Senior Cal Barna officially committed to play baseball at the University of Hawaii in late September.

“There were many reasons for why I chose to play at Hawaii,” Barna said, “The coaches have shown continued interest in me for a while now and I have a great relationship with them, and I love the atmosphere of the school.”

Although Barna has committed to play Division 1 baseball at a highly competitive Big West Conference school, his recruitment process was not at all easy.

“My recruitment didn’t start until very late, and until earlier this year I had basically no interest from schools,” Barna said. “I only started pitching this year, but I’ve been able to slowly increase my velocity and progress as a pitcher and that caught the attention of college coaches.”

However, Barna, like many other high school athletes, had his recruitment process interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic had a big impact for me because it affected my exposure to coaches and schools,” Barna said. “Rather than being able to go to showcases and get on-field exposure, I really had to market myself in other ways and do as best as I could to get my name out through email and video.”

Despite being unable to attend showcasing in person, Barna found ways to adjust to the new reality of virtual recruiting that many athletes have recently experienced.

“Obviously, the pandemic affected my recruitment, but I don’t think it was necessarily negative,” Barna said. “It was just a different way to go through the same process.”

Barna said that he had been signed up to participate in showcases all across the country at various schools such as Alabama, Virginia, and Clemson, but that most of them were cancelled due to increased cases and risks associated with the pandemic.

“Instead of taking the complications surrounding COVID as an opportunity to relax and regress, I knew I needed to work harder and be more active,” Barna said. “And I’m very happy about my commitment.”