Dustin Barden '16 Recruiting Profile

My name is Dustin Barden.  I am 5’ 10” and weight 145 pounds. My primary position is catcher and secondary position is first base but for the opportunity to play the game of baseball - I am willing to step into any position needed to help my team.  I throw right-handed and hit left-handed.  I feel that have a very strong and dependable bat in the line-up.

I never knew that a birthday present would have such an impact on my life moving forward – a baseball bat and ball. The first time I swung the bat which was the size of me at a ball in my own backyard; I just knew baseball was going to be my sport of choice.  My baseball triumph began at the age of five at the local Little League in my hometown of Mechanicsville, VA.  As other kids seemed more interested in pulling grass in the outfield and building sand castles on the dirt infield, I was praying that ball was coming my way to make that out and hear the sounds of the cheers from the stands.  Around the age of eight, I began playing competitive baseball with a local travel baseball team to challenge me on the things I needed to polish and I wanted to be able to compete with the best in order for me to work at being the best I could be as a player.  I still continued my play at the Little League until my freshman year, when game schedules were a constant conflict with one another.  I felt playing at the high school level was the best choice and beneficial to my success in playing college baseball.  However, I didn’t leave the Little League, I continue to umpire games and provide support to the Little League by volunteering my time still today.  If it was not for the foundation that the Little League provided to me and the coaches that built me from those fields for the game of baseball, I am not sure where I would be today.

During my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I played on the junior varsity baseball team.  After waiting a year for my physical structure to catch up with my mature mental mindset, I finally earned a starting position as catcher and batting “clean-up” my sophomore year.  I understand life can be tough and there will be struggles such as the separation of your parents, the loss of close grandparent, and the loss of family pet just doesn’t mean you give up but to focus and work a little harder in reaching your goals in life.  I continue to have success playing on the VA Breeze 15U showcase team with Coach Tim Haynes.  

My attitude for academics is the same on the ball field which is to work hard and to do my best.  My education has always been important to me because knowledge is power.  If you have knowledge, you are likely to succeed in reaching the goals you have set in life.  I currently have a core GPA of a 3.428 and a cumulative GPA of a 3.6 and ranked 130 out of 392 students in my class of 2016. I not only take pride of my success on the playing field but my success in the classroom.  My success with academics will hopefully lead me to many opportunities and choices for my future.

My goal since I was a youngster was to play college baseball.  As a teen, I still have that drive, compassion and competiveness inside of me today to play baseball at a high competitive level.  I strive every day to work hard to improve my talent/skills.