Nick Barnese favors a, well, direct approach to pitching.

"I pitch like the plate belongs to me," he said. "I don't want anybody hanging all over the plate. I don't mind moving them out of there if I have to."

Any resemblance to yesterday pitching legends like Don Drysdale or Bob Gibson is entirely intentional, since Barnese is as old-school as a Brooklyn Dodger.

The Simi Valley High senior loves baseball, thinks baseball and lives baseball.

What he hates is no baseball, which is what he faced a year ago.

Right at the start of his junior season, in a campaign he hoped to lift up his team and impress college recruiters, Barnese was suspended for the entire season for violating an unspecified school rule.

School officials, baseball coach Matt La Belle and Barnese decline to say what the infraction entailed. But a year later, Barnese says he's upset only with himself.

"I'm mad at me and nobody else," he said. "It was entirely my fault. I feel like I let all my teammates down."

La Belle says that the player entered his senior year with a revamped attitude.

"He's paid all his dues, did everything he needed to do to get back on the field," he said. "He's come back more focused, more prepared. He's ready to take care of business."

Barnese said he is motivated by a second chance.

"I realized how much I enjoyed playing ball," he said.

Last season, the terms of Barnese's suspension prohibited him from even attending Simi Valley games.

"That was very hard," he concedes. "I hung out with my friends. Tried to stay busy. Basically, I did what ever I could to take my mind off not being able to play ball."

This year, Barnese is one of the keys to Simi Valley's season.

The gifted right-hander who throws as hard as 93 miles per hour stands 4-2, sports a 2.41 ERA and ranks among the region's leaders in strikeouts with 55.

Simi Valley, at 15-8-1 overall, stands in third place in the Marmonte League at 6-4-1 heading into Wednesday's showdown with rival Royal.

Barnese will get the start today, with the winner claiming third place with a mere three games left on the schedule.

So talented is Barnese that he already has secured his collegiate scholarship to one of the nation's top programs. After witnessing Barnese's work in the Area Code Games last summer, Cal State Fullerton's coaches offered him a scholarship. Of course, he accepted.

Barnese said the opportunity was a confidence-booster.

"That was Cal State Fullerton," he said. "That's one of the best programs anywhere. I realized then that I could play with the top players in the nation."

Ever the competitor, the 6-foot-3, 170-pounder is hardly satisfied with his season's work.

"I kind of feel that I've underachieved," he said. "When I'm on my game, I feel like I can beat anybody. But it hasn't been there every game. I need to be more consistent with my control."

Barnese, whose father Ernie was a first baseman at perennial powerhouse Chatsworth High, takes a measured approach to his training regimen.

He's zealously lifts weights with his legs, but declines to do strength training with his upper body. It's allowed him to retain a live arm, with nary an injury.

He's also focused on a simple repertoire, leaning on his fastball and changeup to take him to the next level. He'll be ready to learn when he embarks on his college career.

"I'm open to whatever they want to teach me," he said with a broad smile.

Barnese's coaches, present and future, already have a fierce competitor on their side.

"I'm a nice guy off the field," he said. "When I'm on the mound, you don't want to be around me. I get nasty."

That's nasty, and grateful for his second chance.