Former Hickory star a hit in Boone

As he approaches the close of his college baseball career, Isaac Harrow is healthy, happy and -at the plate -very hot.

Make that sizzlin' hot, with his name atop six major career-hitting categories at Appalachian State.
A seventh all-time record — most games played in a Mountaineers uniform — will fall two games into this week's Southern Conference tournament in Greenville, S.C.

Harrow should start at third base on Wednesday when sixth-seeded Appalachian State (32-19) plays its first tournament game, and he will then share the games played record at 197.

There could be only two games left in his college career — or probably fewer than a dozen or so even if the Mountaineers keep winning — but Harrow is leaving little undone.

Harrow is not focused on his stats. But as David Craft, his former head coach at Hickory High, says, "His numbers are just unbelievable."

A. 433 batting average, with 23 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs and 75 RBIs cap a sterling senior year for the 22-year-old Harrow, who briefly considered playing at West Point before deciding on Appalachian State.

"I never saw myself setting records and things ike I am doing here," he said. "It just happens that I have played good ball the last few years and come up among all those things (records).

"When I did realize I was close to things, it fired me up to go for them."

Harrow has been going for it for a long time. But it wasn't until this year that his tools, his talent and his health all came together.

In his first two seasons at Appalachian State, Harrow battled injuries. And by his own admission, he plugged his way through his junior year a bit healthier but not yet 100 percent.

That makes what he has done — set career records in at-bats (735), runs scored (165), hits (256), doubles (65), RBI (201) and total bases (417) — stand out.

After suffering a high ankle sprain when he hit the first base bag wrong in his first college at bat in 2006, Harrow got in only 29 games and hit .177 that year.

In the fall of his sophomore year, his elbow began to bother him and an MRI brought the bad news — he had a tear and needed Tommy John surgery.

Harrow said he faced a tough decision — play or give up the game — and he just didn't want to let go of a love.

"I told myself if I had surgery, I had to decide," Harrow said. "I thought … I've already had these two injuries that were big, huge to me.

"But I had a great sophomore year. I played all year and had surgery as soon as we finished."
For the record, Harrow got into 57 games that year, hitting .342 and driving in 56 runs. But he spent the majority of his time as a designated hitter and at first base.

The next summer, he pushed himself to get his arm ready for his junior year and get back in the lineup at third base.

On opening day of his junior year, he was as close to 100 percent as he had been since coming to Boone.

"It was a great feeling," Harrow said. "Being out there and being able to know in my head that there is nothing wrong with me physically. I am not hurt.

"But to tell you the truth, I didn't get that feeling until this year because it (the elbow) still bothered me a little bit."

Harrow rocketed up the career lists as a junior by hitting .326 with 18 doubles, seven homers and 60 RBIs in 59 games and he's been on a roll since.

In the final two regular-season games this week against Longwood, he went 6-for-10.

This week, though, he could go 0-for-10 because that's the way baseball is. And Harrow respects that.
"You can't (always) for 5-for-5," he said. "In baseball you are gonna get out.

"The better you learn to manage that, the better you will be. You don't dwell on that or think anything of it. The next day, there's a new game and you just start playing.

"That's easier said than done. It's hard. Everybody is different. It just kinda like you almost have to act like it does not matter, that it doesn't matter if you get a hit or not.

"Baseball's such a mental game. If you can't get control of the mental side, you're not gonna be good at it."

With the year Harrow is having, the thing he's wanted most — to play pro ball — could be just around the corner. So far, 13 major-league teams have been in touch. The amateur draft is next month.

If Harrow is drafted, he'll be on another short list at Appalachian State. Only 21 Mountaineers have been drafted (two were drafted twice) and the list of those who reached the majors is even shorter (5, the last getting there was infielder Mike Ramsey in 1975).

"I think I have a great shot," said Harrow of being drafted. "You just never know and you won't know until that day comes.

"It will be exciting and (I will be) anxious and nervous and happy, all at the same time."

With the way he is swinging the bat, Harrow said he wants to play more baseball. So he will leave Appalachian State with a degree in construction management and see if he can knock down the walls standing between him and the big leagues.

"I don't think I would wanna spend a long career in the minors," Harrow said. "I'd play for several years to see how I advance, to see where my potential will take me."

Craft said he noticed that potential immediately and he's rooting for his former star, who played his freshman year at Fred T. Foard before coming to Hickory.

"He had good skills from Day 1," said Craft. "That (the ability to hit) is him, not coaching.

"He was (always) totally focused. He listened well and wanted to get better every day. I think as he has gotten older, he's got more confidence."

And also a short-term goal that has nothing to do with his stats.

"I wanted to increase my stats; that's always a goal," said Harrow of when the season began. "But to tell you the truth, if I was going to guess, I don't think it would be me doing what I'm doing.

"I guess there wouldn't have been a better time to do it, being that it is my last year, my senior year and everything.

"I wanna win it (the conference tournament). I've never been to the (NCAA) regional and it would great for us to win it.

"We've had great careers and it would be wonderful to go out and leave here by going to the regionals."