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Tough loss prepares Barrett for success

By Ryan Canner-O'Mealy
ESPN RISE Magazine

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Little more than an hour after Desert Ridge (Mesa, Ariz.) lost its first-round playoff game last year, shortstop Jerry Klemen drove by the baseball field and noticed someone running like a madman in the outfield. Klemen pulled up for a closer look, assuming one of his teammates had gotten in trouble and was being punished. Instead, Klemen found best friend Jake Barrett alone on the field doing "poles" -- running foul pole to foul pole along the warning track and sprinting the last 90 feet at fu ...

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