MADISON TOWNSHIP — Zane Harris doesn’t especially care for the seafood, but the 2016 Madison graduate likes just about everything else about his summer work study program.
A redshirt senior at Wright State University, Harris is the first baseman for the Hyannis (Mass.) Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
The Cape Cod League is the premier wooden bat collegiate league in the nation. More than 1,200 current and former big leaguers, including reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians, spent time in the Cape.
“I’m having a great time,” Harris said before the Harbor Hawks boarded their team bus for Wednesday’s game at Brewster. “The Cape is a new adventure and it’s really cool to get to experience it.”
Hyannis is a member of the Cape Cod League’s West Division, along with the Bourne Braves, Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores and Wareham Gatemen. The East Division includes the Brewster Whitecaps, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, Orleans Firebirds, Harwich Mariners and Chatham Anglers.
A left handed-hitting slugger, Harris first showed up on the Cape Cod League’s radar in the summer of 2018 when he was a Coastal Plains League all-star for the Edenton (North Carolina) Steamers. That came on the heels of a college season that saw him hit .342 with three home runs and 39 runs batted in for Wright State in the spring of 2018.
“I had a good year in summer ball a few years ago and one of the Cape Cod teams contacted me and asked if I wanted to play for them (in 2019), but it ended up not working out,” Harris said. “Last year I was supposed to come to Hyannis but it was the COVID year. Most of the guys who are here now were supposed to come here last year.”
Just because a player is invited to play in the Cape doesn’t mean his job is secure. Franchises can sign players to temporary or full-season contracts and rosters are constantly in flux.
“Guys are coming and going all season. It’s actually pretty cutthroat,” Harris said. “ Some teams will bring in 80 guys and they can only have 30.”
Cape Cod League rosters are traditionally stocked with the top collegiate players in the country. In addition to Harris, the Harbor Hawks roster includes players from Georgia, Louisville, Wake Forest and Florida State.
“The pitching here is amazing. In college ball, you’ll have a good starter, but if you get him out of the game — unless you’re facing a top 10 team — you’ll face someone who drops off drastically,” Harris said.
“The pitchers here don’t pitch more than a couple innings. At the very most you face a pitcher two times. And after the starter gets pulled, the dude coming in out of the bullpen is just as good, if not better.
“We see mid- to upper-90s every game. It’s way harder to hit in the Cape than it is in college ball.”
In nine games, Harris is batting .188 with three doubles and a home run. He leads the team with four extra base hits and belted his first homer in a 4-3 loss to Falmouth on June 25.
“I knew he would hit,” said Wright State teammate and Hillsdale graduate Jay Luikart. “He was really starting to swing it well late in the (college) season.”
So what does a typical day in the life of a Cape Cod League player look like?
“I’ll wake up, go stretch and get a workout in, then grab some food and hang out at the house for a little bit. Then I’ll head to the field,” Harris said. “If we’re on the road, we’ll get on the bus and go. We ride yellow school busses like we did in high school. I’m not used to it, but it’s cool. There’s just not too much room for someone my size (6-foot-5, 250 pounds).
“Traffic is not great, but we don’t have to travel far. If it’s a home game, we arrive at the park a little later and then we take batting practice and hit infield and outfield.
“It’s definitely a grind. We play six days a week. Most of the guys don’t play every day, but it still takes a toll on your body pretty quickly.”
As is the case with most summer collegiate leagues, players are housed by host families.
“I have a great host family that cooks for us every night. We talk and have fun and get along really well. I’m in a great situation,” Harris said. “I have one other roommate, a pitcher from Louisville. Some players are by themselves but for the most part, there are two or three players in a house.”
While he is enjoying his stay on the East Coast, Harris hopes his visit will be an abbreviated one. The Major League Baseball draft begins Sunday and runs through Tuesday.
“If I get drafted or signed as a rookie free agent, I plan on going,” Harris said. “Next year will be my sixth year and right now I plan on going back to Wright State. But if I get any professional opportunities I’ll probably take it just because of my age.
“I’m 23 now. I’m already old and I’ve already graduated. I’d like to get there as fast as I can. Next year would be great, but ideally it would happen this year.”
Harris was ranked the 52nd best hitting prospect in all of Division I baseball by d1baseball.com. He hit .347 with 14 doubles, five home runs and 55 RBIs this spring as the Raiders reached the NCAA Regional.
“I’ve heard from a few teams, but nobody has said, ‘Hey, you’re going to get drafted,’ ” Harris said. “You never really know. I might get drafted, I might not. I might get signed, I might not. I hope it happens, but as of now I haven’t heard enough to know if I will or won’t.”
Regardless of what happens, Harris will fondly remember his summer in New England.
“It’s 75 degrees every day, which to me is perfect baseball weather. Sometimes when you’re at the beach you wish it was a little warmer,” Harris said. “Hyannis is a pretty small town. Honestly it’s like Mansfield size-wise, but in a small (geographic) area. Cape Cod is only about seven miles wide. Most of the villages are small. Hyannis is the most populated and has the most to do.”
And as for the seafood?
I’m not a big seafood fan. I catch grief all the time,” Harris joked. “But according to my host family, the seafood here is the best.”