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.”
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