The Silent Streak
After a stellar first year with the Beavers, sophomore shortstop darwin Barney has stepped up his game, especially at the plate
Steven Masters
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Joe DiMaggio, one of the greatest New York Yankees to ever play the game of baseball, popularized the hitting streak in Major League Baseball in 1941 when he hit safely in 56 straight games.
While this record may never be broken, Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies recently concluded his 38-game hitting streak that had the American public abuzz. On the Oregon State campus, Darwin Barney of the Oregon State baseball team had a 17-game hitting streak that went from March 3 to April 6 ?but his streak gained little public knowledge.
"I didn"t realize it until about 12,"Barney said. 涆o have a streak like that you have to be a little fortunate and a couple balls you don't hit well have to drop. That's kinda what happened I went through a couple streaks swinging the bat well; I only hit around .400 for the streak and that's not really getting hot.
"Balls were falling for me and I hit it right into the right places. That's how baseball is: you can hit it really hard and go right at somebody or you can hit it off the end of the bat and get a base hit. It's a mix of my swing feeling solid and swinging at good pitches that were falling for me."Clearly, Barney was seeing the ball and swinging well. In 70 at-bats during his hitting streak, Barney knocked in 10 runs and had 28 hits. In nine of those seven games, Barney had more than one hit.
"I felt good and was seeing the ball well,"he said. "hitting for me is about seeing the ball and timing. If you are seeing the ball, then timing is going to come."
Not only did he provide a constant threat in the three spot for the Beavers, Barney also hit a Ted Williams-like .400. Even while on the streak, Barney did not try to change anything with his swing.
"I try to have a short swing all the time,"Barney explained. "That's one of my problems. I don't let loose as much as I used to. I think that the hitting streak, now that it掇 over, let掇 me get into another kind of rhythm. I am trying to help the club out and get on base, but I am also here to drive runs in."With the streak over, Barney can now concentrate on even more important things. The No. 5 Beavers (32-10, 9-3 Pac-10) are atop the conference by two games and have repeat aspirations of last year's postseason run.
"Darwin is a good player,"said OSU closer Kevin Gunderson. "he played a lot as a freshman, and that helps as far as his leadership. You don't play your freshman year and you become a little hesitant. He has a full season under his belt going into this year he obviously hasn't disappointed anyone."
After playing such an instrumental role in the Beavers' appearance in the 2005 College World Series, Barney has followed his sophomore campaign with anything but a sophomore slump. As a freshman, Barney hit .301 and drove in 44 runs. This season, with 13 regular season games left on the schedule, Barney has a .352 average and has already driven in 22 runs.
"He played well and he's only going to get better if he chooses to,"said coach Pat Casey. "he have to hopefully put him into a role where he realizes he's a leader on this club and he has to do those little things he didn't have to do last year if we are going to be successful."
Instead of being content with the numbers he put up as a freshman, Barney concentrated heavily in the off-season on his speed training in hopes that it would add to his range of motion and flexibility.
"My main focus in off-season was speed training,"Barney said. "I worked out a lot with my speed trainer Matt James and he really helped me out with a lot of the base running things I needed, more of the physical formation of your running type stuff. That's really added another weapon to my game because I am a little faster than I was last year."
The effects of successful speed training were on full display this past Sunday as Barney raced down the leftfield line chasing a fly ball off the bat of New Mexico's Jay Russell. With no chance for leftfielder Cole Gillespie or third baseman Shea McFeely to make the grab, Barney battled the sun and made a fantastic over-the-shoulder catch that drew an applause from the crowd.
"Speed can compliment the game in many ways,"Barney said. æ°¥efensively, in my position, it's important to have that first step. I definitely think that first step and working on my speed and agility is something that really helped me in the field this afternoon.?The role that Barney has on this club appears to fit him well. He's a vocal leader playing one of the most pivotal positions on the field and can either hit for average or power. Whether he's turning a pivotal double play to preserve a shout out of the visiting Stanford Cardinal or going 3-4 against USC, Barney is cut out for the competition and will only get better in the next two years. "It's good to know you have someone back there who knows how to play the game,"Gunderson said. æµ eæ쳌¯e confident with him that he will make the plays."
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