Columbus North’s Luke Harmon is The Republic Baseball Player of the Year. He is pictured in the studio at The Republic in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
Luke Harmon took his game to another level this season.
Harmon was a force on the mound and at the plate for Columbus North. He capped his senior season with a sectional title and is this year’s The Republic Baseball Player of the Year.
It was a little bit of a rough start to the year starting out 3-5, but the Bull Dogs bounced back to go 14-6 the rest of the season.
“We were super excited coming in. In our first eight days, we had seven games. It was a rough stretch for us. We didn’t start off the greatest,” Harmon said. “After that, we locked it, started having fun and playing loose and really started to enjoy playing baseball again.”
This season, Harmon led the team in batting average (.373), hits (31), doubles (six) and runs scored (27). On the mound, he started nine games and went 4-4 with a 2.75 earned run average, while striking out 56 in 48.1 innings pitched.
“He was our No. 1, and we put him into some tough spots and he responded well on the mound, defensively coming out at shortstop and led our team in hitting hits, doubles, on-base percentage,” North coach Mike Bodart said. “We knew when he was up and coming to the plate, we had a good opportunity, and when he was on the mound, we knew what we were going to get from the mound. He was just a true competitor.”
After the Bull Dogs lost a lot of seniors over the past two years, some may have doubted that they would go as far in the postseason or have a good year, record-wise.
Harmon and the rest of the Bull Dogs proved those people wrong.
“Internally as a group, we thought we’d be pretty good and had a chance to win sectional and go on to regional. We all believed, and that’s all that matters,” Harmon said. “We enjoyed every bit of it, and I think the seniors went out with a bang. That’s what we hoped for, it’s what we wanted.”
Harmon is going to be hard to replace next year for a North squad that finished 17-11.
“The main thing was that he was just a true competitor, and in that process, he did an excellent job of maintaining his outward appearance of body language and composure and had true grit that we talked about a lot. He was one of our gritty guys, and he was ready to always get after it,” Bodart said. “He’s a true leader. The guys looked up to him because he led by example, and he did a lot of stuff right. We’re going to miss that part of him as a leader. We’re going to miss the versatility in putting him wherever and the unselfishness. He was willing to do whatever he asked him to do whenever we asked him to do it.”
Harmon’s career in baseball isn’t over yet. He’s going to play for Franklin College next year.
While Harmon will miss his time playing for the Bull Dogs, he’s ready to begin the next phase of his baseball career.
“It’s exciting. Coming into high school, I was super excited, but super nervous. I think it’s going to be kind of that same feeling going into college now,” Harmon said. “I’m going to be competing with new teammates and making new relationships with people up there. I’m really anxious to get up there and get started.”
The Republic All-Area Baseball team:
Luke Harmon, Columbus North: The senior led the Bull Dogs with a .373 average, six doubles and 27 runs scored; had 12 RBIs and went 4-4 with a 2.75 ERA.
Connor Hensley, Columbus North: The junior batted .303 with four doubles and 17 runs scored, led the Bull Dogs with 20 RBIs and went 3-1 with two saves and a 3.40 ERA.
Blake Osbourne, Columbus North: The junior batted .301 with three doubles, 13 RBIs and 11 runs scored and went 3-2 with a 1.27 ERA.
Zach McLean, Columbus North: The junior batted .276 with 15 RBIs, led the Bull Dogs with three home runs and went 4-1 with a 3.73 ERA.
Dillon James, Columbus North: The junior batted .273 with 18 RBIs and 17 runs scored and led the Bull Dogs with two triples and three home runs.
Caleb Martoccia, Columbus East: The senior led the Olympians with a .312 average, four doubles and nine RBIs.
Holden Pittman, Hauser: The sophomore led the Jets with a .378 average, 14 doubles, one home run and 27 RBIs and went 2.2 with a 2.01 ERA.
Cole Sigler, Jennings County: The junior led the Panthers with a .395 average, two triples, one home run and 21 RBIs and went 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA.
Keegan Manowitz, Jennings County: The senior batted .280 with 10 RBIs, led the Panthers with seven doubles and 27 runs scored and had a 3.19 ERA.
Avery Seegers, South Decatur: The senior led the Cougars with a .538 average, 10 doubles, seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
Devin Pate, South Decatur: The junior went 7-1 with a 0.76 ERA, had nine doubles and 15 RBIs and led the Cougars with 14 runs scored.
Jade Woolems, Brown County: The sophomore led the Eagles with a .491 average, five doubles, one triple, nine RBIs, 14 stolen bases and 13 runs scored.
Jared Myers, Edinburgh: The sophomore led the Lancers with a .392 average, six doubles, 14 RBIs and had 13 runs scored.
Sage Broughton, Trinity Lutheran: The senior led the Cougars with a .323 average, 10 doubles, three triples, two home runs and 23 RBIs.
Nathan Voelker, Trinity Lutheran: The senior went 5-5 with a 2.78 ERA, batted .278 with seven doubles and led the Cougars with 27 runs scored.
Honorable mention
Brown County: Jack Sichting. Columbus Christian: Branson Carr, Cam Watts-Pritchard. Columbus East: Will Boyer, Eli Tindell. Columbus North: Tyler Blythe, Trenton McCain. Edinburgh: Jarrett Turner. Hauser: Kameron Blair, Stryker Gill, Owen McIntyre, Simeon Wasil. Jennings County: Austin Byford. South Decatur: Jansen McDonald, Colby Rathburn.
