The high school baseball career for Kosciusko graduate Chase Morgan ended when he played in the Crossroads D.M. Howie High School all-star game for 3A and 4A schools last Saturday at William Carey in Hattiesburg, but will continue at the junior college level. He has signed with Mississippi Delta Community College.
“It seems like a good family fit. They focus a lot on family,” Morgan said of Miss. Delta. “I’ll be able to come home on weekends.” The MDCC campus in Moorhead is an hour and a half drive from Kosciusko.
Morgan pitched and played shortstop for the Whippets. He batted .314 with five doubles, two triples, 22 RBIs, 17 runs scored and 15 stolen bases this year. As a pitcher, he was 2-1 with a 2.17 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 23.2 innings.
He signed to do both at MDCC and said he does not have a preference. “I just like to play.”
Kosciusko was 21-8-1 this year and reached the second round of the 4A playoffs. The Whippets swept Clarksdale in the opening round before losing a three game series to Pontotoc in the second round.
One of the wins during the regular season came against 4A state champion New Hope, a 10-6 victory in nine innings. Morgan had a single and triple, with two RBIs, in the game.
“We played well that day. When we played our best, we could compete with anyone out there, 1A through 6A,” he said. “I’ll take my brothers (teammates) any day.”
Morgan had a big junior year, batting .375 as Kosciusko reached the North State final before losing to New Hope.
“He’s a really hard worker,” said Jonathan Jones, who coached Morgan at Kosciusko. “I think he has a good chance to get better at the college level.”
Morgan plans to study engineering, with a goal of moving on to Mississippi State. He is not sure if he will be able to continue playing baseball for a team that is in the College World Series, but said, “It’s always a dream, so we will see what happens.”
Morgan played shortstop and second base for the North in the all star game won by the South 9-1. He went one for two with a single to left. “It was good to play in that type of atmosphere with those players.”
Morgan’s Kosciusko teammate Will Cook is a member of the District 4 team at the State Games of Mississippi in Meridian. The team began play in the double elimination tournament Tuesday. Cook, a pitcher and infielder, will be a senior in the fall.
