, train them to be first-round draft picks and, if they don’t make the big leagues, their life is ruined, they should take notes on this one.

“People think winning is everything and losing is hell. There has to be an in between. Jack is that in between.”

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Orange County has a new stadium.

Well, at least, a stadium with a new name.

Last week, the Huntington Union High School District approved naming the football field at Westminster High after former Lion Athletic Director and long-time football Coach Bill Boswell.

Boswell, who retired in 1994, spent 35 years at Westminster, including 19 years as football coach. He was the first athletic director for the district’s six high schools from 1982 until retirement and remains an active member of the Orange County Athletic Directors Assn.

“This is very exciting,” Boswell said. “When I was up there before the school board it brought back a lot of memories.”

The school plans a ceremony in the fall to dedicate the field.

Staff writer Paul McLeod contributed to this report.