Golden Valley softball ace Barner strikes out 20 in victory

Golden Valley High School junior Bree Barner struck out 20 Monday night in the Cougars’ 3-0 non-league softball victory at Washington Union near Fresno.

It was a remarkable performance that almost didn’t happen, Golden Valley coach Ross Cruickshanks said.

Cruickshanks said he hadn’t planned to pitch Barner on Monday night. But with weather making it difficult to find any rhythm in the early season, Barner convinced her coach she should take the circle.

Did she ever.

Barner struck out the first nine in order, eliciting thoughts of a perfect game.

Panthers leadoff batter Lexi Martinez erased those thoughts with a bloop single between shortstop and left field. With one out, Washington Union made its only non-K out on a sacrifice and ramped up the threat with a walk and a steal of third. Suddenly, the Cougars’ 1-0 lead was in jeopardy.

But Barner struck out the cleanup hitter on a rise ball, her go-to pitch of the night, to start a streak of 10 Ks to end the game. A two-run Golden Valley rally in the fifth inning provided cushion.

Barner called it “one of my best games yet.” Not bad for the reigning Central California Conference MVP and 2022 Sun-Star Softball Player of the Year. Barner last year was 12-9 with a 1.41 ERA and 301 strikeouts (11th-best in the state) in just over 173 innings pitched.

Her Monday performance doubled her season total to 40 strikeouts.

The Cougars improved to 2-3 overall and are 1-0 in the CCC with games scheduled this week at top CCC rivals Merced and Atwater, weather permitting.

“I can’t wait,” Barner said. “This team has come just such a far way and I’m so excited to see how far we can go.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2023 at 12:27 PM.