CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) Former Clarksville High and Austin Peay State University pitcher, Ryne Harper, is moving into baseball’s major leagues with the Minnesota Twins.

Another former Clarksville High pitcher, *Wes Parsons, has been added to the roster for the Atlanta Braves.

Harper was told Monday, two days before his 30th birthday, that he was added as one of the team’s 11 pitchers, according to MLB. Harper has worked hard and learned a lot after spending eight years in professional baseball before breaking into the majors.

Harper was the 37th-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2011. His one previous break into the majors was in 2017 when he was called up by the Mariners.

During his career as an Austin Peay Governor, Harper made the Commissioner’s Honor Role of the Ohio Valley Conference in 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010. He also spent most of his seasons in baseball on the APSU Athletic Director’s Honor Role and the Dean’s List.

While at Clarksville High, Harper played as both pitcher and shortstop for the Wildcats. He was named to the region 5-AAA and TSWA Class-AAA All-State Teams and was the District 10-AAA Pitcher of the Year, finishing his senior season leading the team to a District 10-AAA tournament Championship.

Undrafted signee Wes Parsons was added to the Braves roster this week.

Parsons recorded 76 strikeouts and issued 25 walks, posting a 3.27 ERA over 88 innings after being promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett last year, according to MLB.

After graduating from Clarksville High in 2011, Parsons moved on to play for Jackson State Community College, where was 7-3 in 13 starts. According to JSCC, he pitched 79.1 innings and had a 4.31 ERA. He struck out 60 and only walked 23 batters during the 2012 season.

During his freshman year, Wes signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves program while playing summer ball in the Northwoods League.

Clarksville High Baseball Coach, Brian Hetland, remembered his former players.

“Wes is a super story as he did not play his first two years of high school,” Hetland said. “I knew he would be a late bloomer and his abilities are taking him to the Big Leagues!”

Hetland also had high praise for Harper.

“Ryne Harper is a tenacious worker and spent the off-season working at our facility improving his craft. Ryne just needed an organization to give him a shot and the Twins have seen what he is capable of this spring,” Hetland said.

Brad Kirtley, former Sports Information Director for Austin Peay, also had positive things to say about Harper.

“He is the perfect example of perseverance paying off,” Kirtley said. “Ryne always has put up good to great numbers during his minor league career. But injuries – mostly arm issues – slowed his ascension. Seemingly every time he was ready to take that next step, arm issues cropped up and held him back, even back to Austin Peay days. But Ryne is extremely smart and understood what he needed to keep his arm as healthy as possible – the offseason exercise and strength programs that worked best for him – to put himself in position to help a major league team, the Twins.”

Kirtley added that he could not be happier for Harper and his family.

“To this day, I remember the picture I helped organize and took after the 2011 tourney title with Ryne, younger brother Reed (the team’s starting shortstop) and their father, Ralph, who was reluctant to not only be on the field but in the picture as well. To see the love and pride between the trio plus the love of the game passed along by Ralph, a former (1981) All-OVC middle infielder always will live in my memory,” he said.

Catch the Cardinals’ opening day game on ESPN Clarksville:
ESPN Clarksville is your local source for St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Catch the Cardinals vs Milwaukee Brewers (first pitch at 1 p.m.) on 104.1 FM (540 AM).

*A photo of Parsons was not available at the time of publication.