by Todd Merchant
The SIU baseball team travels to Martin, Tenn., today to take on Tennessee-Martin at 2 p.m.
If you asked Saluki catcher Toby Barnett how he did against MacMurray College on Tuesday, he would have said not very well.
In SIU's 6-1 victory, Barnett went 1-for-4 at the plate and knocked in a run.
For most players, that would be a decent day, but then again, Barnett is not a normal player.
Barnett, a junior from Australia, has continued to raise the bar since arriving here in the fall. He was pegged to be the back-up to senior Scott Hankey, who started all but one game for SIU last season, but proved with his play in the fall that he had a definite shot at snagging the starting job.
When Hankey injured himself during winter break, Barnett became the No. 1 catcher and has flourished in the starting role so far this season.
Barnett, who was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week last week, is hitting .407 with seven runs batted in, leading his team to a 5-2 start. This hot start has not surprised Barnett in the least.
"In the fall, everyone was saying how well we've improved, and we've pretty much believed in ourselves ever since," Barnett said.
In only a few months, Barnett has become a team leader and someone who his teammates, especially the pitchers, have come to depend on.
"It's pretty easy to help out, but I'm not going too far out of the way," Barnett said. "I don't think it's any different than what a catcher should do. A pitcher's gotta feel comfortable with him ... I'm easy to get along with."
Barnett had some difficulty becoming acquainted with his teammates and coaches when he first arrived in Carbondale, due mostly to his thick Aussie accent.
"I thought we were going to have to hire an interpreter for the coaching staff," Saluki head coach Dan Callahan said. "We were having so much trouble. It's one of those things where the more times you talk to him, the easier it is to understand him."
Callahan said Barnett is a disciplined hard worker, who also is blessed with good people skills.
"It didn't take him too long to develop a good rapport with our pitching staff, and that's so important from a catcher's perspective," Callahan said.
Barnett came to SIU from Australia via Twin Falls, Idaho, where he starred on the diamond at the College of Southern Idaho.
Callahan had been searching across the Midwest for a backstop when he went out on a whim and contacted Hankey's former coach in Idaho, who told him about Barnett.
"We said 'this is kinda odd, but did you come across anyone behind the plate that you really liked,'" Callahan said. "He said 'you might want to call Coach Walker at the College of Southern Idaho, he's got a kid from Australia that not a lot of people know about.'"
The coaches in the MVC will get to know Barnett a lot better when the Salukis begin their conference season later this month.
For now, Barnett is just hoping to break out of his "dry spell" today when SIU travels to Martin, Tenn., to take on Tennessee-Martin at 2 p.m. After having four games postponed due to poor weather last week, Barnett and the rest of the Salukis are eager to take on the Skyhawks.
"We're all pretty pumped about tomorrow, we gotta get our ass back in gear," Barnett said. "Last weekend it wasn't too good sitting down, not getting some games in. We're all pretty disappointed about that."
Reporter Todd Merchant can be reached at tmerchant@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
