Austin Barnes and the tools of persistence

LOS ANGELES — Austin Barnes, bench-bound as a freshman, heard the clock ticking.
As a sophomore he wanted to make Arizona State’s travel squad so desperately that he would have tuned up the bus..
Instead he did something more dangerous and frustrating and potentially as degrading. He became a catcher..
“Both catchers got hurt and the coaches came to me,,” Barnes said. “I figured it was the quickest way to get ahead. It was also going to be a clearer path to the big