The Name of the Game for James Is Versatility : Newport Harbor Star Has Had Busy Sports Year

Overlapping sports seasons can create a conflict of interests. But Newport Harbor High School’s Joey James always seems to be able to adjust.

In the fall, the 6-foot, 212-pound senior was an all-Sea View League tight end for the Sailors’ co-championship football team. He traded his cleats for sneakers and was a starting guard on the school’s league champion basketball team.

Then, James showed his versatility by getting two hits in his first baseball game less than 12 hours after the Sailors had been eliminated by Dominguez in the Southern Section basketball playoffs.

“My first baseball game was my first practice,” James said. “We had a game against Loara the morning after our basketball team lost in the playoffs. I decided I wanted to do everything in sports my senior year. I figured the rest of my life I’ll have a lot of days off, so I wanted to do it all.”

James has experienced it all in the Sailors’ baseball program. The left fielder is a three-year starter who has helped the program gain respectability this season by gaining a berth in the 2-A division playoffs and then upsetting El Toro and Artesia in the postseason tournament.

“I’ve seen this program go from under par to mediocre to good in three years,” James said. “We’ve really put it together in the second half of the season. The main thing is that we’ve gained respect for Newport Harbor’s baseball program.”

The Sailors (16-10) have won seven straight games and play host to top-seeded Diamond Bar (24-2) at 3:15 today. It’s been 11 years since the Sailors last competed in the playoffs and school historians claim Newport Harbor has never advanced to the quarterfinal round.

“You should have seen this place on Tuesday for our game against Artesia,” James said. “There were people lined up and down the foul lines on both sides of the field. I’ve never seen so many people out for a baseball game here.”

James remembers the bad times at Newport Harbor. Before Coach Wayne Heck arrived three years ago, the Sailors struggled to win one game in 1982. They improved with six wins the following year and nine last year.

“Our field was a joke before Coach Heck got the job,” James said. “We didn’t have an outfield fence and the field was terrible. He’s instilled pride in our program. But I know some people still aren’t taking us seriously.

“The El Toro coach (Dan DeLeon) said some things after we beat them (7-4) that seriously fired us up. We had lost to El Toro four straight times and had something to prove. Our last two games have been great games.”

James has played a key role in both victories. He slugged a two-run home run against El Toro then added a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that triggered a 6-2 come-from-behind win over Artesia in the second round.

James, batting .465, has 9 home runs and 35 runs batted in this season and was named Player of the Year in the Sea View League.

“Joey is the best hitter I’ve seen in the past three years,” Heck said. “He was born to hit, no doubt about it.

“He also has a great temperament for this game. He’s totally intense, but if he makes an out, he comes back to the bench and starts thinking of ways to get a hit his next time up.”

James credits his father, George, the chairman of the art department at Cal State Fullerton, for his hitting prowess. George James played baseball for the Sailors in 1951.

“Basically, my dad taught me how to hit,” James said. “He had me in a batting cage when I was eight and we spent a lot of time in the cages. Baseball is the sport that I’ve always enjoyed the most. I think my future is in baseball.”

Next season, James will pack his football cleats and basketball sneakers away in the closet and concentrate on baseball. He plans to attend Orange Coast College where he will major in business.

“It’s going to be different,” he said. “But I’m looking forward to seeing how well I perform when I concentrate on only one sport. I wouldn’t trade my senior year for anything . . . the camaraderie with the other players alone was worth the work.”

‘I’ve seen this program go from under par to mediocre to good in three years. We’ve really put it together in the second half of the season. The main thing is that we’ve gained respect for Newport Harbor’s baseball program.’

--Joey James