Future teammates help ease Harris' pain

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on June 7, 2014 11:08 PM

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RALEIGH -- Tears of sadness fell from the eyes of Charles B. Aycock senior Cierra Harris as she jogged off the field from second base after her team lost the second game, 6-4, to Sun Valley in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A state softball championship series.

But there was another time Harris stood on second base and wanted to cry Saturday afternoon. The emotions, this time, were vastly different.

Harris heard a yell from the other side of the fence down the first baseline. A smile lit up through the facemask on her batter's helmet.

"To see them come out here to support in this heat that's terrible ... it's phenomenal," Harris said. "It means so much that they believe in us."

Harris referred to her future college teammates at Campbell University -- Rachel McCollum and Megan Mozingo. The duo made the hour-long trip to the Walnut Creek Softball Complex to support one of the girls they grew up playing with during their travel-ball days with the Hurricanes.

"I remember when I showed up for the first time, I was the new girl and I didn't know anyone," Mozingo said. "(Cierra) said 'I'll throw with you,' and she was like my first friend on the team."

McCollum joked that she had a broken leg at the time and Mozingo couldn't hold it against her that she wouldn't throw with her.

Mozingo, who attends Eastern Wayne, and McCollum, who goes to Spring Creek, are both juniors and won't join Harris until her sophomore season. They're already exuding the excitement of experiencing college softball together.

Harris was crushed her team didn't come out on top in the biggest game of the year against the Spartans. But when she found two of her best friends after the game, her mood lightened and the pain lessened.

They even got her to laugh as they talked about the visits Mozingo and McCollum will make in the fall to Harris. They told stories of their travel team and how they got to know one another as nine-year-olds.

"I know those will be the best years of my life without a doubt," Harris said.

The support of good friends out-weighed a motivational speech.

"We just told her we're so proud of her that she made it this far," Mozingo said. "She played her game. We love her."