Virgen’s View: Mayne in the spotlight

Brent Mayne did more than just acknowledge his background and upbringing Saturday night when he accepted yet another honor for a successful career in baseball.

Mayne displayed humility as he talked about Costa Mesa and Orange County and the pride he feels to have come from such a place. It was fitting since he was honored as Diamond Club inductee at the First Pitch Baseball Dinner at Newport Harbor Elks Lodge, so close to “home.”

He was basically a Hall of Famer for the Newport Elks Tournament, the longtime baseball event that includes several Orange County teams and so many talented players. The dinner, hosted by Edison High, was also for the Sunset League vs. Trinity League games.

Mayne, who played as a catcher for 15 years in Major League Baseball, received many of his lessons in the game while playing at Costa Mesa High School, then across the street at Orange Coast College.

“It’s great to be a part of this fabric and this Orange County community and the richness of it,” Mayne said with regard to baseball in this area. “I played for Chris [Sorce] and I played for Kirk Bauermeister. We didn’t win very many games but they loved baseball and they taught me a lot about the game. It was a great experience. I loved Costa Mesa High School. I loved my teammates there. The whole experience was great.”

Some of his former coaches, Kirk Bauermeister, Chris Sorce and his father Mike Mayne, were in attendance and were also proud of Brent Mayne’s community and also proud of Brent, who now works as a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I’m just proud of him,” said Mike Mayne, who coached at OCC. “I’m proud of the person that he is more than anything else.”

Mike Mayne said he thoroughly enjoyed coaching his son at OCC.

“Best experience of my coaching career,” Mike Mayne said. “It was probably a lot easier for me than it was for him.”

Mike Mayne and his son were thrilled to see many of their friends from the past. The baseball community of Orange County is a strong fraternity and many of their best members were in the house on Saturday night to talk about baseball, coaching and many other facets of the game.

In addition to Brent Mayne, former longtime Marina High Coach Paul Renfrow was honored as a Diamond Club inductee, along with former La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest, former Esperanza Coach Mike Curran and former El Dorado standout Phil Nevin.

Nevin, the former MLB player, is now the third-base coach for the San Francisco Giants.

The banquet room was packed with many baseball minds, “the Mount Rushmore of coaches,” Sorce said.

TJ Bruce, the University of Nevada coach, Jay Johnson, the University of Arizona coach, and Rich Hill, the University of San Diego coach, were among those coaches as guest speakers at the event.

The Trinity and Sunset Leagues feature some of the best players in the state, actually, in the nation.

Huntington Beach High will play host to St. John Bosco on Friday at 2:45 p.m.

Orange Lutheran plays at Edison on Feb. 1 at 3 p.m.

Mater Dei plays at Newport Harbor Feb. 4 at 1 p.m.

Marina closes out the games with its matchup at JSerra on Feb. 15 at 5:30 p.m.