Western Dubuque freshman Brett Harris already one of Iowa's top baseball players

FARLEY – Western Dubuque High School baseball player Brett Harris stands near third base during an afternoon practice in May. He's fielding groundballs as he issues a request to assistant coach Jesse Lawler.

“Can you hit it harder?” Harris asks.

Lawler promptly laces a ball to the freshman Harris, who fields it cleanly with zero issues.

“He wants to be challenged,” Lawler says. “And we try.”

Harris is rarely challenged on the baseball field. He’s just a freshman but he’s already solidified himself as one of the top talents in the state. Harris started as an eighth grader, voted as a captain as a freshman and has already committed to play at Ole Miss.

“The talent is obvious,” said Western Dubuque coach Casey Bryant. “He’s just way ahead of his age group.”

Harris is only getting better. This week, his talent will be on full display while he tries to guide his team to a second-straight state championship. The Bobcats are the top seed in Class 3A and open against No. 8 Harlan on Monday. Four of the six baseball teams in Dubuque County qualified for state (Dyersville Beckman, Cascade and Dubuque Wahlert are the others).

Further down the road, Harris appears to have a bright future beyond high school.

'You could tell he was going to be a good player'

Harris’ passion for the game developed early. He followed his brother Calvin (a former Western Dubuque and Ole Miss star who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox last week) to the field for games and to the batting cage. He received lessons from the same instructor, former big-leaguer Eric Munson, who ran a hitting facility in Dubuque.

Munson, now a minor-league hitting coach with the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was impressed with Brett Harris' work ethic, maturity and swing. It was evident even before Harris was a teenager.

“You could just tell he was going to be a good player,” Munson said.

Bryant saw the talent while coaching Harris' basketball team in first and second grade. Harris was active and incredibly athletic. But where it really shined was on the baseball field.

It didn't matter who Harris was playing against or how old the opponents were. He always played well. It was evident when Harris was just 13 and started filling in on his dad's semi-pro team. The league was full of Division III players and adults two and three times his age. Harris was never overmatched and always held his own.

“He was a very skilled athlete,” Bryant said.

So skilled that by eighth grade, Harris was ready to play varsity baseball. Bryant could see that Harris was ready for the jump.

The Bobcats spend part of the offseason hitting off high-velocity pitching machines. The hitters face fastballs in the high 80s to low 90s. Bryant would see some of his 17- and 18-year-old players struggle against the heat. But not Harris.

Harris impressed Bryant with his size, how he handled the competition and his maturity. The maturity part was extremely important to Bryant since Harris would be playing against and with older kids.

“You have to be emotionally able to handle it,” Bryant said. “You have to be able to mix in with older kids and not have it be a problem. And Brett has always been able to hang out with adults and old people.”

Harris earned a spot on the varsity squad and started all 43 games for Western Dubuque. He hit .328 with 10 doubles and 25 RBIs while guiding the team to its first state championship. All before becoming a student at the high school in Epworth.

More: Iowan Calvin Harris has prepared to become a pro baseball player his entire life

Harris’ success caught the attention of college coaches. Arizona asked Bryant for information. Iowa was the first to offer a scholarship. LSU checked in. So did his brother’s school, Ole Miss.

Harris was viewed almost immediately as a top talent in the state.

"It was pretty obvious from the get-go," Bryant said.

Brett following in the footsteps of his brother

The comparisons between Calvin and Brett are unavoidable.

Their career paths, their style of play and their work ethic are very similar. Before his freshman season, Brett committed to Ole Miss as well. Their father, Scott, says his sons have virtually the same left-handed swing and play the game with an old-school style (neither of the brothers wears batting gloves). They approach the game with a unique level of intensity.

Brett was so excited for the start of this season that earlier this spring he shoveled snow out of the family's outdoor batting cage so he could hit off a tee.

When the family traveled to Florida during Christmas break to visit relatives, he and Calvin found time to hit in a local field’s cage and throw in the outfield.

“I love it a ton,” Brett said. “Just coming here and practicing every day − sometimes if you’re out and about at a tournament and kids are dreading going to baseball. I come here and practice is a ton of fun. We come here every day and it’s just a whole lot of fun to get together.”

Calvin became a star at Ole Miss and guided the Rebels to a national championship in 2022. He was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the fourth round of this year's MLB Draft.

Don't be surprised if Brett has a similar path. He followed up his big eighth-grade season with a huge freshman campaign, hitting .424/.524/.538 with 13 doubles, three triples and a home run. Harris was voted a captain before the season started. Bryant said it’s the first time his team has had a freshman in that role.

“For a freshman to be chosen to be a captain is pretty special,” Bryant said.

Surprising but not shocking. Harris has already become a mainstay and a star in the program. Bryant said Harris has handled the expectations and his leadership role well. A potential pro career is a ways off, but at this point it certainly doesn't seem far-fetched.

“He could be as good as he wants,” Munson said.

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Western Dubuque freshman Brett Harris already a star baseball player