Lexington's Leighton Harris excited to get on campus
The first commitment in the 2024 class discusses his high school season and his excitement to get to Kentucky.
The first commitment of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class has turned out to be one of its best. Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass two-way player Leighton Harris committed to the Wildcats in September of 2021, providing Nick Mingione’s staff with one of the best players in the Commonwealth. Perfect Game currently ranks Harris as the No. 2 player in the state and No. 205 player nationally.
When he committed, Kentucky was trying to build the program back to NCAA Tournament contention. But this fall, Harris will join a program coming off its first appearance in the Men’s College World Series.
“It’s awesome,” Harris told Bat Cats Central. “I started getting recruited by UK and Louisville in the beginning of eighth grade and I had just decided where I was going to high school a few months before. Just talking to (the coaches) I was starstruck. Talking to UK, being a UK fan all my life, it was so surreal. Being able to commit there eventually and from there on, them just having the success they’ve had has been so cool to see. I can’t wait to get on campus and be a part of it.”
Harris is a left-handed pitcher who’s touched 92 miles per hour with his fastball but generally sits 88 to 91. He throws a slider and changeup as well. Harris missed his junior season of baseball after tearing his ACL during the basketball season. He was cleared to play for the East Cobb Astros for a few tournaments last fall and did well both at the plate and on the mound. Harris carried that into his high school season and produced one of the best pitching seasons of anyone in Kentucky.
Harris went 7-2 with a 0.76 earned run average and 102 strikeouts. His ERA was good for sixth-best in the state and his strikeouts ranked 12th best.
“I think I grew a lot on dealing with the whole outing and not worrying about what happened the last batter,” Harris said. “If I walk somebody or somebody gets a hit, I’ve got to hone in on the next guy and pull through for the team and get through that inning even if it’s an inning that I don’t have my best stuff. If I go out there and walk two, I’ve gotta get out of the inning before those runners pass. Having confidence in my changeup was big this year. Being able to throw that, and then the slider. It was probably my go-to pitch in a put-away count. I did a really good job this year and my pitching coach did a really good job calling pitches and mixing it up to keep hitters off balance.”
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Harris, along with 2024 signees Khaleel Pratt and Nolan Belcher, are playing in the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League this summer. He won’t pitch, however, and will focus on getting better at the plate. The plan is still for him to try both at Kentucky.
The 6-3, 205-pounder is one of 13 commitments in the Wildcats’ class. He believes the 2024 group is one of the best Kentucky has signed under Mingione.
“I think we have a little bit of everything,” Harris said. “Our class has dealt with a decent amount of injuries. I think we have a good balance of kids who are coming from the state of Kentucky and love the program. And we have some high-end talent, whether it’s Tyler Bell, who might get drafted and not make it to campus, and Bradley Ferrell, before he tore his UCL this past year, was one of the top-ranked right-handed pitchers. Tristan Hunter out of Missouri is really, really good. I think we’ve done a really good job getting the high-end talent that’s not necessarily lacked in other years, but I think we’ve got a really good amount of players that can come in and make an instant impact.”