Tommy BirchDes Moines Register
FARLEY – Western Dubuque High School baseball player Brett Harris sits on the back of his truck parked outside a local hitting facility and grabs some white tape. Harris, who is getting ready with teammate Hunter Quagliano to get some hacks in, is trying to tape over a blister on one of his hands.
“If I swing bare with it, it hurts like no other,” Harris says.
Using batting gloves isn’t an option for Harris, who is an old-school style hitter. He leaves his hands uncovered at the plate. That’s part of the reason for the big blister on his right hand below his pointer finger.
“You can’t be a wuss and wear gloves,” Quagliano said.
There’s no doubting Harris’ toughness. The Bobcats sophom*ore baseball star seemingly can deal with anything. Playing through adversity is nothing new for him. Harris has been doing it for years.
He'd been doing it long before he realized the headaches he constantly had were from a brain tumor doctors discovered last year.
“I keep trying to push it to the side,” Harris said.
The tumor, in many ways, is front and center now. But it hasn’t stopped him from being one of the best baseball players in the state. Harris, an Ole Miss commit, isn't sulking. He’s playing and inspiring others along the way as he raises money and awareness for the cause.
“Just seeing how he’s come through on the other side of things and is now thriving and managing things and just not letting it bother him, it’s pretty amazing,” said Western Dubuque baseball coach Casey Bryant.
"It was disbelief."
The troubles began about three years ago when Harris kept having headaches. They got worse and worse. Eventually, he started having migraines and seizures and would randomly be short of breath. Harris, his family and his teammates were puzzled. So were doctors, who couldn't find anything with a CT scan at first.
"We didn't know what they were, but it kept going on," Harris said.
Then, on March 8, 2023, they discovered a low-grade brain tumor. It was discovered on a part of the brain that makes hormones that control things such as hunger, heart rate, mood and body temperature. The news shook his family.
"It was disbelief," Scott Harris, Brett's father, said. "Shock."
Brett Harris spent the next 10 months going through different tests to help determine what was causing the symptoms he was experiencing. His family and the few people who knew about it feared the worst. Harris, though, seemed more worried about baseball.
"I'm not a huge fan of hospitals," Harris said. "When I'm in there, I'm just like, 'Get me out there.' I just want to leave because I'd rather be outside of the hospital doing other things that I enjoy."
While Harris was able to play through the 2023 baseball season, he missed his sophom*ore football campaign in the fall. Missing baseball this summer would have been even harder on Harris, who has played the sport practically his whole life. He started playing varsity baseball in eighth grade and had already been elected as a captain by his teammates. He has helped guide the Bobcats to two straight state titles.
Harris was already well on his way to following in older brother Calvin's famous footsteps as a University of Mississippi commit and possible MLB Draft pick later in his career. Calvin plays in the minor leagues with the Chicago White Sox organization.
Baseball is perhaps Brett's biggest passion.
He learned that while doctors could not remove the tumor due to its placement, it could be treated. They opted for targeted therapy, a move that would have fewer side effects than chemotherapy. The strategy has worked. An MRI in May showed that the tumor had stabilized.
Now the only symptoms he experiences are some lightheadedness and shortness of breath. Harris also has some issues with his memory. Most of that, though, comes in the classroom and not on the baseball field.
"One day I can go into school, be perfectly good and have this thing down in math, just have it down," he said. "And then the next day, come in and spend the whole day trying to remember what I did and try to get back to the point where I was in school."
Harris and his family help raise money and awareness for pediatric brain tumors
Questions still surround Harris and his tumor. Doctors are treating it and learning about it. Because they can't remove it, there's the possibility it could still grow or get worse. But doctors have given him a good prognosis, so he's not worried.
Harris is focused on baseball and helping others with brain tumors. He's been able to combine both of those passions this season. A fundraising page was created for visitors to write messages to Harris or to donate money to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Scott Harris, who runs a golf cart business, donated money from the sale of each cart during May to the foundation too.
More money is on the way as well. On Friday, Western Dubuque will host rival Dubuque Wahlert in a game called Pediatric Brain Tumor Night. There will be an auction with items signed by Bo Jackson, Fergie Jenkins and George Kittle. Fans can bid on an evening dining with Iowa Hawkeyes radio broadcaster Gary Dolphin. There will be special shirts on sale. Proceeds will go to the foundation.
There will be signs up around Farley Park with QR codes that send visitors to the website. Bryant, the coach who was instrumental in organizing the evening, wanted Harris to know that people in the community are with him on his journey. The game was the perfect way to do that.
"Our community is behind him 100%," Bryant said. "They love him and they want him to know he's supported."
Bryant said he's even heard that parents from Dubuque Wahlert have raised some money. On Friday, players from both teams will wear special shirts with Harris' name and number on the back.
Dave Mays, director of the Vs. Cancer program at the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, worked with the family and the school to organize the event. He said it could generate as much as $24,000, which would be tops among any high school or college program they work with. Most high school teams generate less than $2,000 their first time around. But Harris' story has helped them surpass that number.
"We're just very grateful for him and his willingness to use his platform," Mays said.
Harris isn't a fan of attention, but he's embraced the spotlight when it comes to his tumor. He hopes that his story can help others. It's already inspired his teammates and his family, who are in awe of how he's handled dealing with the unknown with such a positive outlook.
"Every day going through practice and everything, working hard while going through what he's going through is very inspiring," Quagliano said.
Bryant is making sure Harris' battle stays on everyone's mind this summer. Bryant said his team will wear yellow laces on their cleats all summer, hoping that others will notice and ask about it. They can then share Harris' story. Harris hopes it becomes a learning opportunity for others.
The lesson: Don't let anything keep you down.
"If stuff comes out and you have to deal with adversity or say someone else has a brain tumor, you can still go for your goals in life and dreams," Harris said.
That's why he insisted on Bryant coaching him hard this season. Bryant wasn't sure how to handle coaching a player with a brain tumor, so he asked Harris. Should he go easy on him after a mistake and possibly chalk it up to the brain tumor?
"His answer was, 'I want to be coached hard, if I make a mistake,'" Bryant said. "So that tells you a lot right there that his number one priority is to compete and improve his skills and chase his dreams and these other things are just roadblocks that he's hopping over."
Harris still has a lot he wants to accomplish. He has a chance to guide Western Dubuque to a third straight state championship this season. After high school, he hopes to have a successful career at Ole Miss and play in the major leagues. Those would be big accomplishments. But after he's already achieved so much, no one is doubting him.
"His best baseball is ahead of him yet, for sure," Bryant said.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
