Barnett, who hails from Laguna Niguel, Cal., played his freshman season with the Fullerton College Hornets in the CCCAA Orange Empire Conference in the abbreviated 2019-20 campaign.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound righthander made eight appearances for the club, starting seven games and posting a 1-1 record to go along with a 5.58 earned run average over 30.2 innings pitched. He showed impressive control along the way, striking out 22 while walking only eight.
While his ERA might seem a touch high compared to other Express signees this winter, the majority of his starts were impressive -- only twice did Barnett allow more than three earned runs in an appearance.
Barnett’s top showing came in a Feb. 28 contest against West Los Angeles, where he put together a quality start, allowing three runs on six hits through seven innings of work in an 11-5 win for the Hornets.
He had an equally as solid showing two weeks earlier in an 11-10 win over Moorpark, where he scattered six hits over five innings and allowed a single run, striking out three and walking one.
Barnett is the fourth CCCAA player signed by the Express this season, including Moose Jaw’s Reece Helland out of Monterey Penninsula.
There’s also a sombre connection between Fullerton College and recent events -- the Hornets play in the same conference as Orange Coast College, who lost baseball coach John Altobelli in the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.
Fullerton College open their regular season on Saturday, Apr. 10 when they take on Mt. San Antonio.
The Moose Jaw Miller Express kick off their 2021 Western Canadian Baseball League campaign on May 28 when they host the Medicine Hat Mavericks at Ross Wells Park.
