During his baseball career at Russellville, Cole Barnett managed to put together quite the resumé. Not only did the former Golden Tiger second baseman perform at a high level on both sides of the ball for head coach Chris Heaps during his career, but Barnett also went out on top as the Golden Tigers clinched a state championship in his senior season.
And he wasn’t done there.
Once the dust settled and the dogpile had dissipated, Barnett was standing at the center of the diamond holding the 5A state championship series MVP award.
For Barnett, who recently signed a scholarship with Wallace State Community College to further his academic and athletic careers, the individual accomplishments might be nice and will certainly look good in the trophy case at home. But the individual accomplishments pale in comparison to what he was able to accomplish alongside his teammates over the course of his career.
“I got really emotional during my signing talking about my best friends like John David (Bishop) and I thanked him for helping me along the way. But the real emotion is realizing that it’s over with my brothers,” Barnett said. “I’m really excited that I get to move on to the next level but I don’t know that I’ll ever have a bond like the one I had with these guys. I’m really going to miss these guys like crazy”
While Barnett played a large part of a well-rounded defensive infield for the Golden Tigers, a majority of his damage came on the offensive side. Going into the state championship series, Barnett slashed a remarkable .314/.448/.512 on the season, managing the second-highest OPS on the Golden Tigers championship squad at .960, finishing behind Jackson Lindsey who sported a 1.091 OPS for the year.
Putting together a senior campaign like the one he just went through, Barnett had his fair share of college offers on the table once it came time to make a decision about his future. And when it came down to it, the one thing that Barnett focused on was the one thing he had focused on his entire career at Russellville: working to get better.
“Everywhere that I went and every turn that I took in this journey, everything had to do with work. And coach (Randy) Putman said that we’re going to work here and here, and if this doesn’t work, we’re going to do this,” Barnett said. “And that’s where we come from here. No matter what happens everyday, we find a way to work and get better here at Russellville and I can’t think of another way to do it other than to keep on working on my game somewhere else.”
Of course with the occasion of signing on to play college ball, there are undoubtedly joyful feelings and thoughts. But for Barnett, there is a sense of bittersweetness that accompanies those joyful thoughts and feelings on his big day.
“It was bittersweet because on the one hand it’s something that you dream about since you were a kid. I was in the sixth grade when Russellville won the first baseball championship and got to be a part of the program when they won it the next two years,” Barnett said. “You get that sweet enjoyment at first when you’re dogpiling and throwing your hat into the air and celebrating. And then you get to dinner afterwards and you look around and you start crying because you know it’s over.”
While he’ll certainly have plenty of opportunities in the future to leave his mark on other baseball programs and establishments, Barnett leaves Russellville with a ringing endorsement of just how special the Golden Tiger program has become over the past decade to its players.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if it was the state championship or the World Series, it still would have been upsetting because there’s nowhere like this place. No matter where else I go, there’s nowhere in this world that can compare to Russellville High School,” Barnett said.
