Senior pitcher looks to lead Salukis next season

Amy Harre, who is a senior pitcher on the SIU softball team from Nashville, is ready to step up and take the lead as the anchor of the Salukis’ pitching staff next year. She recently took time out to speak with Jennifer French of the Daily Egyptian about her plans for next season.

DE:How did you get into softball?

AH:I started at the park league and then had a junior high coach that said that I had a tall build and thought I should start pitching

DE:How did you get into pitching?

AH:When I was in 5th grade, my coaches thought that I was tall and had that athletic build and could at least go try it out, so I started taking pitching lessons.

DE:What would you consider to be your greatest achievement in softball?

AH:In high school, it was winning the state championship. In college, our first time we made it to the NCAA regional was awesome, and this year being able to win [the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship.]

DE:Going into your senior year, do you see yourself as a leader?

AH:Yeah, I hope so and I would like to be. I hope to able to go out there and motivate the team. And I hope the girls will look up to me and respect me since I have been here for a while.

DE:Your name is printed all over the SIU record books. How does it feel to make such a lasting mark at SIU?

AH:I’ll look at that in years to come, but right now I’m just really focused on what’s best for the team and working at our team goals. And that’s great and all. I’ll be glad to look back at that. But without the people behind me scoring runs and playing defense, I wouldn’t be in there, either.

DE:What do you enjoy about the game?

AH:I love just being able to go out there and to play everyday and do something that I love to do. Not everyone can go out and do something they love everyday. I like the competitiveness and being around my teammates.

DE:Are you planning on playing professional softball?

AH:If I have the opportunity, I would love to. I’m really looking into it for next summer. There have been some coaches talking to [SIU head coach] Kerri [Blaylock]. If I get the chance, I would definitely jump at it – at least try it and see how it goes.

DE:What teams are you looking at?

AH:Kerri deals a lot with that. There is a team in Chicago that’s going to be formed, but we’re just looking at all the options right now.

DE:What goals have you set for yourself during your senior year?

AH:I tell people that I would like to do three things as a team. We are going to be selfish – so I would like to win conference in the regular season, go to the conference tournament and make it to the NCAA regional and hopefully make it a step further.

DE:What goals have you set for yourself?

AH:Personally, I would like to be able to be a team player and team leader and hopefully guide the freshmen. We have two sophomore pitchers, and hopefully I can still help them. I want to contribute as much as I can on the mound and hopefully things will fall into place.

DE:You guys had a great season. What do you want to improve on for the next season?

AH:I thought we went out and took care of a lot of games in conference that we should have. I would like to go in and win conference series and take a few games from a lot of teams. I think if we go out, work hard and play hard, we’re going to see the same success as last year and hopefully even better. We want to go out and have a little fun and enjoy it, that’s why we’re doing it.

DE:What are you doing in the off-season to get ready for next season?

AH:Right now, I play with a team called the Carbondale Cougars and I’m planning on taking a couple weeks after that to let my body heal and recover and then hopefully come back all healthy and ready to go some more.

DE:The team is losing some key players next season. How is this going to affect the team?

AH:Yeah, we’re losing quite a few seniors. I’ve talked to Kerri a lot and she is very optimistic about this. She’s the only one who knows who’s coming in as freshmen and recruits and she says that they’re all playing well this summer and hopefully they will be able to come in and establish some of those roles from the positions that will be left. And then I think we have some returning girls that will step up and play more.

DE:You have played with Jenny Doehring for a long time now since both of you are from the same town. How is it going to be not playing with her?

AH:We’ve played together for a long time and there hasn’t been too many years, except the two that I was in high school and she was in college, that we haven’t played together. So it’s definitely going to be different not playing with her and having her cheer you on all the time. But I think that she has coached me enough along the way that I think she thinks I’m ready to go and be on my own maybe.

DE:What pitches do you throw?

AH:I throw a fastball, curveball, and we have been working on my change-up a lot.

DE:What is your favorite?

AH:I guess the fastball. I throw that one almost all the time.

DE:Why did you decide to come to SIU?

AH:Mainly, I did because it was closer to home. I liked the appeal of having my family and friends being able to come down and watch me play. At least one of my parents has been to every one of my games, except maybe four in the last three years. They travel a lot.

DE:How do you keep up on your studies during the season?

AH:I’d say that I bug my teachers a lot. I get a tutor if I need one for a class. I rely a lot on the students in my class to take notes for me. But a lot of it is being self-motivated because when you are missing classes all the time it’s easy to be like, ‘ I will just do it later.’ But to actually stay ahead and try to keep organized is probably the best thing. I usually just meet with my professors. They are good about setting up times during office hours and meeting up with me whenever I need help to make up work.

DE:What are you planning on doing after college if professional softball doesn’t work out?

AH:I’m a physiology major and then I would like to go to pharmacy school.

DE:I hear they call you “Wild Thing.” Do you care to elaborate on that, if you don’t mind?

AH:Well, we all have walk out songs and mine is “Wild Thing” because I’ve never been the one with the most control no matter what. When I was 12 years old, I was hitting people and walking people all the time so it has nothing to do off the field, it has everything to do on the field.

DE:So have you worked on your control?

AH:Yeah, that’s something Kerri and I have really worked on, like spotting the ball and control and calling the pitches and throwing the ball inside.