Former CSUB star sees baseball career come full circle
UCSB commit Barrett gives Frontier baseball another D-I arm
Hudson Barrett wasn’t interested in taking advantage of the unexpected time off presented to him in the spring and summer.
Part of a Frontier baseball team that had won eight of its first 10 games to open 2020, Barrett and his Titan teammates had high expectations for the rest of the season. Those expectations were crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the rest of the year being canceled.
The cancellation was particularly difficult for Barrett, a sophomore pitcher who struggled to earn innings on a loaded Titan rotation.
While he saw action at first base, a bout of elbow tendonitis limited his availability on the mound. Already competing for innings with three Division I prospects, the injury hindered him further and Barrett made just one relief appearance in the abbreviated season.
So when the season was shut down in mid-March, Barrett knew he was missing out on an opportunity to produce high-quality film for prospective college coaches, and quickly forged a plan to make up for the time he was losing.
With the help of Carey Cain, his coach on the Central Valley Naturals travel team, Barrett filmed numerous throwing sessions at parks around Bakersfield hoping they would catch the attention of college scouts.
Results came sooner than anyone expected.
A 6-foot-3 lefty, Barrett showed consistent velocity with his fastball, saying he recorded throwing speeds as high as 88 miles-per-hour. Within weeks, numerous offers started rolling in.
By summer’s end, Barrett, with just two innings of varsity experience to his name, had already found a collegiate home, committing to UC Santa Barbara in late August.
“It’s really high-tier baseball,” Barrett said of Santa Barbara’s program. “I have a really good opportunity to compete for the College World Series every year.”
Barrett, who immediately hit it off with Gauchos head coach Andrew Checketts, was also impressed with the program’s strong track record of developing prospects. UCSB has had MLB 39 draft picks since 2012, producing talent like Cleveland Indians All-Star pitcher Shane Bieber, the runaway favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award this season.
“Getting drafted is my ultimate goal,” Barrett said. “I want to move onto the next level and I feel like they can get me there.”
Barrett’s offseason development has excited second-year Titan coach Brandon Boren, who says the junior-to-be has shown a great dedication to improving that will pay off at the varsity level and beyond.
“Guys (when they have time off) can go one of two ways. They can either sit on their butts and do nothing or they can be self-motivated and go out and work and find opportunities to get better,” Boren said. “To his credit, with the pandemic, not being able to workout with a team, (he) worked very hard and it shows.”
Now, the expectation is that his hard work will translate to quick success for a Titan team that’s grown accustomed to having the area’s top pitching staff.
Though high-level college prospects Kris Anglin and Tommy Hopfe have both graduated, Barrett and fellow junior Dylan Smith, a recent Northern Colorado commit, will give Frontier multiple D-I arms for at least the next two seasons.
Though excited about the future, Barrett says he’s keeping his focus on what’s in front of him. With guys like Anglin and Hopfe having set such a high standard, he says he and Smith, a friend he regularly works out with, are aiming to reach the same level.
“(College is) in two years,” he said. “I’m really focusing on my high school team right now. I’m just really excited to get back to school and practicing with my teammates, trying to get back to where we left off. Me and Dylan Smith... hopefully we’ll be a great 1-2 punch for Frontier these next couple of years.”