Sonoma Stompers sign pitcher Ty’Relle Harris

The Sonoma Stompers signed right-handed pitcher Ty’Relle Harris this week, bolstering an already strong Sonoma pitching staff that has gone undefeated so far in the 2017 season.

Harris, a resident of Fairfield, played college baseball at Sacramento City College and at the University of Tennessee. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2009, eventually making as high as Triple A in the Chicago Cubs organization.

Last season, as a member of the York Revolution in the Atlantic League, Harris won the 2016 team’s Corey Thurman Community Player of the Year award, and he has made more than 500 community appearances in his career in independent baseball.

“We’re really excited to have someone of Ty’Relle’s experience and character join our organization,” said Stompers General Manager Theo Fightmaster.

Now in his ninth season as a professional and fifth in independent ball, Harris owns a career ERA of 3.14 and has 514 career strikeouts.

He will be reunited with Stompers Manager Takashi Miyoshi, with whom he played in Grand Prairie, Texas with the American Association’s Air Hogs in 2014. Harris credited Yoshi’s presence as a major reason for signing with Sonoma.