Hard-throwing, 160-pound pitcher leads Dukes to first playoff win

Barnes, who led WMBL in strikeouts this season, credits good mechanics and proper training for his success on the mound

Paul Owen, Freelance Writer

Published: Saturday, August 02, 2008

SHERWOOD PARK - For Sherwood Park Dukes pitcher Casey Barnes, it's all in the hips.

The five-foot-11, 160-pound pitcher from Chandler, Ariz., may be one of the smallest pitchers in the Western Major Baseball League but he's also got one of the best fastballs, and he owes it to the swivel at his waist.

"It's all about mechanics," Barnes explained. "When I grew up as a kid, I was told that mechanics are everything. That's how your arm stays healthy.

"It all comes from your hips and being able to generate torque through your body. It doesn't matter how big you are. If you look at Roy Oswalt, he's a small guy throwing hard. Pedro (Martinez) throws hard. (Tim Lincecum) is a really good example. I feel like I'm really sound with my mechanics, and that's how I get my velocity." Clocked at 91 m.p.h. at Kansas Wesleyan University, where Barnes is entering his junior year, his heater helped him lead the Western Major Baseball League in strikeouts during the regular season, sitting down 67 batters in 582/3 innings.

Building off his strong regular season, Barnes allowed only four hits and two runs in the Dukes' first-ever playoff game Friday night at Centennial Park.

The expansion WMBL team downed the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets 4-2 in the opening game of the first-round playoff series.

"He gave us what we expect he should give us. It's not that we try and put pressure on him to do that, but that's just the way he's been pitching and has pitched probably his whole life. He's a guy who just wins," said Dukes head coach Jordan Blundell.

Barnes' fastball was once again on display as he struck out eight Yellow Jackets over the course of eight innings of work.

"He came out throwing strikes," said Saskatoon coach and designated hitter Matt Gunning, who drove in both Yellow Jackets runs with a double in the sixth inning. "He's been a strike-thrower all year. He's shown he's not going to walk you, so you've got to be ready to swing the bat. He kept us off-balance enough that we couldn't get the big hit." Barnes' biggest moment came in the top of the fifth inning when the Yellow Jackets loaded up the bases with only one out. Barnes struck out Andy Fox and Joel Cardinal to protect a 3-0 Dukes lead.

"I just got a little adrenaline. Sometimes something will set you off just the right way, and then you get that little adrenaline boost and it gets you that much more on your pitches, and I think that's what got me through that," Barnes said.

And while one of the lingering concerns about small-in-stature pitchers is that their bodies may not be able to handle a heavy workload, the Dukes have no such qualms about Barnes.

"He's a guy we look at as being able to bounce back on shorter rest than the other (pitchers)," Blundell said.

It's a trait Barnes attributes to the way he pitches and also trains between starts.

"I really push myself to make sure that I can come back (quickly)," he said. "I stick to my program of running, weightlifting and abs, and I really feel that that helps my arm.

"Good mechanics and a good routine make for a healthy arm."