By Jon Akre

605 Sports

“I was a bit nervous, I’ve never been to a state amateur game before, so it’s a different crowd. A lot of people show up so it’s exciting,” said Barfuss.

While still an excellent hitter for the Royals, his numbers across the board have significantly improved when playing for the Pheasants, leading the team in batting average at an impressive .471 clip in 13 games, with six doubles, a triple, four home runs, and 21 RBIs.

“I just feel more comfortable. It’s a different game, there’s a lot more focus,” said Barfuss on his amateur success. “It’s harder, yes, but you focus up a lot more if you’re playing with older guys, and it’s just a better atmosphere.”

His veteran teammates have been a huge help for Barfuss in learning the adjustments he needs to make at the amateur level.

“I’m just here to play and have fun with them,” said Barfuss, who will play college baseball at Dakota State University next season. “They’re teaching me a lot, that’s the main part is learning from them cause they’re all good athletes and good players and that’s all I want to do is learn from them.”

It takes a special talent to be able to play amateur baseball as a Legion player, but it takes an even greater talent to bat fifth in the order for arguably the best offense in all of amateur baseball.

“To be a Legion guy hitting in our five spot, it shows a lot about what we think of his ability, and how good of a player he is,” said Winner/Colome co-manager Austin Richey. “I’ve gotten to coach him in high school for four years and we’ve always leaned on him heavily.”

Fellow co-manager Reed Harter says the biggest impact Barfuss has made outside of his hitting is his ability to play anywhere in the field.

“When you can get a Legion kid to come up and get some experience, but when he comes up and produces for us, I mean he’s batting almost .500 on the year,” said Harter. “He’s a helluva player, we’re lucky to have him. We feel like we can plug him anywhere in the lineup, put him anywhere on defense and he’s just athletic enough to get by with his athleticism. But he’s got a really good bat and we’re lucky to have him.”

His versatility combined with his incredible hitting makes him one of the best all-around players in the state, and it has shown early here at the State B tournament.

“It’s fun to watch him in a group of guys and doesn’t have to try quite so hard, and it looks like it just comes a lot easier,” said Richey. “Having guys around him that can hit like our order does, and he’s a good player. We’re excited to have him going forward for the future, he’s a heck of a player, and we’re glad he’s on our team.”