CENTRALIA, IL -- Coach John Barnes is in his fourth full year as the head coach of the Kaskaskia College softball program.  A standout athlete from DuQuoin High School (1994), JB played collegiate baseball at Kaskaskia College (1997) and was a 2X All-American at Greenville University (1999). He started his coaching career immediately after graduating in 1999, as an assistant (hitting) coach with the Greenville University baseball program.  In just 2 seasons, he helped guide the offense towards setting many of the school's, then, offensive records. In 2001, Coach Barnes, moved on to accept a position as a teacher/coach for Mulberry Grove (IL) CUSD#1.  There, he served as the junior high and high school softball coach, as well as the athletic director.  During his 13 years at the helm, the annually state-ranked, Lady Aces, produced 93 All Egyptian Illini Conference players and 16 All-Staters. The program compiled 416 wins, en-route to 9 regional titles, 6 sectional titles, 5 Elite-8 appearances, and 2 Final-4 appearances.  Also during this time, Coach Barnes constructed a travel ball program, when travel ball was a new concept.  In 2003, the birth of the Mulberry Grove Jaguars went on to win seven state championships and consistently placed at the national level for 9 seasons. During this time, 57 of his players had gone on to play collegiately, with nearly all of them earning scholarships in the process.

In 2012, JB changed professions and entered into law enforcement.  To this day, he is employed as a full-time deputy with the Bond County Sheriff's Department and also as a part-time officer with the Greenville Police Department. Concurrent with these duties, he joined the collegiate coaching ranks. In 2014, he was hired as an assistant (pitching & hitting) coach for the softball program at Greenville University. In his first year, he was named the interim head coach, as the Lady Panthers set a school record with 30 wins. For 3 seasons, the program experienced a resurrection which totaled 77 wins and two St.Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships, which resulted in a pair of trips to the NCAA D-III National Tournament.  Prior to his tenure at the univeristy, only once in the 30+ years of the program's existence had it ever been so recognized. 

In the fall of 2016, on the cusp of the recent successes at Greenville University, Coach Barnes accepted a position as an assistant (pitching) coach with the Lindenwood-Belleville University Lady Lynx softball program.  The NAIA D-I, national powerhouse, had two National Championships already under its belt, while poised for another. The Lady Lynx went on to win 31 games that spring, but fell short in the National Tournament.  In the midst of this season, Coach Barnes, accepted the head coaching position for the Greenville High School softball program.  In association with the GHS assignment, JB was able to bring softball back into popularity in the Greenville area with the re-emergence of his travel ball program, newly named the SouthWest Illini Jaguars.

Most recently, in April of 2019, Coach Barnes had the opportunity to accept the interim head softball coaching position here at Kaskaskia College.  Stepping in with only 4 weeks left on the schedule, the program responded in exceeding fashion, by winning 11 of its last 18 games. Shortly thereafter, Coach Barnes was officially named as the head coach.  At that time, JB was confident that his leadership and recruiting ability would serve as strengths towards reloading the program into a winner.  In his first full year, JB noted that the program was heading in the right direction and that the process had proven to be ahead of schedule, winning 26 games.  Last season, the first with all his recruits, the Blue Angels celebrated a school record 43 wins and placed second in the GRAC.  This year's Blue Angels have already shown signs of being just as strong and will aim for the top of the conference once again during the upcoming spring campaign. 

In the past 23 years, JB has trained countless ahtletes.  He admits that he takes the most pride in helping those to further their education by using softball as the means to do so. Being a man of faith, he credits his successes and opportunities to the good Lord and also to the countless individuals that God has surrounded him with.  He knows that he has an incredible responsibility here at KC to impact the lives of his players. Coach Barnes has been involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the past 18 years.  He resides in Greenville with his wife Erin, and two sons, Mason (18), a freshman pitcher in our Kaskaskia baseball program and Jonathan (20), who is a junior pitcher in the McKendree University baseball program.

"You can know everything there is to know about this game, have all the talent in the world, but if a team doesn't have character, it will not succeed when it counts the most. So, if Character equals Winning, then EXCEPTIONAL Character wins Championships" --