"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart." So begins the wistful essay "The Green Fields of the Mind," written by former Commissioner of Major League Baseball A. Bartlett Giamatti.
 
The prose focuses on the passage of time, from the newness of spring, to the warmth and colors of summer, to the falling leaves of autumn.
 
In the case of collegiate baseball, the four seasons are: freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. But for Chico State starting pitcher Luke Barker, the seasons began long before that.
 
The son of Chico State Director of Athletics Anita Barker and Head Athletic Trainer Scott Barker sprung up before our eyes, from a young boy running behind the backstop to a young man sitting behind the plate with a flawlessly filled in scorebook.
 
Then suddenly, one summer, the boy was gone. He was a man, realizing his childhood dream of pitching for his hometown team. He stood on the mound where his boyhood heroes once stood.
 
Not just that. He became a hero to countless boys at Nettleton Stadium.
 
Barker started 13 games as a freshman and helped lead the Wildcats to the College World Series. He spent his sophomore season as a reliever and helped pitch the Wildcats to the championship game of the West Regional. Then, as a junior, he set a Chico State record with 18 saves, earning First Team All-America accolades in the process.
 
This season, back in the starting rotation, Barker compiled a 1.73 ERA, the sixth lowest in the history of the program among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched. 
 
But suddenly, the leaves are falling.
 
Summer is gone.
 
Hearts are broken.
 
Barker made his final collegiate appearance for the Wildcats Friday in a 4-1 loss to Cal State East Bay.
 
It wasn't the season he dreamed of for his team. It wasn't the finish he imagined. But in the end, when Head Coach Dave Taylor took the ball from Barker with one out in the ninth, he rightfully stood proud and tall as the fans at Nettleton Stadium rose for a sustained and rousing ovation.
 
Barker didn't have his best stuff, as evidenced by the 10 hits he allowed – the most since his freshman season – and pitched into some bad luck. But he survived on the guts Chico State's fans and coaches have grown accustomed to, along with veteran guile, to give the team eight-plus innings.
 
He struck out nine and allowed four runs (three earned). The first run scored when Barker got just enough glove on a comebacker to allow it to carom away, but not quickly enough for second baseman Gordon Deacon to reel it in and throw the runner out. The second run scored on a mental error – a botched rundown between third and home. And the third run scored on an error that should have been a double play.
 
He was in a jam in the eighth – runners on the corners with two down – when Taylor took a walk out to the mound. The crowd stirred, wondering if this would be his curtain call.
 
Taylor gave Barker the opportunity to get back to the dugout on his own accord. In no surprise to those who have been paying attention, Barker did the job, getting a popout to second base.
 
After Barker induced a groundout to start the ninth, Taylor strode to the mound and called for Barker's boyhood friend, Kurt Laver, to get the final two outs. The crowd rose with mixed emotions, grateful for the chance to say thank you for the years of enjoyment, but so very sad to be saying goodbye.
 
Barker finishes his career among the program's all-time greats in a number of categories. He's tied with another local standout, Nick Bryant, with 72 career appearances, third in saves with 18, fourth in strikeouts (196) and innings pitched (257), and tied for ninth in wins (17).
 
He's the only pitcher in Chico State history to rank among the top 10 in wins and saves.
 
Barker would gladly trade it all for a fourth straight NCAA Championship Tournament berth. It's been a heartbreaking season for the Wildcats. In a strange bit of irony, on the night Chico State fans celebrated one of the greatest to ever wear the uniform, the Wildcats were officially eliminated from postseason consideration, falling to 17-23 overall and 16-21 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
 
The game broke his heart this season. But not before Luke Barker built a legacy that will spring to mind whenever Chico State's all-time greats are mentioned.