Simi Valley’s Barnese ready for second chance

Watching Nick Barnese of Simi Valley unleash a 91-mph fastball that zooms high or low and moves in or out figures to be one of the must-see moments of the 2007 high school baseball season.

His exceptional pitching during winter ball let batters know that the 6-foot-2, 165-pound right-hander ranks among the best in Southern California.

A Cal State Fullerton signee, Barnese will begin his senior season next weekend with far more motivation than simply to show scouts that he’s worthy of selection in the June amateur draft.

A year ago, Barnese began his junior season with a 3-0 shutout of Canyon Country Canyon. He never pitched again, disappearing from the roster and being banished from practice after receiving a one-year suspension for violating the school’s athletic code. Barnese and his coach, Matt LaBelle, declined to discuss specifics.

“I was kind of depressed,” Barnese said. “I let my team down.”

Not until the summer did Barnese resurface. He had to regain the trust of teammates and his coach. What they discovered was a changed teenager.

“You can see a massive difference from how he approaches his school to relationships with players,” LaBelle said. “Everything has totally switched around. He became more focused. It became apparent he was willing to put in the work instead of being happy where he was.”

From fulfilling academic requirements to devoting more attention to the minute details of pitching, Barnese has shown more maturity and a commitment to achieving excellence.

“I definitely learned my lesson to do the right thing and not be selfish,” he said.

As a pitcher, Barnese has the qualities needed to separate himself at the high school level. Besides his improving velocity, his change-up has become a nasty pitch, and he’s working on a hard curveball.

“I’m not trading him for anybody I’ve seen,” LaBelle said.

Fullerton Coach George Horton says he has watched Barnese pitch several times and likes his potential.

“We’re excited about him,” he said. “I think he can be an impact player. He’s got a lot of life in his arm, throws 91, 92 with movement and deception. He still has a lot of room for improvement.”

And that’s what makes Barnese so intriguing. People wonder just how dominant he can be with a fresh arm and the incentive to make up for missing his junior year.

What’s certain about 2007 is that the Southland again has plenty of individual talent and top teams. Here’s what to look forward to:

* Two third basemen, Matt Dominguez of Chatsworth and Josh Vitters of Cypress, are projected as possible first-round draft picks.

* Fullerton-bound shortstop Christian Colon of Anaheim Canyon and USC-bound shortstop Mike Moustakas of Chatsworth rank among the best in the nation for their position.

* Lakewood, last year’s Southern Section Division I champion, returns nine starters, making it a contender to finish No. 1 in the Southland.

* Chatsworth has a hitting threesome of Dominguez, Moustakas and outfielder Bobby Coyle that few pitchers will be able to handle.

* Riverside Poly has the best one-two starting pitching in Kyle Ocampo and Bryan Castro, who have signed with Fullerton and San Diego State, respectively.

* Long Beach Wilson, with nine returning starters led by UCLA-bound shortstop Ryan Dent, could surprise Lakewood in the Moore League.

* The Marmonte League could be the strongest in Southern Section Division I because Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village Westlake and Calabasas demonstrated in winter ball the ability to defeat a quality opponent.

* The Southern Section is playing four of its championship games over two days at Dodger Stadium, May 31 and June 1. The City Section will hold championship games for its three divisions on June 2 at Dodger Stadium.

* Six teams ranked nationally by Collegiate Baseball magazine are set to play in the Phil Nevin National Classic, April 9-12, in Orange County, led by top-ranked Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Charles Flanagan.

* Coaches Spud O’Neil of Lakewood and John Romano of La Puente Nogales are on the verge of picking up their 500th coaching victories.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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Southland players to watch in 2007

*--* RK NAME SCHOOL CL COMMENT PITCHER 1 Dan Klein Servite Sr. UCLA signee had seven walks in 61 innings 2 Nick Barnese Simi Valley Sr. Fullerton signee has 91-mph fastball 3 Kyle Ocampo Riverside Poly Sr. Fullerton signee had 1.62 ERA 4 Bryan Castro Riverside Poly Sr. Went 8-0 with 0.87 ERA 5 Cole Cook Palisades Sr. Pepperdine signee could be best in City Section FIRST BASE 1 Andrew Lambo Newbury Park Sr. Batted .477 with 13 home runs 2 Freddy Freeman El Modena Sr. Member of U.S. junior national team 3 Miguel Beltran Lakewood Jr. Hit .434 for Division I champions 4 Logan Flagg Los Alamitos Sr. Led team in hitting with .397 average 5 Jonathan Singleton L.B. Millikan So. Left-handed hitter with maturing power SECOND BASE 1 Austin Barnes Riverside Poly Jr. Has been starter since freshman year 2 Gregg Winger Anaheim Canyon Sr. Part of terrific double-play combo 3 Carlos Lopez Crespi Jr. Already committed to UC Irvine 4 Zach Chavez Santa Barbara Jr. First-team all-leaguer 5 Ricardo Alvarez San Fernando Jr. Batted .485 as a sophomore THIRD BASE 1 Matt Dominguez Chatsworth Sr. Has 28 career home runs and 146 RBIs 2 Josh Vitters Cypress Sr. One of the best hitters in the nation 3 Trevor Gee S.O. Notre Dame Jr. Left-handed hitter with strong arm 4 Tyler Kolodny El Camino Real Sr. All-City player who’s a tough out 5 Trevor Costin Lakewood Sr. Batted .451 with 35 RBIs SHORTSTOP 1 Mike Moustakas Chatsworth Sr. City player of the year has 28 career HRs 2 Christian Colon Anaheim Canyon Sr. Hits for power and fields with the best 3 Ryan Dent L.B. Wilson Sr. Signed with UCLA 4 Victor Sanchez Gahr Sr. One of the best all-around players in Southland 5 Josh Canales El Dorado Jr. A flawless fielder CATCHER 1 Austin Romine El Toro Sr. Signed with Arizona State 2 Travis d’Arnaud Lakewood Sr. Had 37 RBIs 3 Chad Nacapoy Crescenta Valley Sr. Blocks pitches in the dirt with the best 4 Chris Hannick Thousand Oaks Sr. Top fielder 5 Derek Hall El Dorado Sr. Clutch hitter with power OUTFIELD 1 Mike Stanton S.O. Notre Dame Sr. Three-sport standout hits for power 2 Brett Krill Aliso Niguel Sr. UCLA signee batted .385 3 Bobby Coyle Chatsworth Sr. Arizona signee ready for big season 4 Aaron Hicks L.B. Wilson Jr. Headed for big-time status 5 Connor Bernatz Mater Dei Sr. One of the best in Division I

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Compiled by Eric Sondheimer