Daily Pilot College Athlete of the Month: Jon Horwitz

Steve Virgen

The baseball story of Jon Horwitz, a junior center-fielder for UC

Irvine, might have never come about had it not been for a game during his

high school playing days at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. Horwitz’s

life is all about turning points and during his sophomore year at Notre

Dame, a game shifted the focus of Horwitz, and his life would never be

the same.

“I was brought up to varsity for defensive purposes, so I didn’t think

I was going to play,” Horwitz said, setting the scene. “At the time, I

didn’t care much about playing baseball. I was more of a water polo

player. The coach put me in the game. We were playing the No. 1 team in

our division, Camarillo. I made a great play and had a clutch hit that

helped us knock them off. That was my best athletic moment because it

made me like baseball more. I was considering never playing baseball

after that year. I wanted to focus on water polo and swimming and hanging

up the spikes. That moment is what led to where I am at today. The

adrenaline I felt when I played that game, just opened my eyes to how

much fun it was. It turned everything around.”

For Horwitz, who earned Big West Conference Player of the week after

hitting .588 in four games March 13-17, another turning point came when

he finished his two-year playing career at Glendale Community College,

where he earned All-Western State Conference honors (batted .337 with 11

doubles, five triples, 27 RBIs). It was then, he made the pivotal

decision to play for UCI.

Loyola Marymount was the only other school in the running for the

Division I darkhorse prospect and that school never stood a chance.

Becoming an Anteater proved overwhelmingly easy for Horwitz, who is

currently riding a 13-game hitting streak.

Like his father before him, he had always dreamed to attend a UC

school. And, with UCI, Horwitz knew he would be a part of a new program,

in its first season after a 10-year hiatus.

“I came (to UCI) mainly because of the opportunity to play right away

because there isn’t already a set team,” said Horwitz, the Daily Pilot

College Athlete of the Month for March. “Most programs you go to there

are guys already in positions, but in this case it’s wide open. (UCI) was

the first school that contacted me. I got contacted by Loyola Marymount.

But, I wasn’t even considering taking the trip. I knew this is where I

wanted to play the second I left for the recruiting trip. I knew this was

the place best-suited for me.”

Horwitz quickly found his role on the team and in turn has been a big

reason the Anteaters have produced an above-average season thus far. With

his glove in the outfield (Horwitz has 84 putouts) and his hot bat (.368

average, second on the team), Horwitz has become an unspoken leader,

letting his play do the talking.

“He can play center field as good as anybody in college,” UCI Coach

John Savage said of Horwitz, the team leader in runs scored, 32. “He’s

also doing a better job of putting the ball into play. Jon has good

(character). He’s responded very well to different situations. Whatever

hole we put him in, he seems to always respond.”

As if the aforementioned two turning points weren’t enough in

Horwitz’s rise in baseball, yet another pivotal moment came March 9.

Though the Anteaters lost, 8-7, to host San Diego State, Horwitz batted

leadoff and he said his reaction is what has made him the player he is

today.

He finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI, but more

importantly, Horwitz found comfort at the plate and confidence that seems

to have no limits. That game also set off Horwitz’s passion to improve

and led to his current 13-game hitting streak of which he has no

superstitions talking about. He laughed when he heard the NCAA record, a

58-game hitting streak by Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State, 1987.

“People can talk about (the record) to me,” Horwitz said. “It doesn’t

really bother me because more than likely it’s probably going to end and

another one is going to start, so it’s not a big deal. I don’t really

care it about it that much. I’m just focusing on day-by-day. I’d rather

just win ball games.”