Patrick Hackworth made his college decision this week. (Photo courtesy Irvine baseball)
Irvine High shortstop Patrick Hackworth has made a commitment to play Division 1 college baseball at UC San Diego, according to Irvine Coach Gabriel Cota.
Hackworth still has one more season with the Vaqueros program.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
Photo courtesy Jim Tomlin, For OC Sports Zone
Photo courtesy Irvine baseball
Photo courtesy Irvine baseball
“I attended a baseball camp at UC San Diego last fall and really enjoyed everything about it,” Hackworth said Thursday by Email. “I want to go to a strong academic school and play baseball at a high level. UCSD checks both boxes and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Hackworth will be joining former Irvine High teammate Bubba Filia, who joined the San Diego program last season.
“I enjoyed playing with Bubba at Irvine and I’m looking forward to playing with him again,” Hackworth said.
Hackworth said he will major in economics.
Cota, the Irvine coach, has been impressed with Hackworth since he started with the program.
“Patrick has been a starter on the varsity team since his freshman year,” Cota said. “He is one of the hardest working student-athletes I have ever been around. There is no doubt that he came in extremely gifted.
“However, he never solely relied on that, he has always been willing to push himself to new limits, including the classroom. We are extremely proud of everything Patrick has accomplished with our program and look forward to watching him at the next level.
“Patrick has always been the consummate teammate always willing to show others how they should go about their business through his work ethic. Hopefully everything works out so Patrick has a chance to showcase his impressive skills for Irvine for one more year.”
High school baseball is scheduled to start in March 2021 under the new CIF plan. The season came to an early ending last March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“My hopes are high for this upcoming season,” Hackworth said. “We’ve had a lot of success the past two seasons and I know Coach Cota will have us ready again in the spring.”
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