By STEVE KRAH
Harilaos “Harry” Deliyannis comes from a family that values education.
His parents — Dr. Constantine Deliyannis (Astrophysics) and Dr. Deborah Deliyannis (History) — are both professors at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Older brother Plato Deliyannis is PhD. student at Duke University.
Younger brother Simon Deliyannis graduated Bloomington High School North in 2023 and is going to study at IU.
Both brothers played golf in high school — Plato at Bloomington South and Simon at Bloomington North. Plato has played Ultimate at Duke.
The middle Deliyannis (pronounced Dell-E-Yah-ness) boy, Harry goes to Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., as an Economics major and Religious Studies minor.
This summer, Deliyannis (who is of Greek descent) is learning on the diamond as a starting pitcher for the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Martha’s Vineyard Sharks.
A 6-foot, 175-pound right-hander has made two mound appearances and is 1-0 with a 0.00 earned run average, six strikeouts and five walks in 10 innings.
Pitching in the spring for the Frank Pericolosi-coached Pomona Pitzer Sagehens, Deliyannis was in 13 games (12 starts) with 3-5 record, 4.50 ERA, 77 strikeouts and 28 walks in 76 innings.
The 2023 season marked his second full college slate, meaning he has two remaining years of eligibility. The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed 2020 and Pomona Pizer did not field a team in 2021.
Not enrolled in school, Deliyannis came back to Indiana and was the pitching coach at his prep alma mater — Bloomington North — just two years after his senior year with Richard Hurt as Cougars head coach and Erik Pearson as an assistant. It’s an experience that makes Harry want to coach after his collegiate days.
“A lot of high schoolers think they know more than their coaches,” says Deliyannis. “From coaching alongside Coach Hurt I can say that high schoolers don’t.”
Deliyannis credits the coach/educator for having a big impact on him.
“Coach Hurt is by far the most-organized person I’ve ever met,” says Deliyannis. “The work ethic, organization and attention to details that (he) coaches with and his even-keel demeanor I appreciate more than I can express now. I really look up to Coach Hurt.
“I feel lucky that I had him as my high school coach. He prepared me for college and I think for life better than anybody else.”
Deliyannis fell in love with Pomona — located east of Los Angeles — after his first visit.
Pomona Pitzer — an athletic co-op between private schools Pomona College and Pitzer College — is part of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The former second baseman and designated from both sides of the plate, who turned 22 in March and will be a senior in 2023-24, prefers starting over relieving.
“I get to see hitters three or four times,” says Deliyannis. “I like the interesting game that comes up after I’ve gone through a lineup once. I have to re-figure out how to pitch to them again.
“I like going deep into games and give my team a chance (to win). That’s my responsibility as a starter.”
Throwing over-the-top, Deliyannis uses a four-seam fastball, curveball, slider, change-up and cutter.
“I use them all at least 10 percent of the time,” says Deliyannis. “There’s no pitch I won’t throw.”
The four-seamer sits at 88-89 mph and has hit 90 several times the past two springs.
His 12-to-6 curve has a high spin rate (3200 rpm).
His slider is sometimes horizontal and sometimes has gyro movement.
The “circle” change-up, which has overtaken his curve as his best pitch, is really a screwball.
“When I throw it hard it has a dot and moves like a lefty slider,” says Deliyannis. “I throw from the high arm slot and let it naturally pronate. I don’t think of turning it over. I let the grip do what it does.”
He throws the cutter often to right-handed batters.
“I think it looks like a fastball and they get out in front of it,” says Deliyannis.
A lifelong Bloomington resident, Deliyannis was in what is now the Bloomington Junior Baseball Association before playing travel ball for the Indiana Chiefs and then Indiana Prospects, where Mark Taylor was one of his early head coaches.
The summer after high school (2019), Deliyannis was supposed to play for the Cortland (N.Y.) Crush but was bedridden for a month with mononucleosis then competed in a few non-league games in Indiana.
He played in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., in 2020 on a team managed by Mark Walther. He was with the Northwoods League’s Kenosha (Wis.) Kingfish in the summer of 2021 and West Coast League’s Victoria (British Columbia) HarbourCats in the summer of 2022.
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