As you've likely heard, we don't have any live-action contests to cover at LetsGoPeay.com right now. What we do have is free time; oodles and oodles of free time. Enough free time to swap oodles of emails with various people who would know to create a snapshot of the 10 best players in Austin Peay baseball history. Our next entry is a shortstop who showed up as a walk-on and left as the most consistently reliable player in program history.
The Harper family left a legacy at Austin Peay that will be tough to top. Ralph, the patriarch, was the program's first All-American in 1981. Eldest son Ryne was an all-tournament hurler in 2011 and made his MLB debut last year with Minnesota. And Reed?
Reed Harper started the first game of his Austin Peay career. And the last. And the 235 in between, setting program and Ohio Valley Conference records for games and starts, which are impressive accomplishments by themselves. He also backed that up with two first-team All-OVC seasons, three championship rings and a slew of program records as the linchpin of some of the greatest teams in program history.
The nice thing about Reed Harper was you knew you could count on him, and build from there. He was going to hit (he hit better than .300 in three of his four seasons) and he was going to take care of one of the most important positions on the diamond (during his minor league days, Harper made multiple sterling plays at short that earned him national shoutouts on SportsCenter). An on-base machine who was as smooth as they come at a premium position? That's a program cornerstone.
He broke out offensively with a 29-game hitting streak in 2011; by the time he was a senior, flanked by the greatest offensive lineup in program history, Harper and the Govs were unstoppable, piling up 47 wins with Harper going for career highs in home runs (seven), RBI (59) and steals (14) while slashing .346/.502/.419.
Harper shined brightest in the big moments. In 2011, he was an All-Region team selection at the Atlanta Regional and followed that with back-to-back all-OVC Tournament performances in 2012 and 2013, culminating his career with OVC Tournament MVP honors in 2013 after hitting .462 with six RBI in Jackson.
An Academic All-American in 2012, Harper was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2013 and played five seasons of minor-league ball.
