Dominant Harrison helps Katy to one game advantage over Pearland

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 5/18/22

“They have such a strong lineup and have a lot of people committed to good schools and we knew that,” Harrison said. “I just knew coming in, if I can keep them off balance, use my changeup and my curve to not let them get comfortable then it would be huge. If they still hit it then they hit it, but that’s the most I can do.”

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Dominant Harrison helps Katy to one game advantage over Pearland

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Cameryn Harrison knew how tough things would be in the regional semifinals.

The sophomore pitcher had dominated all playoffs, but going up against a Pearland squad had not lost throughout its playoff run, she knew this would be a different animal.

“They have such a strong lineup and have a lot of people committed to good schools and we knew that,” Harrison said. “I just knew coming in, if I can keep them off balance, use my changeup and my curve to not let them get comfortable then it would be huge. If they still hit it then they hit it, but that’s the most I can do.”

Harrison’s approach and determination on the mound yielded results, as she struck out 11 batters and allowed only four hits in a 2-1 win over the Oilers as the Tigers took a one game to zero lead in the best of three series.

“She’s just a really really good ballplayer,” said Katy head coach Kalum Haack. “She came through, had a big game and pitched very clutch when she needed to.”

And it wasn’t just on the mound where the sophomore made the difference at the plate, where she had for one of the Tigers two hits and accounted for both of the teams runs with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning after Montgomery Henderson reached on an error.

“I just go up there and my approach is ‘see the ball, hit the ball,” Harrison said. “That’s just how I process it. For me, if I think too much I won’t be able to see it so I went up there and was like ‘hey, this is the second inning and you have nothing to lose.’ I saw a pitch I liked and hit it, thankfully it found its way over the fence.”

Those two runs would be all Katy needed, as Harrison backed up her home run with an even gutsier performance on the mound.

Pearland scraped one run across in the third with great small ball play, but Harrison got out of the inning without further damage. She faced the minimum for the next two innings before the top of Pearland’s order came up again in the sixth. The Oilers tried to get another run across that inning, getting two singles to start things off. But Ashtyn Reichardt made a great play in center field to get the first out of the inning before Harrison struck out the next two batters, escaping the jam with the lead still intact. Katy then went on to clinch it with a clean seventh inning.

“I just ran threw my mind the situations that could happen and I knew no matter what, my team would back me up. I just took a deep breath, knew what I knew how to do and it all worked out.”

Katy didn’t an error on the night and showed great signs of maturity in the field, but with only two hits on the night, the team knows it will have to be better at the plate.

The series continues Friday when Katy travels to Pearland at 7 p.m. and game three will be played 5 p.m. Saturday at Pearland Dawson if necessary.

“The defense was great, we were mature there and on the mound, but we have to have a better approach at the plate,” Haack said “We’re looking at too many pitches and striking out too many times. We have to put the ball in play, we have to advance runners, it’s all the little things like that. We’ve talked about it all year long. We got the win tonight but that area has to be better.”

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