On the Radar: Focus on finesse has suited Harper just fine

Pitchers, as a rule, tend to draw attention based on how hard their fastball makes the radar guns work.

When a softball player has full command over six different pitches, however, its hard for a college coach not to notice.

Douglas High's workhorse pitcher Stephanie Harper is beginning to find that out firsthand.

Harper's fastball tops out at 57 mph (which is equivalent to an 87.75 mph pitch in baseball), which is right up there considering the five-star recruits throw at about 61 or 62.

But it's her ability to finesse her way through an at-bat that has brought the recruiting interest in.

Harper has received interest from 13 schools, including a handful of Division I schools, this summer and with an appearance in the ASA Nationals still remaining on her schedul, that number only figures to go up.

Playing for the California Grapettes, Harper has put together a tidy 0.63 ERA while getting a little bit of rest in the team's pitching rotation. The tournament-level competition hasn't hurt her bat any either, as she is carrying a .382 average.

"It's going good," she said. "I'm not pitching as much as I do in high school. We have six pitchers, so I'm getting some rest."

It's a far cry from the high school season, where Harper has pitched nearly every game for the Tigers for the past two seasons.

All that work though, hasn't come without some benefits. Through three seasons, it is believed Harper has broken the school record for career wins with 53. The only other known four-year starter to have pitched for such successful teams throughout her career was Dena Pitts who compiled 51 wins between 1990 and 1993.

Pitts, widely considered to be one of the most dominating pitchers in state history, probably would have had more wins, but pitched in a consistent two- to three-player rotation throughout her career.

Harper also stands fourth on the career list in the NIAA State Record Book with her senior season still to go. Breaking former Wooster star Brianne McGowan's state record of 94 wins, though, will be technically impossible.

What colleges are noticing with Harper, aside from her ability to carry the workload, is the way she approaches batters at the higher levels of competition.

"I just go out there and try to hit my spots," she said. "In high school, I pretty much know where I can pitch it and if they will swing at it.

"With the tournament schedule, I just go with the flow. If something is working, I go with that. If it's not, I mix it up a bit."

Harper mixes her fastball with a rise, drop, change-up, screw and curve. The curveball, however, is her favorite.

"That's my out pitch," she said.

One of the biggest adjustments has been seeing the crowd of college coaches behind the backstop.

"I try not to think about who is watching," she said with a laugh. "It's a thought that comes up more when I'm doing poorly.

Harper's goal is to win a college scholarship, but she's not setting her sites on any particular location just yet.

She's taken unofficial visits to several campuses already and plans to a couple more before the summer is out.

"We're trying to see a lot of different schools just so she can get an idea," Christina Harper, Stephanie's mom, said. "She just wants to get a feel for things and get an idea of what is out there."