While the Red Sox ended their season Friday with a loss to the Chicago White Sox, Boston University College of Communication junior Kelly Barons finished her second and final season as the ballgirl down the third-base line at Fenway Park.

But before Barons stepped onto the Charles River Campus, her foul-line catches earned her a spot on ESPN’s highlight reel and a spot guest hosting ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight.” This year she transferred to BU from Weston’s Regis College.

“I was attending Regis College and majoring in nursing,” she said. “It was an all-girls school and I just didn’t really fit in there. I wanted to be closer to the city and COM provides some amazing opportunities.”

Barons started out as a Fenway Ambassador three years ago and used her high school softball skills to snag a job working as a ballgirl down on the field.

“I was working for the front office doing public relations work and things like that, and they asked if anyone was interested in being a ballgirl,” she said

Barons gained national attention during the 2004 season when she appeared on ESPN’s Top 10 highlight reel for one of her catches.

“It was really cool at the time, really surreal,” she said. “I caught a ball off of Dave Roberts when he was still with the [Los Angeles] Dodgers.”

This year, Barons appeared on television again when a foul ball drilled by the Cincinnati Reds’ Ken Griffey Jr. hit her in the face.

“I got really lucky,” she said. “I don’t even have a scar. That catch earned me a spot on the not-top 10 catches.”

Backing up third baseman Bill Mueller has its advantages, Barons said. “He is such a nice guy, always talking to the kids in the stands,” she said. “All the players are nice guys.”

Barons traveled to St. Louis to see the Red Sox play the Cardinals last year and was on the field after the final out in Game 4 of the World Series. That night, she received a hug from Sox designated hitter David Ortiz.

“That was an awesome moment,” she said. “I was on the field bawling my eyes out and he came over and gave me a hug. It was the best hug I have ever gotten.”

COM sophomore Melanie D’Acchioli said she is a huge Red Sox fan and thinks Barons’ work with the team is a unique opportunity.

“I love the Red Sox,” she said. “I wish I could have a job like hers. That is amazing thing to do.”

Barons said despite her onscreen cameos, her best catch came during the final week of regular season play on a ball hit by Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield.

“I’m scared to death of him,” she said “He just rips it right down that third-base line.”

COM sophomore Jonathan Beck works for New York’s YES network, which features 24-hour-a-day Yankees coverage. He met Barons last summer at BU’s transfer student orientation, he said.

“We were at orientation together this summer and I thought I knew her from somewhere,” he said. “Then I realized that she was the ballgirl for the Sox and that I knew her from being on the field.

“Her catches are unbelievable,” he continued.

Although she didn’t earn a World Series ring for her efforts, Barons said she was glad to be back for the 2005 season.

“This season was a lot more relaxed,” she said. “I think we [players and fans] got a chip off our shoulders now that we’ve finally won.”

Barons said she was not quite prepared for the public recognition she’d face living full-time in Boston.

“I get recognized a lot because of the television coverage all over the city,” she said, “but mostly in the Fenway area. Most people are really cool, but a person yelling out their car window is a little weird.”

Now that the 2005 season has officially ended, Barons said after finishing her two-year stint with the team, she looking forward to different prospects for next season.

“I’m trying to move away from all the attention of being the ballgirl and focus more on sports broadcasting,” she said. “I’m hosting a show this winter on New England Sports Network called Bruins All Access that I’m hoping to use as a springboard.”