BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School senior Guage Barry signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Florida State College at Jacksonville during a May 2 ceremony in the KHHS cafetorium.
“It’s just surreal,” said Barry, adding, “I’m just ready to get to work.”
He’s already been working, putting himself into a position to pitch at the next level. Keystone Head Coach Chris Roach said the team didn’t really need Barry in the batting order two years ago, so Barry primarily did nothing but pitch.
Barry said that upset him at first, but he knew he had a job to do, so he went out and did it.
He did it pretty well. As a junior, he had a 7-1 record, pitching a team-high 51.1 innings and finishing second on the team in ERA (2.18) and strikeouts (47).
“I realized some (college) coaches started getting interested in what I could do,” Barry said. “I realized I could throw the ball quite hard. I was like, ‘I might as well make (pitching in college) a goal.’”
This past season, Barry had a 4-3 record, leading the team in innings pitched (52.1) and strikeouts (54). His ERA of 2.54 was second best on the team.
Roach said Barry has a good fastball and changeup and added that though he does have a curveball, further development of a third pitch will be necessary at the next level.
The KHHS coach said if Barry can get his velocity into the upper 80s, he’ll have a chance to play at a four-year school after FSCJ.
“He’s got the tools for it,” Roach said.
Barry showed he’s more than a pitcher this past season because the Indians did need his bat in the lineup. All Barry did was bat a team-high .420 with 19 RBI. He also earned All-Clay County honors as an outfielder.
“It’s a testament to his work,” Roach said. “Last year might have been bad coaching on my part not putting him in the outfield.”
Though he possesses a strong work ethic, Barry doesn’t forget about the joy of playing. In Roach’s words, “He’s the lefty who has fun on the mound.”
“When the game is intense, he’s intense,” Roach said, “but he still needs to have fun to be as good as he is. That’s why he’s going somewhere.”
That somewhere turned out to be FSCJ, though he was also looking at such Jacksonville schools as Edward Waters College and Trinity Baptist College.
“I kind of had a love for FSCJ,” said Barry, who added that he likes the fact that a former teammate is there in pitcher Austin Musgrove, a 2024 KHHS graduate.
With the way Barry approaches the game, FSCJ seems to be a good fit.
“They’re a really good ball team, and they’re going to compete no matter what,” he said.
That’s exactly what Barry is looking forward to. He may be a little nervous when he first steps onto the mound as a college pitcher, but he’ll settle down and do what needs to be done.
“I think I’ll have butterflies (at first),” Barry said. “I feel like everybody would, but I’ll be out there ready to compete and ready to work.”
As he prepares to join a new program, Barry leaves behind one that’s had a pretty solid senior class for two straight years. The Indians had two college signees in 2024, while two (and possibly three) other members of this year’s senior class will sign to play at the next level.
Barry said he and his teammates have helped each other get these opportunities.
“We’ve just always pushed each other, knowing that we all want to go to the next level,” he said.
Roach said the two signees in 2024 ended a four-year drought for the KHHS program.
“That’s a testament not to the coaches; that’s a testament to these guys,” Roach said. “It’s the work they put in.”
