Reid Harvey is one of the most talented baseball players to come out of Thomas County Central High School over the past two decades. The Division I ball player is cementing his legacy as a Yellow Jacket, and looking to inspire those around him for years to come.
"To see kids grow up and achieve what they want to achieve," said head coach Ryan Strickland of the athletes that have come through the Yellow Jacket program. "That's what it comes down to, the individual. They have to take ownership of it."
Harvey is one of the best.
"Everyone once in a while, you'll be at a game, and a little kid says something to you. It means a lot to me," he said. "One day I want to be able to come back and say I helped leave a legacy and inspire some kids to say hey, maybe baseball's my thing and maybe I want to be like that one day."
Harvey is one of just a handful a baseball players in the last two decades to sign a Division I scholarship out of Central. He's Mercer bound, and as much as he'll mean to the Bears, he's meant just as much for the Jackets.
"His freshman year got cut short, but he started getting on the field for us then and became kind of that nucleus we've had for the past four years," said Strickland. "It's huge in the way we take the field and play as a team."
A leader on the field, and in the classroom. Harvey has a 3.8 GPA.
"He's not a kid that brag about what he does or talks about how smart he is, he just does what he's supposed to do," said Strickland.
"You kind of look at baseball as a reward, so you look at it as I get this stuff done, I get to go practice and I don't have to worry about anything," added Harvey.
A good mindset as Harvey looks to finish his senior year strong.
"It's made this year a little more special just because it's my last go about, let's do what we can to do our best," he said.
"I can remember guys I looked up to when I was little, and those guys are going to be here eventually as well and say, I want to do it like that or like this and with his work ethic and what he's done, he's provided the groundwork for those guys to follow along as well," added Strickland.
Groundwork that's made him one of the best. Harvey said he plans to major in marketing at Mercer, where he was recruited to both pitch and play infield for the Bears.
