McQuin Baron’s abilities in water polo inspired several labels while he played for Mater Dei.
He was called the X-factor. The backbone of the defense. The heartbeat of his team. And arguably one of the best goalies in Orange County history.
Now there’s one more to add.
The goalie who oversaw the Monarchs’ record-setting winning streak and guided them to four consecutive Division1 finals was selected the Register’s Player of the Year.
“Without him, here’s no
105-game winning streak,” Santa Margarita coach Paden Mitchell said.
Related:
2013 All-County boys water polo team
Boys water polo coach of the year: Tim Fredericksen, Segerstrom
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound senior is the fifth consecutive Mater Dei player to either have won or shared the Register award. But he is the first county goalie to earn the award since El Toro keeper Greg Stoll shared the honor with Foothill attacker Brian Brown in 1995.
Mater Dei’s state-record winning streak started in the middle of Baron’s freshman season, nearly coinciding with his rise to full-time starter.
Three consecutive Division 1 championships and the winning streak followed. And while those streaks came to an end this fall, there was no denying what Baron meant to that success.
“McQuin is the reason why we’re here,” Mater Dei coach Chris Segesman said during the season. “When he’s on, he’s tough to beat. Not only blocking the ball, McQuin feeds our counterattack.
“He throws a pass on the hands 25 yards that leads to a goal.”
Baron racked up 277 saves and 47 assists this past season. The Monarchs fell to rising power Harvard-Westlake of Studio City, 9-6, in the final with Baron making 12 saves.
“I wanted to go out with all my boys as a champion, but in the end, (Harvard-Westlake) came out and they played better than us,” he said.
“Honestly, getting three CIF championships and a runner-up and including the streak as well is amazing. You can’t keep you head down about that. It’s a huge accomplishment for us.”
Baron finished his four-year career with 1,203 saves and 162 assists.
Later this month, the Trinity League MVP resumes training with the U.S. national team. Over the summer, Baron was the final goalie cut for the U.S. team for the FINA World Championships.
The USC commit is used to competition. He grew up rough-housing in North Tustin with three older brothers.
His oldest brother, John-Garrett, is 6-foot-7 and played basketball at national power Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. His brother, Scott, is 6-foot-5, and plays football at Kansas. And there’s 6-foot Thomas, who attends McGill University in Canada.
Baron played water polo, basketball, baseball and soccer growing up but flourished at the
SOCAL under OJ Vazquez, now an assistant at Mater Dei.
Now, Baron is motivated to collect a few more labels.
“I’d love to go to USC, win a couple national titles,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of work. Also, I’d love to make the Olympics.”
