A \u2018re-invented\u2019 Harris is still a powerful force for the Falcons<\/b><\/p>\n
October shoulder surgery slowed Kentlake fastpitch ace Felecia Harris.<\/p>\n
But it didn\u2019t stop her.<\/p>\n
Instead, it transformed the arsenal of possibly the greatest power pitcher the South County has ever produced.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Surgery) kind of made me reinvent myself, but not really,\u201d said Harris, who led the Falcons (20-4) into the Class 4A state tournament on Friday, where they played defending champ Shadle Park in the opening round (results unavailable). \u201cPitching is like riding a bike. You always remember how to do it. That\u2019s what I thought to myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut getting the strength and flexibility back was a big thing,\u201d Harris continued. \u201cI knew the mechanics to pitching, but couldn\u2019t do them properly because my arm hurt when I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last three months have been a grind for the University of Washington-bound Harris, who, after surgery, didn\u2019t begin pitching again until February. There were outings when she struggled with her command and, unlike last season when she struck out a school record 364 batters, her heater understandably hasn\u2019t quite possessed the same life.<\/p>\n
Through it all, Harris never made excuses or gave in to the injury.<\/p>\n
Instead, pitching coach Dave Reynolds said, Harris became a complete pitcher this season \u2013 the type who can set up a batter with an offspeed pitch or roll over a changeup for a strike on a 3-2 count.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s worked on hitting her spots more,\u201d he said. \u201cBefore, she could rely on pure power and throw it by people. \u201cNow,\u201d Reynolds continued, \u201cshe really has to focus on hitting those corners. Up and down, in and out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris did just that during last weekend\u2019s West Central District III tournament, helping the Falcons win three of four games to snag the third seed to state. In the process, Kentlake\u2019s senior ace delivered her finest performance of the season in the Falcons\u2019 6-0 state-clinching win over Graham-Kapowsin. Harris allowed just two hits and struck out 10 in a complete-game effort.<\/p>\n
Harris entered Friday\u2019s state opener with a 10-2 record this season and 89 strikeouts in 81 2\/3 innings. Pretty heady stuff from a pitcher who didn\u2019t start up again until February.<\/p>\n
The performance \u2014 and Harris\u2019 undeniable will to overcome last October\u2019s shoulder surgery \u2014 hasn\u2019t been lost on Kentlake coach Greg Kaas.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe started really pitching in February. Talk about going on the fly,\u201d Kaas said. \u201cI don\u2019t think a lot of people realize that. She works as hard on her craft as anybody \u2026 and she didn\u2019t even have an offseason. It was, \u2018Hey, here\u2019s your uniform, you\u2019re pitching in two weeks.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And while Harris isn\u2019t quite yet at 100 percent (she estimates 80), there\u2019s no denying the Kentlake star finally is hitting her stride.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy arm is feeling a lot batter,\u201d said Harris, who remained just as dominant at the plate, where she led the SPSL North in home runs this season with five and was named the Player of the Year for a second time. \u201cAt the beginning of the season, I\u2019d get tired really easily. Now, I can last longer. I think it\u2019s ready to go for state.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a roll<\/b><\/p>\n
Kentlake baseball coach Jason Evans first saw sophomores Zach Wright and Doug Christie when they were in Little League.<\/p>\n
Even then, Evans had a pretty good idea how good the two right-handers could be. But did Evans realize they were good enough to help the Falcons reach the state\u2019s Final Four for the first time in school history?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Evans said flatly all the while grinning from ear to ear. \u201cI have coached against both of those kids since Little League. They\u2019ve always been standouts and something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special indeed. Christie entered Friday\u2019s Class 4A state semifinal against Richland at Safeco Field (results unavailable) with a 4-3 overall record and a 3.75 ERA. The mild-mannered Wright has been equally impressive, entering the day with a 3.54 season ERA and a perfect 4-0 record.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re seniors in sophomore bodies. That\u2019s all they are,\u201d Evans said after Kentlake knocked off Bothell, 23-2, to earn the semifinal berth. \u201cThey pitch as well as seniors, and the next two years are going to be scary. They\u2019re going to shut people down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is something opponents haven\u2019t been able to do against the Kentlake offense all season. After missing the South Puget Sound League tournament by a single victory last spring, the Falcons entered this year with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.<\/p>\n
And it didn\u2019t take long for Evans to see a difference between last year\u2019s bunch that never got over the hump and this year\u2019s team, which has been on an unstoppable roll since opening nonleague play with an 11-0 rout of Kennedy on March 8.<\/p>\n
But the transition from SPSL playoff challenger to one of the state\u2019s heavyweights came against Jefferson on March 25, Evans said.<\/p>\n
Down 2-0 in the top of the sixth, Kentlake catcher Marcus Evans launched a two-run, game-tying home run. One inning later, center fielder Andy Enders secured the victory with a solo home run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe umpire wanted to call the game because he said it was getting too dark,\u201d the Kentlake coach recalled. \u201cIt was 2-2 in the seventh inning of our first league game. The field was in good condition, he just said it was starting to get dark. Both of us coaches went up and said, \u2018Hey, just one more inning.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Kentlake has won 14 of 17 since.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom there, it just steamrolled,\u201d Jason Evans said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
October shoulder surgery slowed Kentlake fastpitch ace Felecia Harris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":9904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-9903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9903"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=9903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}