By FRANK LEWIS
PDT Staff Writer

Triplets beat the odds automatically.

Triplet births are extremely rare, so the Harcha triplets, Howard, John and Matt have spent their lives being noticed.

When their mom, Peggy walked them up the street they always turned heads, so it probably comes as no surprise to those who know them that all three are in the Sept. 26 edition of the syndicated feature Ripley's Believe it or Not.

While it is difficult to figure the real odds, most people would agree that all three hitting home runs in the same game is probably not going to occur every day.

On May 17, 2008 the improbable occurred.

"They (Portsmouth Trojans) were playing South Point in the Sectional Championship game, and it was the second inning when Howard came up and hit a grand slam," said dad, Judge Howard Harcha III. "In the same inning John hit a three-run shot, then Matt was the first batter in the next inning and he hit a home run."

What makes the story even more interesting is that the three hit the home runs in order of their births.

the triplets were recognized at Branch Rickey Park during the induction ceremony of the Greater Southern Ohio Tri-State Baseball/Softball Sports Hall of Fame.

"We didn't realize until after the game," John Harcha said at a special event at Branch Rickey Park in July. "It is awesome."

Dad said it took a while for the reality of the event to sink into his mind as well.

"The more you think about it the rarer it seems," Harcha said. "Every now and then they (triplets) will run in to somebody, and they will have heard about it somewhere."

The next step in the storied moment came when a local area man took the event to the next level.

Sports memorabilia collector extraordinaire John Carpenter, himself enshrined by Ripley's for having the largest sports memorabilia collection in the world, took it upon himself to notify Ripley's and the rest is history.

The Sept. 26 edition of Ripley's Believe It or Not showed a conceptual drawing of the three with the following caption