Published: May 14, 2009 11:42 pm      

HS SOFTBALL: NT's Harmon happy to be back

Julie Harmon’s return to the lineup wasn’t as spectacular as it was for Alex Rodriguez.

She didn’t crank a three-run homer in her first at-bat returning from hip surgery, like the Yankees’ superstar did.

That’s fine, though. It didn’t have to be anything remarkable for Harmon.

She’s just happy to be back in a North Tonawanda softball uniform and playing out the rest of her senior season rather than rooting her teammates on from the dugout. The cheering gig wasn’t sitting so well with the five-year varsity short stop, who’s one of the best in Western New York.

“I just wanted to be out there so bad. I was pacing, I was yelling. It was hard,” Harmon said after the Lady Jacks loss to Niagara-Wheatfield earlier this week, in which Harmon hit an RBI triple.

“This is my fifth season and it shouldn’t be that big of a deal (not playing) because I’ve had four other seasons,” she said, “but there’s nothing worse than having to sit out and be like, I could be playing right now. It’s great to be back.”

Harmon tore her anterior crucial ligament when her leg was taken out on a layup during a preseason basketball scrimmage in November. She didn’t realize the severity of the injury right away, so she didn’t have surgery until Feb. 11.

Her doctor told her it would be at least three months from that date before she could be cleared to play. With an offer to play softball at Division II Mercyhurst College, Lady Jacks coach T.K. Murphy didn’t expect Harmon to return this spring. Her teammates didn’t think so, either. “I didn’t really think she was going to come back,” said senior Natalie Hils. “We were really devastated when we heard she wasn’t going to be playing, so it’s awesome having her back.”

When Harmon had surgery, Murphy said he wasn’t going to allow her to play, fearing that it could jeopardize her collegiate career. But Harmon knew she’d be back. She worked hard in physical therapy in the months after surgery. She even showed up for NT softball practices, mentoring some of the younger girls on the team, and she wore her Lady Jacks jersey to games.

And on Monday, three months exactly to the day of her operation, Harmon got the OK from her physician. It was a very exciting doctor’s visit. “I went in and they were like, ‘You’re good to go,’” Harmon said. “I gave my mom a high five and I was like, ‘This is the best doctor’s appointment ever!’”

Despite his earlier insistence that she not play, Murphy said he had a change of heart after consulting with Harmon’s physician, her parents and assistant coach Larry Lash.

“It’s a major injury for her to come back so quickly,” said Murphy, who’s coached for three decades. That she healed the meniscus in her knee in less than three months is “absolutely, positively amazing,” he said. “But it tells you an awful lot about Julie.”

After missing roughly six weeks of valuable practice and game time, Harmon acknowledges it has been a little tough getting her swing back. Still, she reached base and came around to score in Monday’s win over Niagara Falls. Harmon was so nervous in her first at-bat Monday that her hands shook as she stepped to the plate.

She felt a little more comfortable in Thursday’s 3-1 loss to Niagara-Wheatfield, smacking an RBI triple in the first inning, driving in NT’s only run. It was a big confidence booster. “I got that triple and I was like, ‘I’m back!’” she said.

And Harmon’s return to the Lady Jacks lineup couldn’t come at a more important time. NT faces four Niagara Frontier League opponents next week in Kenmore East, Grand Island, Kenmore West and Lewiston-Porter. Murphy offered a fair warning to opposing defenses.

“Having her back makes a huge difference. Every game she gets a chance to play she’ll get stronger and have a little more confidence in her ability to play,” he said. “I honestly think that if I was an opposing team, with her back in our lineup...I wouldn’t want to play us.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.