Possessing an infectious enthusiasm and a pure love of the game, Stanley B. Harris grew up watching the exploits of his hometown team. With the Warriors, he was a wiry but durable 5-foot-11 inch, 160-pound shortstop with great range and a strong arm. A senior captain, he was praised by his long-time coach, John Risley, as a “natural leader.” In a 166-game career, the Willimantic native batted .320 with 197 hits, 148 runs, 97 RBI, and 72 stolen bases. In the field, he collected 370 assists, leading the team in assists in each of his first three healthy seasons. A right-handed hitter, Harris was a prototypical No. 2 hitter who sprayed the ball to all fields and displayed “doubles power” which produced five two-baggers in one doubleheader. On the bases, he was an intelligent and speedy runner and an opportunistic base-stealer. The first player to start all four seasons at shortstop under head coach Bill Holowaty, Harris helped the “rebuilding” Warriors to the 1983 regional championship as a freshman. A two-time All-New England selection, Harris batted .343 as a sophomore – 120 percentage points higher than in his first season. As a junior, he appeared in every game for the second straight year, playing a team-leading 370 innings, topping the club with a New England-record 197 at-bats, sharing the team lead with 13 doubles, and batting a career-high .345. His total of 68 hits that year was the third-highest in a season to that point in program history, and his season record of 197 at-bats stood for 16 years. In his career, Harris established a program record for stolen bases and concluded his career ranked third all-time in at-bats (616). With Harris, the Warriors posted 30-win seasons and qualified for NCAA tournament play each year, winning 73.1 per cent of their 183 games and averaging 33 victories a year. In Harris’ final three seasons, Eastern won 75 and lost only 14 in regular-season play up north.
