To say the offseason has been eventful for Yorkville’s Nate Harris would be an understatement.
From decommitting to Northwestern to becoming a two-way recruit to Kentucky, Harris has been busier than ever. And the senior outfielder/pitcher is also making a position change for the Foxes.
“It’s been a journey,” Harris said. “A lot has happened since last summer when I decided to decommit. I had a couple fall events that went really well for me, and I got on a lot of radars.”
After Northwestern’s baseball program came under fire for alleged bullying and abusive behavior, Harris decided to reopen his recruiting. He took a detailed approach to finding a new future home.
After an exhaustive process, Harris feels he found the perfect destination in Kentucky.
“I ended up narrowing it down and choosing a school I felt represented who I am,” Harris said. “They have a caring coaching staff, just a place where I felt like home. It came with a great deal of stress and a lot of thought and conversation with family and people in my inner circle.
“I’m happy it happened and couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m just blessed to be in this position.”
After breaking out as a sophomore, Harris followed that up last spring by hitting .379 with a team-high 36 runs, 14 steals and 11 doubles. He added two triples, five home runs and 14 RBIs.
When teams pitched around him, he sacrificed some of his own statistics for the good of the team.
Yorkville’s Nate Harris smiles as he rounds third base after hitting a home run against West Aurora during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Aurora on Monday, April 24, 2023. (Jon Cunningham / The Beacon-News)
“Nate is a tremendous talent,” Yorkville coach Tom Cerven said. “I think after his sophomore year some schools were a little careful with him. By his standards, it was maybe not what he was hoping for.
“It really helped Kam (Yearsley) have a monster year.”
The plan is to hit Harris ahead of Yearsley again this season. The lineup situation allowed Yearsley to drive in 38 runs last spring, with Harris scoring many of those runs.
“I love having the fastest guy on the team ahead of me,” Yearsley said. “Some of the times he would go first to home. You really don’t see that out of a 6-foot-4 kid.
“He just flies around the bases. It’s fun to watch.”
Harris, a former shortstop, made the transition to left field last season. He’ll start there this spring.
“Given some of the other components of our team, we thought it would be best for him to go to the outfield,” Cerven said. “There were definitely some learning curves, but his speed makes up for it.”
Another thing that has some speed is his fastball. Harris hit 95 mph on the gun last spring, pairing that pitch with a curveball and an emerging slider.
Yorkville’s Nate Harris (15) is greeted by teammates after hitting a long home run against West Aurora during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Aurora on Monday, April 24, 2023. (Jon Cunningham / The Beacon-News)
Although Harris doesn’t have a lot of experience on the mound, throwing only 28 1/3 innings last season, he still struck out 48. That was enough to intrigue Kentucky as a two-way recruit.
“Any time you get a kid that is 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, it is intimidating,” Cerven said. “His fastball explodes out of his hand. As long as he’s in the zone, he’s tough to hit.
“He’ll probably start in the bullpen and gradually work into the rotation. We want to be sure of his future. At the same time, we’re looking to make a run in the playoffs. We want him to be available.”
Harris is definitely looking forward to that run, just like his sophomore season when the Foxes finished with 29 wins.
“I feel that we’re similar to that year,” Harris said. “We’re all super excited with the lead up to the season. We’re preparing to make this a good senior season for us.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
