Senior outfielder Harris hits big for Dayton
By: Meaghan McNichol
Last season, the University of Dayton baseball team spiced up their roster with transfer student, Alex Harris.
Harris spent two years playing baseball at Redlands Community college in El Reno, Oklahoma, prior to coming to Dayton.
Harris has an impressive track record, making the NJCAA Region II All-Region team in 2013. He played in 47 games with a .331 batting average, seven homeruns, 40 runs batted in (RBI) and 14 stolen bases.
After years of hard work and determination at Redlands Community College, Harris was excited to further his career at the University of Dayton.
“It gets better the higher you advance, like from a junior college to a D1 team, but the game never really changes, there’s always something that you need to improve on or there’s always something that can happen to you,” Harris said.
Harris had a remarkable first season with the Flyers in 2014. Starting in 52 out of the 54 games they played, he finished the season with a batting average of .333, which was the 12th best in the Atlantic 10 conference. He recorded 60 hits in 180 at-bats and had 15 doubles, two home runs and 32 RBI’s.
He was also successful in the outfield, recording 134 putouts and finishing the season with a .993 fielding percentage.
Despite his success last season, Harris did not come into this season with any set goals for himself.
“I’m not really big into numbers, I’ve never really been. Every day when it comes down to it I just want to play hard, respect my teammates, and just have fun,” Harris said.
This year the Flyers record is 11-27. Harris is hopeful that the team will turn things around and get a few big wins within these next couple of weeks.
“We’re just trying to play a little bit more consistent, play for each other, play hard every day and just have fun and turn our season around so we can make the conference tournament and hopefully win that and go to regionals and continue our season,” he said.
With 17 games left, the Flyers are keeping its heads held high and working hard to improve its record.
Harris is hopeful that the Flyers will finish strong for his senior season.
Although his time as a Flyer is coming to an end, Harris plans to stay involved with athletics after he graduates.
“I would like to continue playing if the opportunity is there, but if not I’ve been playing baseball for so long that I would like to do something sports related or get into coaching,” he said.
Harris might be finishing his career at UD, but his passion for the game will stay with him forever.
The Flyers travel across town to play Wright State University Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. They will host St. Joseph’s this weekend for a three- game series, beginning Friday at 3 p.m. They are the last home games before the end of the school year.
Dayton will end its season May 16, at home against Fordham.