Hazelwood Central pitcher Jonathan Harris had a lot to consider throughout the recruiting process, with several schools showing interest and more than a dozen colleges extending scholarship offers.
In the end, the senior right-hander couldn't pass up the opportunity to continue his baseball career at Missouri State.
"I love the school," Harris said. "It's a great campus. The chances of me moving on with baseball are tremendous. When I went down on a visit, I was talking with the pitching coach (Paul Evans) and he said they've had 17 players in the past 10 years that are playing in the minor league farm system or professional baseball.
"Hopefully I can be one of those kids that comes out of Missouri State and be one of those guys that has his picture hanging on the wall."
Harris, a 6-foot-4, 165-pounder, hopes to continue in the footsteps of Major Leaguers like Lafayette High alum Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Holt grad Ross Detwiler of the Washington Nationals, St. Louis products who used their time in Springfield as a springboard to playing professional baseball.
"I had about 50 schools that were interested and only 13 gave me offers," Harris said. "Mizzou gave me an offer. I had interest from Arkansas, Mississippi State, Illinois State and Austin Peay."
Harris said the other schools were great, too, with strong baseball and academic programs, but Missouri State was the right school for him.
"I went down there about three weeks ago," he said. "Me and my dad took a trip down there. We spent the day talking to the coaches, visiting the campus. We pretty much did everything. I love the school. It's a nice town. It's not too big, not too small."
Harris has been one of the St. Louis area's top players the last two seasons. The hard-throwing righty, whose fastball regularly sits in the upper 80s, throws two fastballs (four seam and two seam), a curveball, change-up and occasionally a combination cutter/slider.
Last season, as a junior, Harris went 5-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 55 1/3 innings. He struck out 60 batters, walked 33 and held opponents to a .194 batting average. He also batted .418 (28 hits in 67 at-bats) with six doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs, 10 runs scored and a .487 on-base percentage.
Harris, who plays shortstop when he's not on the mound, was the Suburban North Conference player of the year as a sophomore when he went 8-0 with one save and a 2.49 ERA over 45 innings, with 48 strikeouts and 16 walks. He hit .475 (38 hits in 80 at-bats) with 22 RBIs, 23 runs scored, 11 stolen bases and a .517 OBP.
As a freshman, Harris batted .423 (11 hits in 26 at-bats) with three doubles, seven RBIs, five runs scored and a .483 OBP.
Harris plays for the St. Louis Pirates in the summer. He became the third member of the St. Louis area's Class of 2012 that has committed to the Bears, following Hazelwood Central outfielder Matt Dezort and Eureka pitcher/infielder Matt Hasenbeck.
