Only a small handful of high school athletes get to make it to the big leagues.  Fortunately for CHS, several of its alumni have gone off to play in major sports organizations, such as football players Dan McGwire and Cameron Morrah, who both played for the Seattle Seahawks. Now another CHS alumnus will hopefully make that same journey as well, this time on the baseball diamond.

Joseph “Joey” Harris, who graduated from CHS in 2012, played catcher on the baseball team and was extremely well respected by all of his coaches and fellow teammates. After graduation, Harris originally planned to attend law school and pursue the career of becoming a lawyer. When stepping foot for the first time on the grounds of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, he took the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) with that intention in mind. Aside from studying law, Harris also devoted some of his time to playing college baseball, which was where his journey to a professional baseball career began.

“When I was a junior in college at Gonzaga we had some other guys on our team that were being scouted by major league organizations. They would originally come to see them play but a few times after I performed well in some games the scouts started to come watch me as well,” Harris said.  “They followed and watched me from my junior year at school and then on to summer baseball and then the entirety of my senior year.  They had me fill out questionnaires and take tests to make sure I filled out all the requirements to play in their organization.”

Harris grew as both a player and as a person while playing catcher on the CHS baseball team.  While on the team, Harris was fortunate enough to receive quality coaches who taught him crucial skills that colleges were hoping to see while recruiting.  

Because of his time on CHS baseball and at Gonzaga, Harris was drafted by the Washington Nationals and started playing minor league baseball. This past year, he played rookie ball in Florida, and to Harris’ surprise, high school and minor league baseball had more in common than he had thought.  

“There are some differences.  The speed of the game is a lot faster in minor league baseball.  The talent level is also different as every person on each team is really good at baseball.  The depth of the pitching staff is much deeper in the minor leagues,” Harris said.  “However, at the end of the day it is the same exact game that I played in high school and even though the pitchers might be throwing a little harder or hitters hitting the ball a little harder the game hasn’t changed from how it’s supposed to be played.”

Harris is ambitious and confident that he will eventually make it to the major leagues, regardless of what team he may play on.  It will truly be a pivotal climax in Harris’ baseball career if he gets to crouch behind home plate while listening to the sounds of roaring spectators.  But wherever life takes him, Joey Harris will surely leave an impressive mark upon thousands of people.