Surprise offer allows Basalt’s Barton to live dream of playing college baseball
Courtesy of Basalt High School Athletics
Recruiting wasn’t going all that well for Kody Barton. The Basalt High School senior had long dreamed of playing college baseball, but he was beginning to admit that reality might not come to pass.
Then, out of the blue, a coach from a small school in Kansas reached out.
“It’s a random kind of thing,” Barton said. “I just went out there, visited, and was, ‘Yeah, this is a pretty cool spot.’ So I was, ‘Yeah, would love to hop on the train with you guys and see what happens.'”
And, just like that, he had found his next home. This past Wednesday, on the first day of the national signing period, he signed his letter of intent inside the high school to attend Ottawa University, which is located about an hour’s drive from downtown Kansas City.
The private, four-year school plays collegiate athletics at the NAIA level.
“At the start of the year, yeah, I was trying to get recruited pretty heavily and just wasn’t having much luck,” Barton said. “We were like, ‘Alright, let’s just focus on academics right now, put baseball on the afterburners.’ So, it was a pleasant surprise.”
A pitcher and catcher for the Longhorns in the spring, he will likely stick to just catching when he joins the Braves. A Chicago Cubs fan from a baseball-loving family, he grew up playing on travel teams, which helped develop his passion for the sport.
That said, he was also a standout on the football field for Basalt, where he was a force on both lines. On the eve of his visit to Ottawa, Barton said he randomly received an offer to be a long snapper for a different small, Kansas school but wants to carry on with baseball going forward.
“I always wanted to go play in college,” he said. “It was mentally draining, very much so, waiting for someone to come and find me. It was mentally draining, but I don’t think I gave up hope completely.”
Barton plans to study a combination of business and engineering at Ottawa.
He does admit he’ll miss the scenery of Colorado, but even a bit of flat land couldn’t steer him away from his dream of playing college baseball.
“Definitely going to miss the mountains. I keep telling everyone that,” he said. “But it is how it is. You got to go somewhere. I get to go play ball in college. Not a lot of people can say that.”
Before then, catch Barton playing with the Longhorns this spring. High school baseball teams can begin official practice as soon as Feb. 24, with games beginning in early March.
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