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Harvey continues to impress for Tigers
4/3/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
Senior Alex Harvey stood just off the third base bag shortly after the Fort Hays State University baseball team swept Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University last weekend. He was smiling, simply happy to be playing baseball after he missed the last two seasons.
"It is my last year, so it is my biggest goal just to have fun every day," he said. "Whatever happens, if you have a bad day, you still have to come to the ballpark, so it is not really a bad day for me."
Harvey attended Butler County Community College before he transferred to NCAA Division I Western Illinois University. He didn't play for the Leathernecks and eventually came to Fort Hays. Harvey had to sit out the 2008 season before he could play in 2009.
"Worth it to be closer to home; it is a lot nicer being back in Kansas and I enjoy the season a lot more," he said.
Harvey, moved from outfield to third base because of injuries, has delivered an impressive year. He leads the team in batting average (.385) and RBIs (38) and is one of three Tigers to start every game. Harvey, a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder who ranks among the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association leaders in four categories, also is tied for the team lead with 10 steals.
"After playing the outfield all fall and then most of during the spring, he has been doing the job, doing what we ask," junior second baseman Tyler Robbins said. "He has been tremendous. I don't know if we could have asked for anything better."
Harvey drove in 10 runs in the four-game sweep against Southwest Baptist and picked up his second conference Player of the Week award. The Tigers (19-17 overall, 11-11 MIAA) will hold their annual "Pack the Park" tonight at Larks Park against Pittsburg State University (9-19. 6-8). Fort Hays was to play the first game at 4 p.m. with the second contest to follow. Fans will now get a "two for one" deal, being able to see two games for the price of one. Admission for today's games will be $2 for adults and $1 for youth. Concession specials will be held throughout.
Fort Hays sits fifth in the conference; the top four teams make the postseason conference tournament. Harvey helped the Tigers, who had lost 10 of 12, win five of their last six games, including last weekend's sweep.
"I was really pleased with our approach," Tiger coach Rick Sabath said after the sweep of Southwest Baptist.
"I thought Alex Harvey was a lot more selective at the plate. It showed. We have really been working hard on quieting down his stride and his base, and that allows him to see the ball longer. His hard work paid off."
Harvey was moved to the infield after a season-ending injury to Clayton Karst. Harvey, a former high school shortstop, said he had the jitters the first time he moved back to the infield. He has committed six errors all season and played a capable third base, "a lot more fun" position than the outfield.
"I feel like I am more around the game," he said. "I feel like I can actually talk to pitchers. Sometimes in the outfield, you start daydreaming. It is a lot more fun in the infield, strikeouts and stuff, throwing it around the horn, being more energetic."
Harvey's speed has been a plus, too.
He and Robbins are tied for the team lead with 10 steals. Among the 11 conference players with double-digit steals, Harvey is the only one that weighs more than 215 pounds.
Harvey has been caught one time all year, the best stolen base percentage on the club.
"I think it comes from everybody thinks that a big guy can't run and it gives me a little bit extra motivation to get going, and once I decide to go, I don't look back at it and it makes me a little bit better off that way," Harvey said.
Sabath, a former coach at University of Kansas and several community colleges, only saw one player, at Hutchinson Community College, that could rival Harvey. The HCC athlete was a first baseman, weighed about 40 pounds less than Harvey and had signed to play football at the University of Nebraska.
"I would like to see those two race," Sabath said with a smile. "It would be kind of fun. I would also like to see them play middle linebacker. That might be pretty good to have those two guys on the defense."
Harvey, though, has been very good offensively and defensively for Fort Hays.
"It's been something else," said a smiling Harvey. "It has been a lot of fun."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| SB | 03/08 | Fort Lewis | W 5-4 |
| BB | 03/07 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 13-7 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 16-4 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | W 3-0 |
| MB | 03/05 | Emporia State | L 65-61 |
| BB | 03/05 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 10-3 |
| WB | 03/04 | No. 15 Emporia | L 72-66 |
| WB | 02/28 | No. 12 Emporia State | L 87-80 |
| MB | 02/28 | Emporia State | W 94-47 |
| SB | 02/28 | Quincy | L 6-0 |
| SB | 02/27 | Mo Southern | W 9-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Missouri S&T | L 8-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Drury | W 17-10 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 17-0 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 3-2 (10 inn.) |
| BB | 02/26 | Mo. Western | W 12-8 |
| BB | 02/26 | Missouri Western | W 11-10 |
| MB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | W 69-60 |
| WB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | L 78-74 |
| MB | 02/21 | Mo. Southern | L 76-57 |