Everyday Aaron

Senior day, a brand-new capacity-filled stadium, his team trailing by three runs, no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

It’s a scene normally reserved for a fairy tale, not a collegiate showdown in the northwest in early May.

A night he calls the “most fun game” of his career and a night his coach deemed as “a neat moment.”

For Aaron McGuinness it wasn’t a dream, it was about to be his most memorable game of an impressive four-year baseball career at Gonzaga University.

Four seasons earlier, which seems like yesterday for McGuiness, the slick-fielding second baseman from California stepped on to the college diamond determined to make a mark in his freshman campaign.

Right away, he made a positive impression on his coaches.

“The No. 1 thing, he caught the ball,” says Bulldogs Coach Mark Machtolf, who took over the program the same year McGuiness arrived on campus. “If he got to it, he caught the ball.”

Playing on the right side of the infield coming out of high school, McGuinness was initially slated to try out for third base. But an unforeseen circumstance gave him an opportunity he would not relinquish.

Three weeks before the start of the season, the Bulldogs’ starting fifth-year shortstop went down with an injury. McGuiness was moved to the position to provide a temporary stopgap, but has occupied it ever since.

“I’ve always been a defensive player,” McGuiness says. “Especially up here, Gonzaga focuses on defense. I tried to be a leader at shortstop.”

Not only did the freshman not relinquish his job, he didn’t even relinquish it for one game.

During these past four years, McGuiness has started 216 consecutive games, every single game the Bulldogs have participated in.

“That’s very rare that someone is ready to do that and lucky enough to stay injury free,” Machtolf says. “He is a tough kid.”

As a freshman, the shortstop batted .242 with 43 hits, five doubles and five home runs.

Each year his patience at the plate has improved and his stats have increased.

Despite claiming that his, “numbers could have been better,” McGuiness managed to hit .268 with 61 hits, five home runs, 34 runs batted in and 39 runs scored in his final season.

More than doing his part to engineer the Bulldogs offense, it was his defense that drew all the rave reviews.

Committing just 17 errors at shortstop, McGuinness held a .939 fielding percentage as a senior.

“You could make the case, if he didn’t hit well, he could still help the team with his defense,” Machtolf says.

His efforts in the field and at the plate earned the senior an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention, the first of his career.

“It’s an honor,” says McGuinness, who graduated from the university with a degree in Physical Therapy. “It’s a good group of guys. This year we have a great league.”

The Bulldogs (33-25) experienced a great season, winning 30 games for the first time since 1990 and finishing runner-up in their conference.

Yet runner-up this year was not good enough for Gonzaga, with the team finding itself on the outside looking in when it came to the 64-team NCAA Tournament.

One game and one series is all that stood in the way of a trip to the postseason.

The series was the WCC championship, a best-of-three meeting, and the team was fifth-ranked University of San Diego.

McGuinness helped spark a game-one upset with an RBI, two stolen bases and by scoring the game-winning run in the fifth inning of the 6-4 victory on May 25.

“After Friday, I think we all thought we had it,” McGuinness says. “But [San Diego] came out on Saturday and Sunday and hit the ball pretty well.”

The Toreros responded to score 26 runs to the Bulldogs’ six over the next two games to take the series and the conference crown.

“All of a sudden, the season was over,” he says. “You didn’t even know it was your last game.”

Born and raised in Glendale, McGuinness established himself as an all-around athlete while attending Crescenta Valley High.

A two-sport star, he passed for 3,335 yards and amassed 26 touchdowns on the gridiron and hit .407 with 17 RBIs and 24 runs his senior year, earning 2003 All-Area honors in both sports.

But it was on the diamond where McGuinness would set himself apart.

A four-year starter, to whom hitting came natural, it was hard work on defense that made him the player he is now.

“He worked hard to get stronger and make himself a player,” says Falcons Coach Phil Torres, who has guided the Falcons for 10 seasons.

Under Torres and his staff’s tutelage, McGuinness became an improved player on the field, but more importantly became a more mature and prepared athlete.

“[Crescenta Valley] goes about things like a college program,” McGuinness says. “When I got up [to Gonzaga], I was already a step ahead of the other freshmen.”

With the help of his parents, Mike and Ruann, who have been supportive of his baseball dreams every step of the way, McGuinness made a choice to leave Southern California, the only place he had called home, and venture up north.

Four years later, it’s the seniors’ final home game at the newly-opened stadium at Gonzaga. McGuinness steps to the plate with one out in the eighth and a runner on base with his team down 3-0 to Loyola Marymount on May 6.

Batting in the sixth spot, McGuinness drills a double to right-center field, driving in a run, cutting the deficit to 3-1 and igniting a game-altering rally.

Two batters later, McGuinness and a teammate come around to score on another double, tying the game and bringing new life to the team.

The Bulldogs add three more runs in the inning and hold on for a 6-4 win, vaulting them to second place in the conference.

Following the game and subsequent celebration, McGuinness is handed a microphone to address the crowd.

The spotlight is solely on him as he thanks the crowd for their support.

Four years ago, McGuinness arrived as a freshman looking to find his niche, but on this night he stood on the field, the face of Gonzaga baseball.

“All I wanted out of my [baseball] career was to make it to college,” McGuinness says.

Make it he did.