ORANGE COUNTY ALL-STAR BASEBALL GAME : Barons’ Derek Brown: Player for All Seasons

FOUNTAIN VALLEY —  In what must seem to be a never-ending season, what’s another all-star game for Derek Brown, Fountain Valley’s senior third baseman?

Brown, who will start for the South in tonight’s Orange County All-Star game at Glover Stadium in Anaheim, has been playing baseball for the past 18 months.

In the winter, Brown plays for the Houston Astros’ scout team. In the summer, he plays for his Connie Mack team, Mary Star, based in Long Beach. And then there’s a long series of summer games for Fountain Valley High School.

“I don’t get burned out, but about this time, I start going through the phases,” Brown said while taking a timeout from Monday’s practice at Tustin High.

The grueling schedule paid dividends for Brown this season at Fountain Valley, where he was the team’s top slugger with five homers and a .414 batting average.

Brown was also considered the top defensive third baseman in the Sunset League, and Fountain Valley Coach Ron LaRuffa predicts Brown will be chosen today in the amateur free-agent draft primarily because of his defensive skills.

During the off-season from high-school ball, he also benefited from an extensive weight-lifting program. He anticipated a banner season for himself and the Barons, what with the nucleus of last year’s team returning.

Fountain Valley set a school record with 24 victories and advanced to the 5-A semifinals before losing to eventual champion Long Beach Millikan, 3-1. Pitcher Derek Fahs, who also will play for the South team, set school records for victories and strikeouts.

Brown and Fahs said their friendship was on hold in the winter, when they took the field for rival teams.

“He threw at my head three times,” Brown said.

Earlier in the high school season, Fahs touched off a bench-clearing brawl in a first-place showdown with rival Ocean View when he hit first baseman Matt Musselmann in the head with a pitch. Brown played a key role in the brawl.

“I stood near the mound and protected Derek,” Brown said. “Got to. . . . . He’s the franchise.”

Brown said he will attend either Orange Coast College or Rancho Santiago in the fall if he isn’t selected in the amateur free-agent draft. He’s looking at his future one game at a time.

“I want to play ball somewhere,” he said. “I’ll wait it out if I have to. I’ll go to a junior college for two years and either sign professionally or transfer to a four-year college. I just want to play.”