A TRUE LEAP OF FAITH OWENS DROPPED EVERYTHING AT UCLA TO PICK UP HIS DREAM.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

The moment Jerry Owens curled his fingers around a baseball bat inside The Master's College batting cage, he knew he had made the right decision.

Until then, Owens wasn't certain he'd done the right thing by walking away from a UCLA football scholarship last month to chase his baseball dreams at The Master's, a small Christian school in Santa Clarita.

The sudden about-face, three years after the gifted 6-foot-3, 185 pounder left Hart High of Newhall as an All-America wide receiver to conquer new ground with the Bruins, confused some people. They asked: Why he would turn his back on the security of a full scholarship to start over again in a sport he hadn't played in more than four years?

Owens, a devout Christian, looked forward to the opportunity The Master's provided to deepen his faith - although he knew he was taking a big chance jumping from football to baseball.

Then he stepped into the batting cage, picked up a bat and started taking swings.

``It was amazing how comfortable it felt, almost like second nature,'' Owens said. ``I hadn't swung a bat in four years, yet it felt so natural, it didn't seem like it had been that long. It felt right.''

A weight was lifted from Owens' shoulders that day, one he'd been carrying around for more than a year. He loved his life at UCLA, the friends he made on the football team, the relationships he had with Bruins coaches and the special opportunity he'd been given to play major-college football.

Yet he wasn't content.

``He missed baseball quite a bit,'' The Master's baseball coach Monte Brooks said. ``It was something heavy on his heart.''

Making a choice

Owens' first love always had been baseball. As a youngster, he played basketball and football, too, but baseball was his thing. He dreamed of playing in the major leagues one day, preferably as a coveted left-handed pitcher.

The dream remained alive when Owens arrived at Hart. Then his football skills began to overshadow his baseball ability and he faced an agonizing decision: Play both sports and limit his impact in each or focus on just one to ensure the maximum return on his efforts.

At the time, football offered a clearer path to a scholarship, so Owens reluctantly dropped baseball.

``Football was my way to get to college,'' Owens said.

The success he was enjoying in football helped bury the desires he had for his first love, and by the time Owens reached his senior year at Hart, he was one of the most sought-after wide receivers in the country.

When he accepted a scholarship to UCLA, baseball was a distant memory. At least on the surface.

``I still thought about it from time to time,'' Owens said. ``But all my attention was geared to football.''

A rekindling of sorts occurred even before Owens got to UCLA. As a senior at Hart, he broke his leg in the last game of the regular season, depriving him the chance to enjoy fully the Indians' Southern Section championship. It forced him to think about what he gave up when he dropped baseball.

The broken leg was a precursor to what lay ahead. Owens suffered nagging injuries through his first two seasons with the Bruins - including a thigh bruise that sidelined him last spring and an ankle injury at the start of fall camp - ruining any chance to make the mark he expected.

After redshirting in 1999, he had one catch last year and saw extensive action on special teams.

The injuries, as much as anything else, turned his attention to baseball. In fact, over the last year or so, Owens thought seriously about trying out for the UCLA baseball team, joining a travel club or simply giving up his scholarship to try baseball somewhere else.

``I was missing baseball quite a bit and it didn't help that I kept getting hurt,'' Owens said.

Ultimately, Owens, with three years of eligibility remaining, decided to hone in once again on football in the hopes of staying healthy through his sophomore year. Then he suffered the ankle injury at the beginning of fall camp, and baseball immediately became more attractive.

``When I got hurt again, that was a sign to me that it was time to move on,'' Owens said. ``It had become a cycle. I'd work hard to move up the depth chart, then I'd get hurt again and slide right back down. I prayed quite a bit about it, and it became clear to me that it was time to do something else.''

Once Owens made up his mind, he told his parents and UCLA coach Bob Toledo he was leaving the Bruins for The Master's. Baseball was a big part of his decision, Owens told them, but so, too, was his faith. Toledo recognized he was losing a potential starter but understood Owens' reasoning. His parents told Owens they'd support whatever he did.

``That made me feel a lot better,'' Owens said. ``My parents were behind me, and in terms of UCLA, I left on good terms and I didn't burn any bridges. I still have quite a few friends there. ...

``For me, this was the right thing to do and they understood that.''

The Master's was a perfect fit. Owens' father, Paul Sibek, went to the school and Owens was a ballboy for the Mustangs' basketball team as a youngster.

``It's the right place for him,'' Sibek said. ``There's no doubt he's extremely happy with where he is right now.''

After working out with Brooks and talking to him at length about his baseball goals and religion, Owens was welcomed enthusiastically onto the team.

``For a great athlete to make a leap like this is pretty impressive,'' Brooks said, ``especially for the reasons he made them. Jerry has been blessed with tremendous athletic ability and I think he's chosen this field to honor the Lord and those blessings. I'm glad he's here and I think he's got a great opportunity.''

Now comes the challenge.

According to Brooks, Owens has the talent to develop into a big-time baseball prospect, perhaps even a professional player. But he's been away from the game so long, it's going to take time for Owens to recapture what he lost and build upon that.

Owens' long-term goal is to pitch, although he'll also play in the field and hit in the short term. Brooks is impressed with Owens' skills - but also his diligence.

``The thing is, he has a tremendous amount of faith and love for the game of baseball and he's also got a burning desire to succeed,'' Brooks said. ``That's a great combination to have, which is why we're so excited to see how he develops.''

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(color) Jerry Owens was an all-state football player at Hart High and a wide receiver with a full scholarship at UCLA. But he gave it all up to follow his faith and play baseball - his first love - at The Master's College.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer