Coe’s Maddie Harris hearkens call back to the softball diamond

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CEDAR RAPIDS – Maddie Harris said she always felt she’d return to softball.

The former Western Dubuque multisport standout opted to focus on volleyball when she arrived at Coe. Harris couldn’t resist the call back to the diamond after a two-year hiatus.

“I’ve just always been around it,” Harris said. “I missed it. I just really wanted to play again.”

Harris has made an immediate impact on the Kohawks, hitting in the top-third of the batting order and starting at first base for Wednesday’s American Rivers Conference doubleheader against Central at Clark Field.

Harris walked in her first at-bat and added an RBI single in the nightcap of a 10-3 and 12-4 Dutch sweep. She has made an instant impact with her bat.

“She’s a really good hitter,” Coe Coach Jake Koolbeck said. “It’s probably always been a strength of hers since high school. She has a really good approach at the plate. She doesn’t get fazed by much.”

Koolbeck recruited Harris as a dual-sport athlete from the start. When she decided to play volleyball only, he turned to support her like any other Kohawk. The situation changed last June when he received a text from Harris, requesting to talk.

“She asked if she could play (but) I was like I don’t know. You’re kind of a pain,” Koolbeck said with a laugh and extracting a smile from Harris, who stood nearby. “As soon as she called and we had a little conversation, the only thing I said to her was to talk to your volleyball coaches. She had been playing for them for two years. I didn’t want to step on their toes.”

Harris, a pin hitter with 213 kills and 278 points in volleyball, was never really that far removed from the game. After all, her family is entrenched in baseball and softball. Her older brother, Calvin, excelled at Western Dubuque before winning an NCAA title with Ole Miss and is currently a catcher in the Chicago White Sox minor league system. Younger brother, Brett, is a junior at Western Dubuque and has also committed to the Running Rebels.

Harris worked at Field of Dreams last summer and being involved there motivated her to reach out to Koolbeck.

“They are always throwing the ball around,” Harris said. “I hadn’t done that since high school. I just thought I’d love to play again.”

Harris owns a .413 batting average and .486 on-base percentage with 38 hits, including eight doubles, and 20 RBIs. She was named A-R-C Softball position player of the week on April 7, batting .615 with eight hits, five RBIs and five runs during the previous week.

Koolbeck said Harris has put in extra work in the batting cages from the end of volleyball. The swing came back right away.

“It was really no big deal,” Koolbeck said. “She jumped right in and settled back into the box, doing her thing with the bat.”

The biggest transition has come on defense. She has had to adjust to the pace of the game. College has a more complex game plan and Harris has had to “relearn” some aspects in the field.

“There’s a lot more that goes into a college game than high school, per se,” Harris said. “In high school, you can kind of just show up and play. In college, there’s a lot more strategy and just understanding that.”

More than her offensive skills or her work at first and catcher, one of her best attributes is a fun-loving nature. Her personality meshes well with the rest of the Kohawks.

“She can take it and give it right back,” Koolbeck said. “She likes to joke a little bit. It has brought good energy to our group.

“Plus, she’s been part of a winning volleyball team here. She knows what it takes. This change for us after losing seven (seniors from last season) and bring another junior into our program that just knows winning has been good for the culture as well.”

Season highlights don’t revolve around hits, plays or victories. The best memories revolve around her new teammates and time spent on the field. It has filled a void that was empty until this spring.

“They’re a really fun group,” Harris said. “Just being out here and able to play again is a highlight.”

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