“Few and far between can do what he does,” Kennedy said last week before the Phoenix opened play in the NCAA tournament’s Cary Regional. “He’ll come out and give you a 4-for-5 day at the plate, drive in three runs, and two days later on Sunday, get on the mound and give you a big win. … It’s just easier for him.”

Harrilchak, an outfielder and pitcher, has heard that said about him before — that the game is easy for him — but he doesn’t agree with it.

“No, it’s not easy,” he said. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m trying every pitch. It might not seem like it, but I take a lot of pride in what I do on the field. It’s definitely not easy.”

All that hard work paid off in a mammoth way this spring for the 2005 Cary High alumnus. He had team highs in batting average (.410), slugging (.678), on base (.492) and runs scored (71). He also stole a 24 bases, hit 11 home runs and had 46 RBIs while hitting third in the lineup.

He also pitched in 15 games. The southpaw started 12 times and went 7-3 with a 5.13 ERA in 66.2 innings pitched. The seven wins were second most on the team.

“Since day one, he’s been on fire,” said Elon third baseman Bennett Davis. “It’s just been a full season for him, and he contributes in a number of different ways.”

On May 25, Harrilchak did it all. In the Southern Conference championship game against the College of Charleston, he went 5-for-5, with four runs scored and three RBIs. He was also the winning pitcher. He tossed six innings as the starter, allowing three runs on four hits, with five strikeouts and four walks.

For his efforts, he was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, an honor to go along with his selection to the Southern Conference first team.

After winning the SoCon tournament, Elon knew its place in the NCAA tournament was secure and it found out on Memorial Day what regional they would play in.

“When I saw Cary come up, I got a couple phone calls from family members and friends,” Harrilchak said. “It’s pretty neat.”

But Harrilchak had been home once before this season.

On April 8, he scattered five hits and threw seven shutout innings at the USA Baseball Complex to lead Elon to a 2-0 win over then-No. 4 North Carolina. It was the first time Elon had ever shut out a team ranked in the top 25.

“Everything just kind of worked out for me,” Harrilchak said. “Coach gave me the opportunity to go against them. He knew I’d try to mix speeds up, and it just happens they didn’t center me up I guess. They’re a great hitting ballclub, and things kind of worked out that night.”

Things have kind of worked out for Harrilchak since he was at Cary. The humble workhorse cut his teeth in the wrestling room and on the baseball field. He was a captain of Cary’s 2005 wrestling team that won the dual team and individual state championships, and he was the 4-A runner-up at 145 pounds that year. He had a career record of 152-13. On the baseball field, he was twice named all-conference, and he hit .480 his senior year.

He wasn’t recruited out of high school, but he felt his best days on the diamond were still ahead of him. So he enrolled at Surry Community College, a junior college in Dobson, hoping two seasons there would catch someone’s eyes. At Surry, he hit .350 with 14 doubles, five home runs and 35 RBIs in 2007 and .379 with six doubles and two homers in 2006.

Elon coaches saw him play several times at Surry. They liked what they saw, and Harrilchak liked what Elon had to offer.

“We thought highly of him and were fortunate enough to convince him to come,” Kennedy said. “He’s been phenomenal for us. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Through Elon’s first 11 games, Harrilchak hit .240. Then in early March, everything came together and he never slowed down. In Elon’s final 33 games, he reached base in all of them. Of the 46 games this season he reached base, he had at least one hit in 41 of them. He was also 24-for-25 on stolen base attempts.

Harrilchak couldn’t have timed his banner year any better. He will be eligible for this week’s Major League Baseball amateur draft, which is Thursday and Friday.

Neither Kennedy nor Harrilchak had much of an inkling about Harrilchak’s draft prospects, but neither seemed terribly concerned about his status this year.

“I don’t know the deal with the draft,” Harrilchak said. “I’m just trying to play for as long as I can with Elon. Whatever happens with that happens. I’m not really worried about it.”

With his phenomenal season and deserved accolades piling up, Harrilchak still maintains a level head.

“He comes out and works hard every day,” Davis said. “When you come and work hard every day, you’ve got the right kind of attitude, it’s not hard to keep grounded.”

Though the attention’s been nice, Harrilchak has no problem if it went away.

“I don’t really like talking about things I’m doing,” he said. “I feel like your play should talk for itself. If I go out there and have a good game, that should say enough. That’s the way I play. If I don’t have a good game, I don’t go around sulking. I come out the next day.”

With an attitude like that in this day and age, players like Harrilchak are absolutely few and far between.