LINCOLN -- Brad Harris-coached teams have accumulated an impressive resume of athletic achievements with one more opportunity to solidify their out-going coach's legacy if they can attain a baseball state championship.
The last two seasons Lincoln has been knocking on the door.
The Wolves earned state tournament wins in 2012 at Prescott during the 3A competition 4-3 over Corning and 4-1 against Centerpoint only to be ousted 1-0 in a controversial season-ending defeat. Blake Sullivan, Genoa Central's starting pitcher, was running the bases in the fourth inning and didn't slide when coming into home crashing into Lincoln catcher, Dustin Simmons. While the umpires called Sullivan out he was allowed to continue participating in the game and hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to account for the 1-0 score.
Simmons grittily finished the game, in which Lincoln starter Cheyenne Vaughn battled Sullivan in a classic pitcher's duel.
"Cheyenne was really solid and did real well against a very good team," Brad Harris said. "He gave up only two hits, including the solo shot and a broken bat single with eight strikeouts and two base on balls. He did a really good job making pitches, only made one mistake to the best player and he got a swing on it."
Ironically, those were the last pitches Vaughn threw while wearing a Wolves' uniform. The standout pitcher transferred after the season to Stilwell, Okla. While Vaughn's transfer came by way of surprise at the end of the school year, there is no secret Drew Harris' pitches as a Lincoln Wolf are numbered.
Brad Harris has been hired as the defensive coordinator at Class 6A Benton in close proximity to family roots in southern Arkansas. Both sets of Drew's grandparents reside at Arkadelphia and Brad said he and his wife, Meagan, jointly made the decision -- wanting to be close to their fathers who have experienced health issues.
Drew Harris has wanted to be a coach like his dad ever since he was old enough to think about his future.
As a high school athlete, Drew has been trained by his dad at Lincoln where Brad has served as head baseball and football coach for six years. Now, as the family prepares to relocate to Benton Drew is also thinking differently about his future plans.
"I've been thinking about playing college baseball but after having a season like this (Lincoln went 11-2, 6-1 in conference and advanced to the 4A state quarterfinals in football this past fall), it really changes your mind about wanting to play [college] football, you put a lot more emotion into it," Drew said.
"In the long run [playing collegiate football] will really help me in [coaching] football. My dad knows the game a lot better having gone to the next level," Drew said.
Father and son watched a lot of film together just about every week during the football season and Drew said those studies helped him know how to exploit defenses as the starting quarterback.
But now, with the announcement of Brad's resignation, Drew becomes the second starting quarterback/starting pitcher to leave Lincoln before his senior season in three years.
As the reality of this change in the Lincoln lineup begins to set in, Drew's fans at Lincoln are internally tracking his pitch-count. Chief among them is his girlfriend and prom date, Madison Rich, daughter of Lincoln head basketball coach Tim Rich.
"You can kind of tell we're both from a coaching family," Drew said of Madison. "We're used to not having our dads around cause they're busy. We know how our family acts."
Drew thinks most families with a coach in the household are similar in structure and one advantage of being in high school and participating in athletics is he and Madison both get to be with their dads during athletic competition.
Drew said Madison has grown as basketball player.
"She acts a lot more calm on the court. She obviously has that year of experience. She's becoming a lot better shooter. Just watching her from junior high [through this season], she's aged and has become a lot better player. You can definitely tell in her play."
As the countdown towards the transition begins, Drew is learning to number his pitches and make the most out of each throw.
Once the post-season begins each pitch could be Drew's last in a Lincoln uniform. Each opportunity is precious and not to be wasted.
Sports on 04/23/2014