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sports
THe North shore weekend
05/04 – 05/05/13
Heating up HP’s Carl hoping for another break-out second half
Highland Park High School senior Harrison Carl blocks a pitch in the dirt during action this spring.
photography by joel lerner
■ by kevin reiterman
sports@northshoreweekend.com His other sport is karate. Which possibly explains why Harrison Carl is such a battler at the plate. He can be black-belt tough on pitchers. The red-headed Highland Park High School senior, a solidly built 6-foot, 180pound catcher/outfielder, had one of his marathon at-bats against Deerfield’s Dillon Wallace on April 26. He fought off pitch after pitch — nine total — before coaxing a walk. “That’s typical of him,” said first-year head baseball coach Dan Casey. “He’s a six-, seven-, eight-, nine-pitch kind of guy. You have to make a good pitch to get him out.” The respect factor is in effect when Carl strolls to the plate. Last year, he smacked a team-high six home runs in helping the Giants advance all the way to a Class 4A super-sectional. Down the stretch, he was one of the elite hitters on an elite team. He hit .428 during last year’s playoff run. “He’s one of those veteran-type players — the ones that they like to talk about on TV,” Casey said. “We’re leaning on him a lot. He’s the one guy (only returning position player) on our team with (varsity) experience.” The HP coach likes Carl’s tough-out approach. “He doesn’t take selfish swings,” the coach said. “He hits behind runners. He
understands that baseball is a team game.” “He’s got a great hitting mentality, and he’s got the quick hands” added junior David Hochstadt, who hits No. 4 in the HP batting order. “He’s always been a standout hitter. Even back when we played for Highwood Heat (travel team).” In his third at-bat against Wallace, Carl came within a whisker of hitting a grand slam. With the wind blowing out — Deerfield hit three homers and eventually won the game14-3 — he drove the ball to the warning track in left field and settled for a sacrifice fly. Mr. Baseball, according to Carl, had a funky flight plan. “I hit it off the end of the bat and, at first, I thought it was going right to the shortstop,” said Carl. “Then, I looked up and thought it might go out. And (finally), I thought it might drop in when I saw their outfielder fighting the sun and lunging for it. “There was a lot of back-and-forth going on in my head during that at-bat.” The swing? It’s coming around. Carl hit his first home run of the 2013 campaign on April 24 in a 15-3 loss to Deerfield at Wolters Field. He added another homer in Monday’s 10-8 victory over host Maine East. After 18 games — the Giants are 7-11 — he’s hitting just over .300 with seven runs and eight RBI. “We’re struggling right now as a team,” said Carl, who saw his team fall 1-0 to
The senior blasted six home runs last spring. He’s hit two out this spring.
photography by joel lerner visiting Waukegan on April 27 despite strong pitching performances from Liam Carter and Charles Elias. “We’re in a rough patch. But I sincerely believe we’ll come out of it soon.” Hochstadt believes Carl will have another strong second half. “As the season goes along, he’ll start seeing beach balls (for pitches) and hitting shots,” said Hochstadt, who had two doubles in the win over Maine East. “There’s a lot of baseball left. I’m confident that he’ll pass last year’s numbers.” “Last year, all of my home runs came in the second half of the season,” Carl noted. “That’s pretty characteristic of me. I seem
to come on strong at the end.” Carl is not planning to play baseball at the next level. Instead, he plans to give full attention to his other passion: mixed martial arts. “My mom put me into a karate class when I was 4. And I’ve never looked back,” he said. “I’ll be back into it — after the baseball season ends.” “I can’t explain why I love karate and martial arts so much,” Carl added. “I’m not a violent person. I’m not angry. It’s not about hurting anyone.” “He’s always done karate,” said Hochstadt. “And he’s pretty fierce about it.” ■