Barrone is Byron’s ace up its sleeve

Byron softball head coach Jacob Harmon has had a “wealth of arms” at his disposal all season long, but when the lights are at their brightest and the pressure is on, it has been freshman phenom Caliegh Barrone that he has trusted to produce wins.

In the team’s recent run to the Class AAA championship, Barrone pitched all three state playoff games – including a no-hitter against state No. 7 Simley – and proved that she is already one of the state’s best talents by putting up video-game-like numbers (21 innings, 14 hits, six earned runs and 34 strikeouts) against some of the state’s best hitters.

“She works really hard and she deserves all of the success that she’s having. She’s surrounded by upperclassmen, girls who have been there in big games before, who are there to help her out when she needs it. We know how talented and hard-working she is already as a freshman; she just needs to go out there and do her thing,” said Harmon.

While Barrone initially began the year piggybacking teammate Mackenzie Steele as the reliever in a one-two punch operation, the former clearly showed signs of being a capable day-to-day starter.

Despite taking a loss against Bloomer in her first start of the season on March 28, Barrone got the chance to take the circle again as the starter in a 7-0 win over Chatfield on April 11.

It was the win over the Gophers that began a nearly unstoppable stretch for the freshman.

Barrone’s next 10 appearances – a mixture of starts and save opportunities – resulted in a 5-1 record and four saves for a 100% success rate as a closer.

In the games to follow, instead of being the closing act to Steele, Barrone began to pick up more starts and finished the Bears’ last seven games of the season by going 6-1, with the St. Francis Fighting Saints finally cracking her winning streak in the state championship game.

Fans who watched along the way were able to witness some incredible highlight-reel performances by Barrone in the circle, but none came larger than her no-hitter against Simley.

A mere two walks were the difference between a no-hitter and a perfect game for Barrone in a matchup where she struck out 15 batters in the state quarterfinals.

“I knew from warmups that everything was on that day,” said Barrone about heading into the game against Simley.

Barrone finished the 2026 season with an 11-3 record and three saves, with final stats consisting of 116.1 innings pitched, 61 hits, 37 runs (15 earned), 223 strikeouts and 48 walks.

Fans can figure to see a lot more of Barrone in the circle for years to come as the 2029 senior will have three years left to help Byron achieve its ultimate goal of winning its first-ever state softball title.