|
Deer Valley catcher Kaitlynn Barnes is ranked No. 2 in home runs with nine and 44 RBIs in the state this season.
mollie j hoppes/daily news-sun
A real homer
Slugger’s power propels Deer Valley to the top
The Deer Valley High School softball team has discovered a new power source in a familiar place this season.
Kaitlynn Barnes had always been a better-than-average hitter for the Skyhawks. Yet the catcher has taken her game into a new stratosphere in her senior season, helping the Skyhawks to a 20-3 record, including 5-0 atop the Desert West Region standings.
"I've always been a contact hitter, but for some reason I'm seeing the ball better this season," said Barnes, a fixture in the third spot of the Deer Valley lineup.
Barnes also has become a fixture among the hitting leaders throughout the state.
The 18-year-old Phoenix resident is hitting .544 this season and stands among the top five in the state in homers (9), runs batted in (44) and slugging percentage (1.088).
"She works hard at what she does," said coach Carl Bakemeier, who has led Deer Valley to five state title games in 13 seasons. "She's always had a lot of talent, but she didn't get a chance to start until last season because she played behind Karie Wilson.
Wilson, a two-time region player of the year, now starts at catcher for the University of Pacific.
"No one had more heart than Karie and she played hard every second of every game and practice," Barnes said of her predecessor. "I knew I was going to have to bide my time and wait to play catcher."
Barnes had another role model closer to home.
Her sister, Malisa, starred at first base for the Skyhawks and now plays as a freshman at the University of Minnesota.
"We couldn't be more opposite in that I'm a neat freak, and she is a slob," Barnes said of her older sister. "But I miss her not being here this season, and I try to talk to her as much as possible."
Barnes has had plenty to tell her older sister.
Two games jump out of the Deer Valley scoresheet.
The first occurred on March 21 when Barnes hit two homers and finished with 9 RBI in a 16-1 win over Cholla.
Barnes nearly duplicated that performance on April 2 when she went 4-for-5 with two homers and 8 RBI in a 33-0 thrashing of Valley Vista.
"It's gotten to the point where some of my teammates don't even get excited when I hit a home run," Barnes said. "Oh yeah, Kaitlynn just hit another one."
Barnes admitted there is one aspect of her game that gets her more excited than hitting a home run: throwing out baserunners.
"It is a pet peeve of mine when runners take too big of a lead," Barnes said. "I take that as a sign of disrespect."
Barnes spends as much time working on the defensive part of her game as her hitting. That includes calling pitches, throwing out runners and controlling the flow of the game from her catching position.
"I've really put in a lot of work to know what my pitchers want to throw in every situation," Barnes said. "They don't even have to shake me off because I can read the looks on their faces if they are uncomfortable throwing a certain pitch."
Bakemeier said he has so much confidence in Barnes that he permits her to call 99 percent of pitches during a game.
"There might be a certain situation where I want to call the pitch, but I have total confidence in Kaitlynn," he said. "We worked on her skills at blocking balls in the dirt this season, but she is a complete player."
Barnes also has had a comfort zone in knowing where she will be playing softball next season.
The senior already has committed to play at Western New Mexico, a Division 2 school in Silver City.
"I fell in love with the school when I went for a visit," Barnes said. "I like that it's in a small town and the community revolves around the university.
"It's the kind of place where you can walk down the street and everyone knows you. I really liked that."
