College baseball: Harper becomes a Wave of the future

Tony Altobelli

Corona del Mar High product Ty Harper learned the hard way that,

“There’s no place like home.”

After a frustrating sophomore year at the University of Alabama,

Harper has returned to the Golden State and will play for Pepperdine

University in the fall.

Harper chose the Waves over UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach

State and UC Riverside.

“It’s the perfect situation for me,” Harper said. “It’s far enough

away from home, but at the same time, it’s also close by. I’m excited to

go there because I know I’ll get an opportunity to make an immediate

impact.”

That impact is a year in the making following a year of

head-scratching and hopeless waiting.

“Needless to say, Alabama was a learning experience,” Harper said. “I

grew as a person in other aspects. The only down side of last year was

baseball.”

Or lack, thereof. After a freshman season at Golden West College,

where he hit a mind-boggling .455 with 81 hits, 19 doubles and 63 RBIs,

Harper was ready to make an immediate impact for the Crimson Tide.

Assistant Coach Todd Butler was a major influence in bringing Harper

to Tuscaloosa, but he left to take the head coaching position at McNeese

State in Lake Charles, La.

“Getting used to Alabama was a major culture shock to say the least,”

Harper said. “I had some trouble getting acclimated in the fall, but my

hitting started to come around at the end of fall. By the time I came

back from Christmas break, I was mashing the ball. At the end of our

intrasquad games, I went 11 for 15.”

But the offensive success landed on deaf ears. Head Coach Jim Wells

opted to keep Harper on the bench at the start of the 2001 season.

“I started a midweek game and went 2 for 4,” Harper said. “From there,

I had six pinch hits and that was it. I tried to ask the coach what I was

doing wrong, but he didn’t give me any answers. Just the usual, ‘hang in

there’ type of response. This was something I’ve never had to experience

before.”

Harper helped guide Corona del Mar to the 1999 CIF Southern Section

Division IV title. He compiled a .514 career batting average with a

Newport-Mesa District-record 132 hits, 24 home runs and 99 RBIs, before

spending a season at Golden West.

“I knew how big the transition was going to be heading from a junior

college program to Division I,” Harper said. “I worked hard to get myself

ready and I thought I was ready. But I never got the chance to prove

myself and I had no support from the coaches out there. I truly believe

they wanted to get rid of me.”

So Harper asked to get out of his scholarship at Alabama and headed

home after the spring semester. “The one good thing to come out of all of

this was that I realized the importance of my education,” Harper said. “I

buckled down on my schoolwork and I got a 3.0 grade-point average in the

spring.”

Those grades, combined with his natural baseball talents, brought the

Southern California schools running to Harper’s doorstep, despite only 10

at-bats as a sophomore.

After careful consideration, Harper chose Pepperdine, which offered

the junior-to-be an 80% scholarship. “There’s a chance for me to

contribute right away,” he said. “They want me to work out at first base

and third base and I’ll even get some work in the bullpen. The coaching

staff is great and they want me to step up and help the team immediately.

It’s nice to be wanted again.”