O’Fallon’s Barnouski had the kind of senior season she deserved

Addie Barnouski was dinged for 34 losses over her four seasons as a high school pitcher at O’Fallon.

Half of those came during her junior year while the team behind her was rebuilt with as many as six freshmen in the field.

The Panthers finished an uncharacteristic 11-19 that season — including 13 losses by two runs or less — despite her 1.45 earned run average and .436 batting average. Barnouski didn’t roll an eye, grit her teeth or call a freshman to the mats.

She showed her younger teammates how to be better, said O’Fallon assistant and third-base coach Mark Paproth.

“We lost a lot of tough games, sometimes because of plays that were not made behind her. Addie never showed any level of frustration at all,” said Paproth. “You know it was in her because she’s a competitor, but she was never anything but 100 percent supportive of her teammates.

“She was nothing but everything you want a leader to be.”

Barnouski’s patience and veteran demeanor that season was rewarded with the kind of senior year Paproth says she deserved.She was named third-team all-state by the Illinois Coaches Association, first-team All-Southwestern Conference and will represent the east side at the ASA’s annual Missouri-Illinois All Star Game in Edwardsville next Wednesday.

And with another dominant season both at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle, the Southeast Missouri State University recruit is the BND Large School Softball Player of the Year.

“Her performance has been consistent from the start. She came in as a freshman and got some varsity innings and became our ace for the next three years,” said Paproth. “She’s had just a great career and we are so pleased to see her get some well deserved recognition and honors.”

As far as individual performance is concerned, Barnouski has gotten progressively better each year since playing her way into the starting lineup as a freshman.

This season, she batted a career-best .514 with 34 runs batted in. She had eight triples, five home runs and stole 16 bases. As a pitcher, she was 17-3 with a .1.36 earned run average, striking out 170 batters in 134 innings while walking just 23.

But the highlight of the season, she says, was the Panthers’ return to relevance in the top-heavy Southwestern Conference. O’Fallon finished 21-8, defeated rival Belleville East twice during the regular season, and toppled Edwardsville to clinch its first regional championship in five years.

The championship victory, the last one of her high school career, brought tears to Barnouski’s eyes.

“We hadn’t won a regional before,” said Barnouski, whose sister Taylor was the winning pitcher in the Panthers’ last regional championship victory . “I wanted it so bad, the emotional just got to me when we finally won it. They were happy tears, for sure.”

It wasn’t the first time during the season Barnouski was brought to tears.

In a late-April conference game against Alton, Barnouski wrenched her back after she rounded second base hard and turned to dive back in. She finished the game, but the muscles seized afterward. She spent most of the next three weeks on the bench in blue jeans and a back brace.

The balance of her senior season and her pitching future was in doubt.

“We weren’t sure how bad it was,” she said. “I was afraid there was a stress fracture and my dad wouldn’t let me pitch again.”

She bounced back as strong as the Panthers did from that disappointing 2015 season.

Barnouski was back in the batting order 17 days later, going 1-for-4 in a win over Granite City. She returned to the pitcher’s circle May 18, helping herself with a two-run home run to knock off Edwardsville.

“I though maybe I came back before I was supposed to,” Barnouski said. “I feel great now.”

Barnouski was recruited by Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and, eventually Southern Illinois University Carbondale, which was her first choice.

The Salukis were too slow, however, and allowed Southeast Missouri State to secure Barnouski’s services.

“I really wanted to go to Carbondale and I went to their camp, but they said they weren’t interested,” Barnsouki said. “I guess their pitching coach said they wanted me so they started recruiting me. I said ‘you should have got me first because I’ve got other offers.’”

SIUE appealed to her, too, mostly because of the success the Cougars have had in the Ohio Valley Conference. But Barnouski chose SEMO, another OVC program, because she said it’s “just far enough away.”

She plans to study elementary education there.

“I liked the campus and the coaches and their education program is really good,” she said. “It’s a really good fit for me.”

Barnouski will have friends in Cape Girardeau, too. Dupo catcher and summer-league teammate Rachael Donald also will be playing softball at SEMO, as will Edwardsville outfielder Rachel Anderson.

Through her summer league, Barnouski has gotten plenty of exerpiernce at the middle-infield positions, but hopes to be used at SEMO primarily as a pitcher. But she knows she could play anywhere on the field if she continues to hit as she has at O’Fallon.

“It really doesn’t matter because Addie is just a great athlete,” Paproth said. “If we put her in centerfield, she’d be the best one. If we put her at first base, she’d be the best first baseman.

“I’ve coached long enough to tell when a player has peaked too soon, but Addie has never done anything but get better. I honestly believe her best is still ahead of her.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 4:21 PM with the headline "O’Fallon’s Barnouski had the kind of senior season she deserved."