STRIKE FORCE

John Hudgins soon will be headed off to bigger things. There will be more significant games with higher stakes in college and, perhaps, major league baseball.

No matter how many wins he records or how much money he makes, though, Hudgins’ senior season of high school baseball will always stand out in his mind.

It was a season when Hudgins, the Mission Viejo Diablos’ ace, did much more than establish himself as the most dominating pitcher in Orange County. It was a season when he learned to savor the moment.

Hudgins reflected on the friendships he’s made with teammates he’s known since childhood. And he tried to commit to memory every second he spent on the diamond with his brother David, a freshman on the team.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Hudgins struck out 135 in 82 2/3 innings and compiled an earned-run average of 0.76--both county bests--on his way to attracting a scholarship offer from Stanford and a possible professional deal from the Oakland A’s.

But it was the times like when he tossed a no-hitter against Capistrano Valley on local television while his friends cheered in the stands that Hudgins will remember most.

“That was the highlight of my year,” said Hudgins, the Times’ Orange County Player of the Year. “I’ll always remember that.”

He finished the season 10-2, with two no-hitters, and had three saves, playing a part in 13 of the Diablos’ 15 victories. He also hit .438 with two home runs and a team-high 30 runs batted in.

“Everything we did was because of the individual year he had,” said Mission Viejo Coach Chris Ashbach, whose team made the playoffs for the first time since 1991. “It was a real pleasure to watch him.”

That is, unless you were an opposing coach. Just ask El Toro’s Tom McCaffrey, whose Chargers struck out 15 times in one game against Hudgins. Or Capistrano Valley’s Bob Zamora, whose Cougars were no-hit by Hudgins this year after they had defeated several times in his four-year varsity career.

“That was the best we had seen John throw,” Zamora said. “He had his fastball going in the low 90s. But we were a good fastball-hitting team, so he relied a lot on his slider, which was a [USC pitcher] Rik Currier-type slider--just unhittable.”

Hudgins’ feat became all the more impressive when Capistrano Valley went on to win the Southern Section Division I title, scoring 10 runs in the championship game.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Hudgins also pitched a no-hitter against Dana Hills and added two one-hitters. He gave up one or more earned runs in only two games.

Hudgins attributed part of his success to not having to worry about his future. He accepted a scholarship from Stanford last November. He told pro teams he was likely headed to college after learning that he would be taken somewhere in the third to fifth round of the free-agent draft. Oakland still selected him in the 20th round, the 600th player overall.

“I was thinking at the time that, lacking an exceptional amount of money, I would want to go to college,” Hudgins said. “You know that coming out of Stanford, you’ve got your education behind you so there’s something to fall back on if baseball doesn’t work out.

“Also, they’re making pitchers into better baseball players at Stanford. Jason Young got drafted in the 29th round out of high school, went to Stanford and got drafted in the second round. You look at stuff like that.”

Still, there’s a slim chance Hudgins could sign with Oakland this summer if he impresses their scouts in the Connie Mack League. The decision will hinge in part, Hudgins said, on whether the organization pays a signing bonus that is larger than ones it typically gives 20th-round picks.

While he is certainly excited about his future, Hudgins is also sad to leave behind high school baseball, where he established school career records with 20 victories and 346 strikeouts.

“There’s always an ending to everything, but you always have fond memories,” he said. “It really is the last time in your life where you have a lot of fun with baseball.”