By Colton Hall
Staff writer
Reed Harter is a good baseball player.
In fact, he’s so good that there doesn’t really seem to be a pitcher in South Dakota Amateur baseball that has had an answer for the soon-to-be senior at Dakota Wesleyan University.
Harter has had two performances in which he has had three home runs in a game, and now leads the Winner/Colome Pheasants amateur baseball team with seven home runs on the season.
Harter is proving to be a big reason for the Pheasants 10-2 start on the season. Things just seem to be going right.
“He’s playing on another level,” Winner/Colome head coach Kevin Graesser said. “He puts so much hard work into his game, and he was ready to take off this summer season. He’s all baseball.”
While home runs obviously prove to be a vital stat for success for any team, Harter has proven to come through for his team by tying for the lead in RBI with his brother, Zach Harter.
Not many players in amateur baseball have ’stepped up to the plate’ like Harter has this season.
“He does so much for our team, and it’s not just about his production on the field,” Graesser said. “He’s a leader with how he plays, and acts. As far as our team goes, we expect him to produce like he has done, but two games with three home runs just doesn’t happen.”
It shouldn’t come as a shock that Harter has exploded for Winner/Colome especially considering the strong season that he had for the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers.
For the Tigers, Harter has recorded 62 career RBI, 35 of which came in his junior season. Harter also tied for the team lead with three other Tiger players by hitting two homeruns, bringing his career total to (5).
Success for Harter and the Tigers didn’t start in the beginning. It’s been building for the last three years.
In his freshman year at DWU, Harter and the Tigers went 18-31 and 12-16 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Things took a turn for the worst in 2019 when the Tigers finished 11-28 (7-19 in GPAC).
It seems that the Tigers found the light at the end of the tunnel in 2019. The Tigers went 23-23 (16-12 in GPAC). Needless to say, Harter is looking forward to his senior season.
“We (the Tigers) really came together last year,” Harter said. “Winning 12 more games was huge for our team. I want to continue to improve on that, and my goal as a team is to make a regional tournament. For us to do that, we have to win the GPAC. I just want to finish strong.”
As far as his senior season goes, Harter’s sets goals like he tries to swing. For the fence.
“I want to be the GPAC Player of the Year next year,” Harter said. “Playing amateur baseball has really given me a great opportunity to continue to sharpen my skills and get better. If you want to be good, you have to set big goals.”
If Harter steps up to the plate in his senior season like he’s stepped up for the Pheasants, that goal won’t seem so lofty.
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